Shelby County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Shelby 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 Miami County in 1819.
 * County Seat: Sidney

Description
The county was named Isaac Shelby, a former governor of Kentucky. It's county seat is Sidney and was founded April 1, 1819. It is located in the West-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
Mercer County • Auglaize County • Logan County • Champaign County • Miami County • Darke 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.

Genealogy
Miami Valley Genealogy Index is an Index to more than a half million pointers to records all over Miami Valley including Shelby County.

History


The county is named after Kentucky's First Governor Isaac Shelby (1750-1826).

Local Histories

 * Hitchcock, A.B.C., History of Shelby County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, (Chicago, Illinois: Richmond-Arnold, 1913). Digital copy at Internet Archive


 * History of Shelby County, Ohio: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: R. Sutton &amp; Co., 1883). Digital copy at Google Books


 * A History of the Communities of Shelby County, Ohio, (Sidney, Ohio: printed for Citizens Baughman National Bank, 1976).

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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.
 * 1825-1962 Shelby County Ohio list of will book testators SAMPUBCO - Browsable index of testators of wills.

Courthouse
Shelby County Courthouse 129 E Court Street PO Box 809 Sidney, OH 45365 Phone: 937.498.7221 Clerk Court has court records from 1819; Probate Judge has birth, marriage, death and probate, records from 1825; County Recorder has land records from 1819

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.

Museums

 * Fort Loramie Historical Association

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 decease

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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