Lawrence County, Ohio Genealogy

United States Ohio Lawrence County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Gallia and Sciota Counties in 1815 (1817).
 * County Seat: Ironton
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Jackson (north)·Cabell County, West Virginia (southeast)·Greenup County, Kentucky (southwest)·Gallia (northeast)·Scioto (west)·Wayne County, West Virginia and Boyd County, Kentucky (south)

Parent County
1815--Lawrence County was created 21 December 1815 from Gallia and Scioto Counties. It was named for Captain James Lawrence, commander of the frigate Chesapeake during the War of 1812 who said "Do not give up the ship". County seat: Ironton

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Lawrence County boundary changes.

Neighboring Counties

 * Boyd County, Kentucky
 * Cabell County, West Virginia
 * Gallia
 * Greenup County, Kentucky
 * Jackson
 * Scioto
 * Wayne County, West Virginia

Cemeteries
LDS Cemetery Records Vol. 21 page 10 - Ironton page 37 - Sugar Creek

Military
Civil War


 * Civil War service men from Lawrence County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment)that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that had many men from Lawrence County.


 * - 4th Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, Companies G and I
 * - George's Independent Company, Ohio Cavalry

Vital Records
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.

View birth, marriage, and death indexes and more&amp;nbsp;online at The Lawrence Register.

Societies and Libraries
Briggs Lawrence County Public Library- Hamner Room Local History and Genealogy Department 321 South Fourth Street Ironton, OH 45638 PHONE: 740.532.1124 FAX: 740.532.4948 [mailto:genealogy@briggslibrary.org genealogy@briggslibrary.org] www.briggslibrary.com/hamner/aboutus.htm

Hours : Mon-Thurs 9am – 8:30pm; Fri &amp; Sat 9am – 5:30pm

Summer Hours : Mon-Thurs 9am – 8:30pm; Fri 9am – 5:30pm Saturday 10am-3pm

Closed Sundays

 Area Records on Microfilm 


 * Federal Census 1820-1880 (surrounding counties)
 * Wills 1847 – present
 * 1890 Special Census (surrounding counties)
 * Births &amp; Deaths1868 – 1938
 * Federal Census 1900-1930 (surrounding counties)
 * Marriages1817 – present
 * Early Court Records (Incomplete)
 * Newspapers 1850 – present
 * Sanborn Insurance Maps
 * Some Early Furnace Records
 * Some Early Court Records
 * Tax Duplicate Records 1817 &amp; 1822
 * Death Indexes from Ohio Department of Health 1908-1944, excluding 1933-1937

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

 Special Collections 


 * First Families of Lawrence County
 * Woodland Cemetery Records
 * Tombstone readings from area cemeteries
 * Family History Center
 * Some early Church Records
 * Vertical Files of area History
 * Ironton City Directories (Incomplete)
 * Yearbooks (incomplete)
 * Birth Indexes 1909-present
 * Death Indexes 1909-present

Briggs Lawrence County Public Library does not perform genealogical research, which is requested by phone, letter or e-mail. We will return all such requests to the sender, and will respond with a list of the names of local researchers obtained from the Lawrence County Genealogical Society, who can perform those services.

The staff at Briggs Lawrence County Public Library will continue to assist all persons who visit the Phyllis Hamner Local History and Genealogy Room located at the Main Library in Ironton, Ohio.

Lawrence County Health Department

2120 South 8th Street Ironton, OH 45638 PHONE: 740-532-2172 HOURS: M-F 8:00 – 4:00


 * The Health Department has county births and deaths certificates from 1909-present. The indexes are at Briggs Lawrence County Public Library, Hamner Room.
 * You must obtain copies of certificates at the Health Dept.
 * Copies are $18.00

Give staff the name of the person and the year of death/birth. You do not have to know the month and day.

Lawrence County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 1035 Proctorville, Ohio 45669-1035 Contact person:

Donald R.Clark 740-886-7230  10 a.m. to 10 p.m. [mailto:Lawcoloreman@aol.com Lawcoloreman@aol.com]

The following organizations are under the umbrella of the Ohio Genealogical Society:


 * First Families of Lawrence County
 * Civil War Veterans of Lawrence County
 * Settlers and Builders of Lawrence County
 * Lineage Society

Application forms for these organizations are at the following URL: http://www.lawrencecountyohio.com/gensoc/gensoc.htm

Lawrence County Historical Society 506 South 6th St Ironton, Ohio 45638 740-532-1222

The Lawrence County Museum has certification by the Ohio Association of Historical Societies Museums. It is operated by the Lawrence County Historical Society, a corporation since 1925. The building in which the Museum is housed is referred to, in the Registry of Historical Homes of the Rankin District, as the Colonel George N. Gray House. In 1988, the Lawrence County Historical Society acquired the property, using funds raised through contributions of community-minded individuals, members, and businesses.

The Museum features several permanent exhibits, while some areas have exhibits that change four or five times a year. Annual events are:

Ice Cream Social                      First Sunday of July Apple Butter Day                       First Saturday of October Christmas Exhibit Opens            First Sunday of December

A very special event in Ironton is the Museum's Candlelight Church Walk on the first Saturday evening of December. Victorian Teas are being added to the schedule.

Web Sites

 * The Lawrence County OH GenWeb Project, a member of The OHGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.