Hamilton County, Ohio Genealogy

United States &gt; Ohio &gt; Hamilton County

County Courthouse
The Hamilton County Courthouse is located at 1000 Main St., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1206. The records are maintained by the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.

Parent County
1790--Hamilton County was created 2 January 1790 as an original county. County seat: Cincinnati

Populated Places
A Gazetteer of Hamilton Co., Ohio 1784-1986 can be found in Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati &amp; Hamilton Co., Ohio, 6th Edition.

Cincinnati

Addyston, Anderson Township, Bevis, Bridgetown, Camp Dennison, Carthage, Cincinnati, Colerain Township, College Hill, Columbia, Columbia Township, Crosby Township, Cumminsville, Delhi Township, Elmwood Place, Fairfield, Fernbank, Fulton, Glendale, Green Township, Harrison, Lockland, Madisonville, Miami Heights, Monfort Heights, Montgomery, New Haven, North Bend, Norwood, Reading, Sayler Park, Springdale, Springfield Township, St. Bernard, Sycamore Township, The Village of Indian Hill, White Oak, Whitewater

Townships
Anderson, Cincinnati, Colerain, Columbia, Crosby, Delhi, Green, Harrison, Miami, Millcreek (defunct), Spencer, Springfield, Storrs (defunct), Sycamore, Symmes, Whitewater

Neighboring Counties

 * Boone County, Kentucky
 * Butler
 * Campbell County, Kentucky
 * Clermont
 * Dearborn County, Indiana
 * Franklin County, Indiana
 * Kenton County, Kentucky
 * Warren

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Cincinnati

Court
''In the courts outlined below, several state and national courts are included. Depending on the time period, these courts held either original or appelate jurisdiction for Hamilton Co., Ohio. Development of this section is in progress.''


 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records including Minister's Licenses (1963-1975), and Physician Certificates (1919-1987). See also Probate and Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship.
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives holds many of the county's Court of Common Pleas and Probate Court original records. For a partial list of UC Archives holdings, see A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, 6th Edition or Inventory of Government Documents for Eight Counties of Southwest Ohio.
 * The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts maintains the court records of Hamilton County and the Municipal court. Many of the early court records have been moved to the University of Cincinnati Archives or the Cincinnati Historical Society.  The Hamilton County Courthouse has the following records available on microfilm:  Naturalization Records (1850-1893), Declarations of Intent (1842-1926), Court Dockets (1884-present), Certified Judgments (1884-present), Pending Suits (1884-present), Judgments (1884-present), Law Suits and Divorces (1884-1994) and Criminal and Civil Records (1884-present).  The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts website has a searchable database of cases that indexes many of these records. Early records may only contain a list of litigants.  Many cases tried after 1884 involved property or estates from earlier time periods.  It is worthwhile to search the records for all your ancestors.
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives also holds township Justice of the Peace records for the following townships: Cincinnati Twp Civil Docket (1846-1900), Cincinnati Twp Criminal Dockets (1860-1913), Cincinnati Twp Apprenticeship Book (1862-1898), Delhi Twp Criminal Docket (1853-1905), Millcreek Twp Criminal Docket (1853-1863, 1881-1890), Whitewater Twp Civil Docket (1860-1876, 1910-1911), Whitewater Twp Criminal Docket (1860-1931).

Hamilton Co., Ohio Probate Court
Probate matters were handled by different courts in different time periods. See Probate below.

US Federal District Court (1803-present)
The U.S. Federal District Court Records from 1803-1982 are in Record Group 21 at the Chicago Branch of the NARA. The U.S. Federal District Court Records include 7 volumes of Chancery Record Books, 1869-1915. Chancery records can be rich sources of genealogical information as they include the records of disputed estate settlements. The US Federal District Court also has Naturalization Records, 1852-1966.

U.S. Federal Circuit Courts, (1807-1911)
The U.S. Circuit Court Records from 1807-1911 are in Record Group 21 at the Chicago Branch of the NARA. The U.S. Circuit Court Records include 90 volumes of Chancery Record Books, 1828-1911. Chancery records can be rich sources of genealogical information as they include the records of disputed estate settlements.

Directories
The following directories are available online at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County's Virtual Library, Downloadable City Directories: 1819 Farnsworth Cincinnati Directory 1825 Hall Cincinnati Directory 1829 Robinson &amp; Fairbank Cincinnati Directory 1831 Robinson &amp; Fairbank Cincinnati Directory 1834 Deming Cincinnati City Directory 1839-40 Shaffer's Cincinnati Directory 1842 Cist Cincinnati Directory 1843 Cist Cincinnati Directory 1846 Robinson &amp; Jones Cincinnati Directory 1849-50 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1850-51 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1851-52 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1853 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1854 Williams' Cincinnati Directory not published 1855 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1856 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1857 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1858 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1859 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1860 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1861 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1862 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1863 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1864 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1865 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1866 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1867 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1868 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1869 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1870 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1871 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1872 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1873 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1874 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1875 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1876 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1877 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1878 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1879 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1880 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1881 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1882 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1883 Illustrated Business Directory and Picturesque Cincinnati 1883 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1884 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1885 Illustrated Business Directory and Picturesque Cincinnati 1885 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1887 Williams' Cincinnati Directory 1887-88 Illustrated Business Directory and Picturesque Cincinnati 1888-89 Illustrated Business Directory and Picturesque Cincinnati 1892 Illustrated Business Directory and Picturesque Cincinnati 1894 Illustrated Business Directory and Picturesque Cincinnati 1898 Williams' Cincinnati Directory

Genealogy

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

Immigration, Naturalization and Citizenship

 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records including Naturalizations (1856-1906).
 * The UC Archives has indexed Hamilton County Ohio Citizenship Records, 1837-1916. The indexes are available online at their website.

Probate

 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records types including Estates (1791-1984), Wills (1791-1973), Trusts (1791-1984), Guardianships (1791-1984) and Probate Court Journal Entries (1791-1837). Probate Court Journal Entries have been transcribed in Abstract of Book 1 and Book A, Probate Record 1791-1826; Abstract of Book 3, Probate Record 1829-1834; and Abstract of Book 4, Probate Record, 1834-1837. The original books are held by the University of Cincinnati Archives - designated as 'Original Entry Books'.
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives has indexed Hamilton County Ohio Wills, 1791-1901. The indexes are available online at their website.

Vital Records

 * Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch Record Search. 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
 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records types including Births (1863-1908), Marriages (1808-1983), and Deaths (1881-1908).
 * The University of Cincinnati Archives has received an LSTA Grant to Digitize Cincinnati Birth and Death Records. Access to those records is expected in August 2010.

Societies
Hamilton County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society

P. O. Box 15865 Cincinnati, OH 45215-0865 (513) 956-7078 http://chgsohio.org

Many indexes are available at the website.

Libraries
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

800 Vine Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-2009 513-369-6900

Cincinnati Historical Society

1301 Western Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45203 Phone: 513-287-7030 Fax: 513-287-7095 library@cincymuseum.org

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog
 * The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized many of its records and made them available online.

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