Ohio Vital Records

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Introduction to Vital Records
Civil governments have created records of births, marriages, and deaths. Records containing this information are commonly called “vital records,” because they refer to critical events in a person's life. These are the most important documents for genealogical research, but the births, marriages, and deaths of many people have never been recorded by civil authorities.

The practice of recording civil vital statistics developed slowly in the United States. Early vital information was sometimes recorded in brief entries in register books until the twentieth century, when it became more common to create certificates. The federal government has not registered vital records. This responsibility was left to the town/city, county or state agencies.

Each state eventually developed its own laws and created a statewide registration system. Unfortunately, these records do not exist until the early 1900's in most states. Local offices did not always comply immediately with the registration laws. Within 20 years after registration laws were enacted, most states were recording at least 90 percent of the births and deaths.

For more information about United States Vital Records see the United States Vital Records page.

Birth and Death Records
County-level registrations of births and deaths began in 1867 and were kept by the probate court; however, they are incomplete. A few counties have records dating from the 1840s. These records include the names of the parents and their place of residence. The obligatory recording on a state level of births and deaths in Ohio began 20 December 1908. Birth and death records prior to 20 December 1908 are available from the probate court of the county where the event occurred. For more information see the Ohio County Birth Records and Ohio County Death Records pages.

County or City Health Departments
These records are in the county or city health departments. The state-level birth records usually contain a child's name, place and date of birth, sex, race, name and birthplace of father, and maiden name and birthplace of mother. The state-level death records usually include a child's name, place and date of death, sex, age at death, marital state, place of birth, parents, occupation, cause of death, and last residence.

Delayed and corrected registrations of births are also available for many counties at the Family History Library. Another source for vital statistics is the large collection of family Bible and cemetery records compiled by the Daughters of the American Revolution also (see the "Genealogy" page).

The Ohio Department of Health in Columbus has birth records since 20 December 1908 to the present. They can be contacted for copies of records.

Marriage Records
The statewide registration of marriages began 7 September 1949. Records after that date can be obtained from the Division of Vital Statistics. The original marriage records, however, are filed with the probate judge in each county. A statewide index to marriages since 1949 is at the Division of Vital Statistics (address above).

Before statewide registration, individual counties recorded marriages, generally from the date the county was created. These include marriage records, marriage returns, marriage consents of minors by parents, and ministers' license records. Marriage records are considered one of Ohio's most valuable genealogical sources because of their early beginnings and completeness. Marriage records show the names of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage, the county in which the marriage occurred, and the officiating individual. Sometimes there is information about the ages and residences of the bride and groom. Parents are not usually named in records dated before 1900. Each county maintains a marriage index. For more information see the Ohio County Marriage Records page.

For each county in Ohio, the Family History Library has microfilmed the marriage records up to 1910 and some to 1970. Many existing county records of marriages before 1876 have been indexed in the International Genealogical Index, available at the Family History Library and at Family History Centers. However, 25 counties have large information gaps or are not included in this index.

Many early marriage records are published in:


 * Ohio Marriages Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly

For the southwestern region of the state, the Hamilton County, Ohio, marriage records often include the names of couples who lived in the Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky Counties along the Ohio River. A published marriage index for 1817 to 1840 is available at the Family History Library in:


 * Hamilton County, Ohio, Marriage Index

The marriages of those living in the northeastern area of Ohio may be found in:


 * Marriage Notices from the Ohio Observer Series, 1827-1855

The Family History Library has a number of compact discs with vital records information from many states in the Automated Resource Center (ARC). For Ohio, the following may be helpful:


 * Marriage Records This file was acquired from the "Hunting for Bears" collection. Marriage information for Ohio is listed in part two. At the beginning of the list, unknown county records are given. (The introduction to this file gives information regarding the dates listed and the extraction methods used. It is not a complete index of all Ohio marriage records.)


 * Marriage Index The Ohio marriage data was acquired from Liahona, Inc. This CD uses the Soundex code for quick access to surnames and gives references to the Family History Library film number for each entry. The CD lists marriages by county and gives the dates covered.

Divorce Records
Divorce proceedings were usually recorded by the state supreme court before 1852, but petitions were filed in the county court. Since then all records have been kept in the court of common pleas in each county. Records of divorce granted before 7 September 1949 may be recorded in the County Clerk of Courts Office of the county where the divorce was granted. Divorce records since 7 September 1949 are recorded at the Ohio Department of Health in Columbus.

Certified copies of divorce records after 1949 are not available from the Ohio Department of Health. Certified copies of earlier divorce records may be available from the Court of Common Pleas where the divorce was granted. The Family History Library has few of these files. One significant publication is:


 * Ohio Divorces: The Early Years

Many eloping couples went to Cincinnati, Hamilton County, or Aberdeen, Brown County, Ohio to be married and to avoid the waiting period between the time of issuing a license and the performance of the marriage.

Death Records

 * Death records from 1908 to 1953 can be searched on FamilySearch. The site will let you view and save the actual death record.
 * Certificates of Death, 1908-1944; Index, 1908-1911.
 * Death Index, 1908- 1944
 * The Ohio Department of Health in Columbus has death records for Ohio residents who died between January 1945 to the present. They can be contacted for copies of records.
 * Deaths that occurred between 1913 and December 1944 are available at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, copies are available for a small fee.
 * The current fees for obtaining copies of the state's records are listed at: Vital Records
 * Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch – Pilot. 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

Substitute Records

 * Ohio Church Records
 * Ohio Cemetery Records
 * Ohio Census
 * Ohio Newspapers
 * Ohio Military Records
 * Ohio Periodicals

Tips

 * Information listed on vital records is given by an informant. Learn the relationship of the informant to the subject(s) of the record.  The closer the relationship of the informant to the subject(s) and whether or not the informant was present at the time of the event can help determine the accuracy of the information found on the record.
 * If you are unable to locate vital records recorded by governments, search for church records of christening, marriage, death or burial. A family Bible may have been used to record births, marriages, and deaths.
 * Privacy laws may restrict your access to some vital records. Copies of some vital records recorded in the last 100 years may be unavailable to anyone except a direct relative.

Archives, Libraries and Societies

 * Ohio Archives and Libraries
 * Ohio Societies

Family History Library
The Family History Library has microfilms of the vital records of many counties to at least 1908 and some counties to the 1970s. These are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under


 * OHIO, [COUNTY] - VITAL RECORDS.

Vital records at the state level are listed under


 * OHIO - VITAL RECORDS.

Birth, marriage, and death records are listed in the Family History Library Place Search under:


 * OHIO - VITAL RECORDS
 * OHIO, [COUNTY] - VITAL RECORDS
 * OHIO, [COUNTY], [CITY] - VITAL RECORDS

Divorce records are listed in the Family History Library Locality Search under:


 * OHIO - DIVORCE RECORDS
 * OHIO, [COUNTY] - DIVORCE RECORDS

Ohio Vital Records Online Links
These websites contain many, many links to deaths, obituaries and other Ohio records.


 * Ohio Vital Record Batch Numbers by County; OHGen.net
 * Ohio Vital Records Indexes