Van Wert County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Van Wert County, Ohio ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Darke County in 1820 (1837).
 * County Seat: Van Wert

Description
The county was named for Isaac Van Wart, Revolutionary War soldier who helped capture Benedict Arnold's British co-conspirator, John Andre. It's county seat is Van Wert and was founded February 12, 1820. It is located in the Northwest area of the state.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Paudling County • Putnam County • Alllen County • Auglaize County • Mercer County • Adams County, Indiana

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Ohio County Boundary Maps" (1788-1940) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Cemeteries
Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Catholic

 * 1796–2004 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection includes images of parish registers recording the events of baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage, and death in the Diocese of Toledo (Ohio), Roman Catholic Church. These records are accessed by browsing the images by county. In addition to traditional parish registers, this collection includes miscellaneous cemetery records, Books of the Elect, Professions of Faith, Sick Call registers, etc.

History

 * Gilliland, Thaddeus S., History of Van Wert County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, (Chicago: Richmond &amp; Arnold, 1906). Digital copy at Google Books


 * Van Wert County Historical Society, History of Van Wert County, Ohio, (Van Wert, Ohio: Van Wert Co. Hist. Soc., 1981).

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Service men from Van Wert County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Van Wert County.


 * -99th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company A

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers Online Newspaper Abstracts Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1786 - 1998 Ohio Wills and Probate Records 1786-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1789 - 1996 at FamilySearch.org — images
 * 1790–1967 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection consists of probate records and estate files from county courthouses in Ohio. The content and time period varies by county, with more records being added as they become available. This Collection will include records from 1789 to 1996. Currently, (September 2012) the collection is only searchable by browsing the images. A list of Fires that have destroyed records in the courthouses of several counties are listed on the Record Description page.

Courthouse
Van Wert County Courthouse 121 E Main Street 2nd Floor Van Wert, OH 45891 Phone: 419.238.1022 Clerk Court has divorce and court records; Probate Judge has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage records from 1840 and probate records from 1837; Board of Health has birth and death records from 1908; County Recorder has land records from 1823

Family History Centers

 * Decatur Indiana Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory. Put your town name in the top search box.

Online Genealogy Research Groups

 * U.S. Midwest Genealogy Research Community - FamilySearch Facebook Research Group
 * Ohio Ancestors - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join
 * U.S. and Canada Genealogy Research - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join
 * U.S. and Canada Genealogy Research - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm
 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch — free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1840-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1908-1953 - Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953. Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch. Records include such information as birth date of deceased, city, county, and state of death, name of spouse if married, names of parents, maiden name of mother, name of informant, if deceased was single, married, windowed or divorced, occupation of deceased.

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

 * Van Wert County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Van Wert County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.