Noble County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Noble 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 Guernsey, Monroe, Morgan, and Washington Counties 11 March 1851.
 * County Seat: Caldwell

Description
The county was named for either James Noble or Warren P. Noble, both of whom were early settlers in this region. It's county seat is Caldwell and was founded March 11, 1851. It is located in the South-Central 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
Guernsey County • Belmont County • Monroe County • Washington County • Morgan County • Muskingum County

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.

Court Records
Noble County was initially served by the Ohio District Court from the county's creation in 1851. On 10 Feb 1855, the court was divided into Northern and Southern districts, and Noble became part of the Southern District. On 3 Mar 1911, the court was further divided and Noble was subsequently part of the Southern Eastern District. District and Circuit Courts had the same jurisdictions. See Ohio District Court Jurisdictions for a chart of the Ohio counties and the district courts that served them.

Ohio District and Circuit Court Records from 1803-1961 are held at the National Archives at Chicago.

Local Histories

 * Pickenpaugh, Roger, A History of Noble County, Ohio, 1887-1987, (Baltimore, Maryland: Gateway Press, 1988).


 * History of Noble County, Ohio with Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men, (Chicago, Illinois: L.H. Watkins, 1887). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive Ancestry ($)(Indexed)


 * Martin, Frank M., The County of Noble: A History of Noble County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, (Madison, Wisconsin: Selwyn A. Brant, 1904). Digital copy at Google Books


 * History of Noble County, Ohio, (L. H. Watkins, 1887). Google Books

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

 * - Civil War service men from Noble 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 Noble County.


 * - 116th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company H

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
Noble County Courthouse County Courthouse; Caldwell, OH 43724 Phone: 740.732.4408 Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1851; Probate Judge has marriage and probate records; County Recorder has land records

Family History Centers

 * Zanesville 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

Taxation
Ohio tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses before 1820 or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information see the wiki page Ohio Taxation.

Finding Tax Records at Other Repositories

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Noble County, Ohio Tax Records in online catalogs like:


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage

 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch — free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index

Online Marriage Indexes and Records 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.

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

 * Noble County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Noble 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.