Fulton County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Fulton 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 Henry, Lucas, and Williams Counties 28 February 1850.
 * County Seat: Wauseon

Description
The county was named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat. It's county seat is Wauseon and was founded April 1, 1850. 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. Hometown Locator The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Williams County •  Henry County  •  Lucas County  •  Lenawee County, Michigan  •  Hillsdale County, Michigan

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Ohio County Boundary Maps" (1788-1888) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
1864  A courthouse fire in July destroyed many of the county records. Those saved were located in the Court of Common Pleas such as Chancery, Plaintiff and Defendant indexes, plus the court cases. Probate Court records such as the wills, estates, and guardianship's were lost. The Recorder's Office lost the land records, but those have been reconstructed using Barber's Abstracts.

Bible Records
For an extensive list of resources for Bible Records see Ohio Bible Records.

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.

Lutheran

 * 1846-1900 - St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church baptism, confirmation, marriage and death records. Courtesy OhioGenWeb.

Local History

 * Reighard, Frank H., A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past… (Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co., 1920) Digital version of Volume 1 at ; Google Books; Volume 2 at ; Google Books; also available on microfilm at.
 * Mikesell, Thomas, The county of Fulton; a history of Fulton County, Ohio, from the earliest days (Madison, Wisconsin : Northwestern Historical Association, 1905) Digital version at Google Books;.
 * Aldrich, Lewis Cass, History of Henry and Fulton Counties, Ohio : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers (Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason &amp; Co., 1888) Digital version at Internet Archives.

Land and Property

 * 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

 * Civil War service men from Fulton 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 Fulton County.


 * Ohio Genealogical Society. Fulton County Chapter. Civil War soldiers discharge abstracts, Fulton County, Ohio. ([Ohio] : Ohio Genealogical Society. Fulton County Chapter, 1993) and 1890 Fulton County, Ohio special census of Union veterans


 * - 100th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies E and H
 * - 111th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Comapanies C and F

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
Fulton County Courthouse 210 South Fulton Street Wauseon, OH 43567-1355 Phone: 419.337.9230 Probate Court has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage, probate and naturalization records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records; County Recorder has military and burial records; County  Auditor  has land records

Family History Centers

 * Wauseon Ohio 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


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Name index to marriage records from the state of Ohio. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and some FamilySearch Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index
 * various years - Community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

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.
 * 1954-Present - Ohio Deaths, 1954-Present Death certificates from 1954 to the present are held by the Ohio Department of Health. These records can be ordered in person or by mail.
 * Walk In Address:  Ohio Department of Health Vital Statistics 225 Neilston Street Columbus, Ohio 43215
 * Mail your request to: Ohio Department of Health Vital Statistics P.O. Box 15098 Columbus, Ohio 43215-0098
 * various years - Community contributed death records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Additionally, Ohio death records can be obtained from the city or county health department where the death occurred. Some cities and counties can issue all death certificates from the State of Ohio if that city or county has been granted statewide issuance access.

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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