Seneca County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Seneca 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 Huron County in 1820 (1824).
 * County Seat: Tiffin

Description
The county was named after the Seneca Indian Tribe. It's county seat is Tiffin and was founded April 1, 1820. It is located in the Northcentral area of the state.

Neighboring Counties
Sandusky County • Huron County • Crawford County • Wyandot County • Hancock County • Wood 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
1841 A courthouse fire may have damaged or destroyed some records.

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

Catholic
EXPLANATION ABOUT THE THREE CATHOLIC CHURCHES IN SENECA

Reed Assumption Church is sometimes mentioned as being in Reedtown, but it is really in the nearby country west of Reedtown, which is called the Reed area. There was a church, school, and cemetery that were called Reed Assumption until the parish was closed in 2005. The cemetery is still called Reed Assumption. The church building is still there, but not the school. No other buildings are left, except the church and maybe the rectory. The frame school was torn down in the 1960s (when a new school was built to serve the area and the parishes of St. Sebastian, Reed Assumption, and Marywood-St. Michaels. It was a public school system known as Seneca-Huron because St. Sebastian (Bismark) was in Huron County and Assumption (Reed) and St. Michael's (Franks) were in Seneca County. The public school system was formed earlier (late 1940s?) for financial reasons, but all the teachers were Catholic nuns and they had Mass and religion classes every day. The convent house was moved a mile or so away and is used as a private home. It is a few miles west of Reedtown. Reedtown is on a state highway and is a very small unincorporated village. The only remaining business is Reedtown Tavern and maybe a car/machine repair shop. However, quite a few homes are still there.

A couple miles away in the country is a place called Frank's Corner. This area is also known as Marywood. In the earliest times, it was called Thompson (Township). The church and the cemetery there were called St. Michael's. The cemetery is still known by that name, but when the Reed and Marywood parishes were closed, along with Bismark St. Sebastian, a few years ago, the three were consolidated into a new parish now known as St. Gaspar del Bufalo (yes, that is the way it is spelled). That parish uses the 1800's Gothic style church that was formerly St. Michael's. Quite a few homes are still located there.

These settlements and parishes are adjacent to each other and separated by only a few miles. Both parishes, as well as the adjacent St. Sebastian parish, to the east in Bismark, were very "tightknit" German settlements and remain such today, with many of the same family names since the mid 1800s.


 * 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.

Local Histories

 * Lang, William, History of Seneca County, From the Close of the Revolutionary War to July 1880, (Springfield, Ohio: Transcript Printing, 1880). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive Ancestry ($)(Indexed)


 * Leeson, Michael A., History of Seneca County, Ohio: Containing a History of the County, Its Townships, Towns, Villages, etc., (Chicago, Illinois: Warner, Beers, 1886). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive


 * A Centennial Biographical History of Seneca County, Ohio, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Co., 1902). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive


 * Butterfield, Consul Wilshire, History of Seneca County: Containing a Detailed Narrative of the Principal Events that Have Occurred Since Its First Settlement to Present Time, (Sandusky, Ohio: D. Campbell, 1848). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive


 * Baughman, Abraham J., History of Seneca County, Ohio: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests,(Seneca, Ohio: Lewis Publishing Company, 1911). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive ''


 * Seneca County Chapter, Ancestral Pioneer Men and Women of Seneca County, Ohio: Including Proven First Families, (Tiffin, Ohio: Ohio Genealogical Society. Seneca County Chapter, 1987).


 * Seneca County Chapter, Seneca County, Ohio: History and Families, (Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Pub. Co., 1998).

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
Servicemen from Seneca 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 Seneca County.


 * – 8th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company A
 * – 123rd Regiment, Ohio Infantry
 * Company D
 * Company I
 * Company K

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
Seneca County Courthouse 103 S Washington Street Tiffin, OH 44883-2354 Phone: 419.447.0671 Probate Judge has birth, marriage, and probate, County Health Department has death records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1826; County Recorder has land records

Family History Centers

 * Findlay 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.

Libraries

 * TIFFIN-SENECA PUBLIC LIBRARY

Societies
Seneca County Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society P. O. Box 157 Tiffin, OH 44883-0841 Website

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1800-1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at ancestry.com ($)


 * 1908-1964 - Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 at ancestry.com ($)

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch — free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1803-1860 - Records of Scioto County, Ohio at Ancestry.com ($)

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, widowed or divorced; and occupation of deceased.
 * Ohio Obituary Index

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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

Populated Places
“Marywood” – People often refer to a place called Marywood for a residence and/or marriages in Seneca County. There is no city called Marywood. In the “old times” when the local people spoke of Marywood, they were referring to the area around the three churches named Reed Assumption (which is in Reedtown); Saint Michael's (which has a Bellevue* address) and Saint Sebastian (which also has a Bellevue* address). Presently (2009), when people speak of Marywood, they generally are referring to Saint Michaels and/or a shrine called the Sorrowful Mother Shrine; you can learn more by going to the web at www.sorrowfulmothershrine.com.

The physical address of the Sorrowful Mother Shrine is: 4106 State Route 269 Bellevue, Ohio 44811 419-483-3435


 * Bellevue is a city that spans four counties: Erie, Huron, Sandusky, and Seneca

Neighboring Counties

 * Crawford
 * Hancock
 * Huron
 * Sandusky
 * Wood
 * Wyandot