Knox County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Knox 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 Fairfield County 30 January 1808.
 * County Seat: Mount Vernon

Description
The county was named for Henry Knox, an officer in the American Revolutionary War who was later the first U.S. Secretary of War. It's county seat is Mount Vernon and was founded March 1, 1808. It is located in the 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
Richland County •  Ashland County  •  Holmes County  •  Coshocton County  •  Licking County  •  Delaware County  •  Morrow County

Boundary Changes
Knox County gave up land for the formation of Morrow County in February 1848. The townships of Chester, Franklin and South Bloomfield went to Morrow County.

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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

History


The county is named for General Henry Knox (1750-1806), Revolutionary War hero, and the nation's first Secretary of War.

The first white man known to have passed through this area was John Stilly, a white captive of a native tribe, who crossed through in 1779. The "frontier character" Andrew Craig is believed to be the first permanent white settler—arriving before Ohio became a state and remaining until it became "too crowded" about 1809.

The first settlers who remained in the area were mostly from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Many of these earliest settlers arrived between 1800-1808, attracted by inexpensive, but fertile, military land.

Local Histories

 * Lorey, Frederick N., History of Knox County, Ohio: 1876-1976, (Mount Vernon, Ohio: Knox County Historical Society, 1976).


 * Norton, A. Banning, A History of Knox County, Ohio, from 1779 to 1862 Inclusive: Comprising Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes and Incidents of Men Connected with the County from Its First Settlement, (Columbus, Ohio: R. Nevins, 1862). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive Ancestry ($)(Indexed)


 * Hill, N.N. Jr., History of Knox County, Ohio: Its Past and Present, (Mt. Vernon, Ohio: A. A. Graham, 1881). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive Ancestry ($)(Indexed)


 * Williams, Albert B., Past and Present of Knox County, Ohio, (Indianapolis, Indiana: B. F. Bowen &amp; Co., 1912). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive


 * Knox County Black History Digital Archives (Kenyon College), African-American History in Knox County, Ohio

Land and Property

 * 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives
 * 1813-1814 - Early Settlers of Knox County list of land owners and residents taken from the Ohio Register, 1813-1814. Courtesy OhioGenWeb

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Knox County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment)that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Knox County.


 * - 30th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company A
 * - 4th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company A (also known as Knox County Guards) and Company B (also known as Union Guards).


 * For information about these companies, such as muster out rolls, see History of Knox County, Ohio, Its Past and Present starting with p. 290


 * - 96th Regiment, Ohio Infantry


 * Company A, roster


 * Company B, roster


 * -125th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company 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.
 * 1808-1832 - Early Settlers, Probate Settlements, 1808-1832 Courtesy OhioGenWeb

Courthouse
Knox County Courthouse 111 East High Street Mount Vernon, OH 43050-3453 Phone: 740.393.6788 County Health  Department has birth records from 1908, death and burial records; Probate Judge has marriage records from 1803 and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1810; County Records has land records

Family History Centers

 * Mount Vernon 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


 * 1800-1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1800-1882 - Knox County, Ohio, Vital Records, 1800-1882 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1887 - [hhttps://web.archive.org/web/20160722045441/http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohknox/kbirths.html 1887 Knox County births] partial list taken from microfilm. Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * 1908-1964 - Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 at ancestry.com ($)
 * various years - community contributed birth records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1882 - Knox County, Ohio, Vital Records, 1800-1882 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch — free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1820-1890 - Some submitted marriages from various records Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1800-1882 - Knox County, Ohio, Vital Records, 1800-1882 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1840-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1867-1908 - Knox County, Ohio Death Records Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * 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.
 * various years - community contributed death records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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