Wayne County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Wayne County, Ohio ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Wayne County, Ohio Record Dates

 * Parent Counties: Formed from non-county area in 1808 (1812).
 * County Seat: Wooster

Description
The county was named in honor of General Anthony Wayne, the victor at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. It's county seat is Wooster and was founded January 4, 1812. It is located in the Northeast 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
Medina County •  Summit County  •  Stark County  •  Holmes County  •  Ashland 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

 * In 1828, the first courthouse that had been erected (1818) in Wayne County, Ohio was burned. It is reported that many records and papers were destroyed in this fire. .  There is no known listing of the specific records and papers that were destroyed.  On Tuesday, May 20, 1969, the current courthouse experienced fire damage. .  No listing of any records that may have been damaged or destroyed is known to exist.


 * No known copies of Wayne County, Ohio Tax records from the 1850s and 1860s exist. The only exceptions are a few years that do exist in the early 1860s of Wooster, Ohio. These are photocopies only.  No original records or microfilmed copies of these tax records are known to exist.

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

Genealogy
Wayne County, Ohio Online Resource Center available through the Wayne County Public Library, Genealogy and Local History Department's website.

History

 * Douglass, Benjamin, History of Wayne County, Ohio: From the Days of the Pioneers and First Settlers to the Present Time, (Indianapolis, Indiana: R. Douglas, 1878). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive Ancestry ($)(Indexed)


 * Bowen, B.F., History of Wayne County, Ohio, (Indianapolis, Indiana: B.F. Bowen &amp; Co., 1910). Digital copy at Google Books


 * Howe, Henry, History of Wayne County, Ohio: 1796-1889, (Knightstown, Indiana : Bookmark, 1997), Reprint, 1898.


 * Hauenstein, Edward Harry, A History of Wayne County in the World War and in the Wars of the Past, (Wayne County History Co., 1919). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive


 * Wayne County History Book Committee, A History of Wayne County, Ohio, (Dallas, Texas: Taylor Pub. Co., 1987).


 * Wayne County Historical Landmark Committee, Historic Heritage of Wayne County, Ohio, (Wooster, Ohio: Wayne County Historical Society, 1976.

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Servicemen from Wayne 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 Wayne County.


 * - 4th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company E (also known as Given Guards) with many men from Wooster.
 * - 41st Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company C
 * - 102nd Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies F, H , and I
 * - 107th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company C, especially from the town of Wooster
 * - 166th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (National Guard), Company G

World War I

 * 1914-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1914-1918 - 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 Through the generosity of many donors, several Wayne County, Ohio newspapers are now available online.
 * The Community History Archive of the Wayne County Public Library
 * Newspapers available through the Ohio Historical Connection, Ohio Memory Project
 * Wayne County Democrat - 31 issues, sporadic and incomplete
 * Wooster Daily News: 1906-1913, 1917-1920
 * Wooster Daily Republican: 1917-1920

Obituaries
The most up-to-date obituary index for Wayne County, Ohio Newspapers may be found through Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library Ohio Obituary Index.

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.

Repositories
Wayne County Courthouse 107 W Liberty Street; PO Box 407 Wooster, OH 44691-4850 Phone: 330.287.5590 Probate Court  has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage records from 1813 and probate records from 1812; Board of Health  has birth and death records from 1908; Common Pleas Court Clerk  has divorce and court records from 1812; County Recorder  has land records from 1812.

Family History Centers

 * Wooster 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
Fredericksburg Community Library 108 South Mill Street PO Box 24 Fredericksburg, Ohio 44627 Phone: 330.695.2420

Orrville Public Library 230 North Main Street Orrville, Ohio 44667 phone: 330.683.1065

Wayne County Public Library Genealogy and Local History Department 220 West Liberty Street PO Box 1349 Wooster, OH 44691 phone: 330.262.0916 email: genealogy@wcpl.info

Museums

 * The Buckeye Agricultural Museum and Education Center opened in 2018. It is located across from the Wayne County (OH) Fairgrounds at 199 Vanover Street, in Wooster, Ohio.


 * The Ken Miller Supply Oil & Gas museum is located at 7920 Shreve Rd (State Route 226) north of Shreve, Ohio.

Societies
The Wayne County Historical Society is located at 546 East Bowman Street in Wooster, Ohio. It was originally part of the Wooster Public Library and Museum located at 304 North Market Street in Wooster, Ohio. The Wayne County Historical is only one of many local historical societies in the county.

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.

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

 * 1800-1950 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records
 * 1841-2003 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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

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, windowed or divorced, occupation of deceased.

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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