Huron County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Huron 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 Portage, and Cuyahoga Counties 7 February 1809.
 * County Seat: Norwalk

Description
The county was named for the Huron Native American tribe who once lived in the Great Lakes region. It's county seat is Norwalk and was founded March 7, 1809. It is located in the North-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
Erie County •  Lorain County  •  Ashland County  •  Richland County  •  Crawford County  •  Seneca County  •  Sandusky County

Boundary Changes
This area was first known as the Firelands region at its creation in 1815. The county of Huron covered up much wider area. The northern regions are now part of Erie and Ottawa counties. Ruggles township in the south is not part of Ashland 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.

Catholic

 * 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.

Lutheran

 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Norwalk, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records
Huron County Courthouse 2 East Main Street Norwalk, OH 44857 General Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Local Histories

 * Baughman, A.J., History of Huron County, Ohio: Its Progress and Development, (Chicago, Illinois: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1909). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive


 * Williams, William W., History of the Fire Lands, Comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of the Prominent Men and Pioneers, (Cleveland, Ohio: Leader Print. Co., 1879). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive

Land and Property
County Recorder 12 East Main St. Norwalk, OH, First floor 419-668-1916


 * 1845 - 1845 Huron County township plat map surname index and images; Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * various years - community contributed deeds Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * Civil War service men from Huron 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 with men from Huron County.


 * - 1st Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, a battery is like a company in an artillery regiment.
 * - 24th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies A and G
 * - 41st Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies G and H
 * - 107th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company H
 * - 123rd Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies B, C, and E
 * - 166th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (National Guard), Companies B, C, and H

County recorder- 12 East Main St., Norwalk, OH, First Floor 419-668-1916, Soliders' discharge- Civil War to present, Soldiers' burial- miscellaneous

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers

Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * various years - community contributed newspaper articles Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

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.
 * to 1852 - Huron County wills to 1852 at Ancestry.com ($) original data
 * various years - community contributed wills Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

All records are located at the county courthouse in Norwalk.


 * 1815 to present - Guardianship records
 * 1815 to present - Settlement records
 * 1815 to present - Appointment of Administrator/Executor
 * 1815 to present - Estate packets
 * 1823 to 1976 - Clergy registration
 * 1851 to present - Civil Docket
 * 1851 to present - Court Journal
 * 1851 to present - Final Records
 * early to present - Doctor registration

Courthouse
Huron County Courthouse 2 East Main Street Norwalk, OH 44857 Phone: 419.668.4383 General Hours : 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday Closed Saturday and Sunday Probate Judge has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage and probate records from 1815 and naturalization records from 1859; City and County Health Department have birth and death records from 1908; County Clerk has court records from 1815, divorce and naturalization records 1859; County Recorder has land records from 1808, Connecticut  Fire Sufferers records 1792-1808 and military records from 1865; County Auditor has tax records from 1820; County Historical Library has infirmary records 1848-1900, tax records 1815-1825, County Commission journals from 1815, land partition records 1815-1920, county militia lists 1864-1865 and indigent soldier burial indigent soldier burial records 1880-1920

Family History Centers

 * Sandusky 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

 * Monroeville Public Library- 34 Monroe St., Monroveville, OH  44847, 419-465-2035, www.monroevillepubliclibrary.com
 * Norwalk Public Library- 46 W. Main St. Norwalk, OH 44857, 419-668-6063, www.norwalk.lib.oh.us
 * New London Public Library- 67 S Main St, New London, OH  44851, 419-929-3981, www.nwlondon@oplin.org

Societies
The Connecticut Western Reserve  was a part of northeast Ohio originally intended for settlement by Revolutionary War refugees from Connecticut. The former Connecticut Western Reserve  lands were in the modern counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Trumbull fully, but also in parts of Ashland, Mahoning, Ottawa, Summit, and Wayne counties in Ohio.

The Research Library at the Western Reserve Historical Society History Center  is the premier repository for Cleveland, Ohio and Connecticut Western Reserve history material. One of the principal strengths is its manuscript collections. The WRHS collection has original land records, genealogies of New England, New York, and Pennsylvania, biographies, histories, and family Bibles.

Other Societies


 * The Firelands Historical Society- 4 Case Ave. Norwalk, OH, This is the second oldest historical society in Ohio. Founded in 1857.
 * Laning-Young Research Center- 9 Case Ave, Norwalk, OH- firelandsmuseum.org- Currently holds over 4,000 books related to the area. Primary focus is the history and people of the Firelands.  Large local manuscript and newspaper collection.  Complete collection of Firelands Pioneer which has been printed since 1858 and deals with local history.
 * Milan Historical Musuem, Inc.- 10 Edison Dr, Milan, OH  44846, 419-499-2968
 * New London Area Historical Society, 13 Main St., New London, OH
 * Plymouth Area Historical Society, 15 Sandusky St., Willard, OH 44890, 419-687-5411
 * Ohio Genealogical Society- Huron Chapter, PO Box 923, Norwalk, OH  44857

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
County Auditor 12 East Main Street, Third Floor Norwalk, OH 44857 419-668-4304


 * 1815 to present - Tax records (incomplete)
 * 1825 - Huron County tax list Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives
 * 1829 - Huron County tax list Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * 1857 - Huron County tax list Courtesy OhioGenWeb

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 20th century births - Willard Area Births &amp; Obituaries extracted birth announcements from the Chicago Times and Willard Times from the Extension Library District of Huron County; mostly 1900s. Courtesy OhioGenWeb

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
 * early through 1838 - Early marriage records index Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1835-1851 - death notices from Huron County newspapers The Experiment and Norwalk Experiment newspapers, Norwalk, Ohio - 20 Aug 1835 - 31 Dec 1850. Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * 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.
 * various years - community contributed death records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Divorce
Divorce Records are located at the Clerk of Courts same address as above. Divorce records 1900 to present. Some records are located on microfiche from 1815 to present.

Websites

 * [http://www.usgenwebsites.org/OHHuron/ Huron County OHGenWeb
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Huron County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Huron County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook