Hamilton County, Ohio Genealogy

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

Quick Dates
Births and deaths were recorded at the local, county and state level in various time periods. Some births and deaths were recorded in multiple locations and the information in those records varies. Hamilton County's civil records start in the following years:

Boundary Changes
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

 * 1814, 1849, 1884 Courthouse fires may have damaged or destroyed some records.


 * Lost census: 1810

County Clerk of Courts
Hamilton County Courthouse 1000 Main St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 Phone:513-946-5656 Probate Judge has marriage, burial and probate records; County Health Department has death records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1900; County Recorder has land records

Directions and Parking

Online index to Divorces (1994-present), Civil and Criminal Cases (1989-present), Common Pleas (1997-present).

Court of Common Pleas

(513) 946-5800

Hours

Municipal Court

(513) 946-5700

Hours

Probate Court
William Howard Taft Center 230 E. Ninth St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Hours and Location

''Many records are now available online. Archival Records: Estates 1791 - 1984; Wills 1791 - 1973 (index); Trusts1791 - 1984; Guardianships 1791 - 1984: Marriages 1808 - 1983; Minister's License 1963 - 1975; Birth Records 1863 - 1908; Birth Registrations and Corrections 1941 - 1994; Death Records 1881 - 1908; Naturalizations 1856 - 1906; Probate Court Journal Entries 1791 - 1837; Physician Certificates 1919 - 1987. Records are incomplete due to courthouse fires. ''

First District Court of Appeals
William Howard Taft Center 230 E. Ninth St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

(513) 946-3500

Directions

Federal Courts in Hamilton County
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio Office of the Clerk Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse, Room 103 100 East Fifth Street Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Directions and Hours

District Court for Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Highland, Lawrence, Scioto and Warren counties in Ohio.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse 100 East Fifth St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 513-564-7000

U.S. Courts Library

(513) 564-7321

Hours

Directions


 * U.S. Court of Appeals for Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.
 * U.S. Courts Library serves the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, District Courts, and Bankruptcy Courts. The library is NO LONGER a repository for the Federal Depository Library Program.

County Recorder and Auditor
Hamilton County Administration Building 138 E. Court St. Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1236

Recorder's Office

(513) 946-4573

''Land records 1794-present, maps, Veteran's Grave Registrations. "Easy Reference List of Documents Recorded in the Recorder's Office" gives a complete list available records.''

Auditor's Office

(513) 946-4000

''Plats 1939-present. Property search is available on their website by name or address.''

County Health Department
Hamilton County Public Health Department 250 William Howard Taft, 2nd Floor Cincinnati, Ohio 45219 (513) 946-7800 Directions, Genealogical Research

Hamilton County births 1875-present, deaths 1891-present, Reading Health Department records.

Description
The county was named for the first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. It's county seat is Cincinnati and was founded January 2, 1790. It is located in the South-western area of the state.

Parent Jurisdictions
Hamilton County was created 2 Jan 1790 as an original county in the Northwest Territory. In 1803, Ohio became a state with Hamilton County as one of the original counties.

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. [Hereafter referred to as The Guide.]

Board on Geographic Names (BGN) can be searched for the names of populated places in Hamilton County. Search for Hamilton County, Ohio with 'Populated Places' selected as the "Feature Class."

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 County, Ohio  •  Campbell County, Kentucky  •  Clermont County, Ohio  •  Dearborn County, Indiana  •  Kenton County, Kentucky  •  Warren County, Ohio

Family History Library
Addyston, Anderson Twp, Bevis, Bridgetown, Camp Dennison, Carthage, Cincinnati, Colerain Township, College Hill, Columbia Township, Crosby Township, Cumminsville, Delhi Township, Elmwood Place, Fairfield, Fernbank, 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. More may now be available. If the community you are interested is not yet listed here, check the FamilySearch Catalog.

FamilySearch Wiki/Online
Cincinnati

Terrace Park, Ohio Building Survey contains history of every building in the village with stories, photos, census and a deed index. The site also includes genealogy records for former residents.

Resources
For all Resources, please follow the link above. Specific topics:

Directories
Searchable city directories for Hamilton County and surrounding areas are available through the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups
Dabne, Wendell Phillips. Cincinnati's Colored Citizens: Historical Sociological and Biographical - Cincinnati, Ohio: Dabney Pub. Co., C 1926 FHL 977.178 F2d

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

 * Civil War service men from Hamilton 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 Hamilton County.


 * - 11th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company K (Union Rifles)

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers

 * 1818-1920 - Cincinnati Newspapers 1818-1920 - abbreviated Index to Marriage Notices
 * 1818-1920 - Cincinnati Newspapers 1818-1920 - abbreviated Index to Death Notices

Probate Records
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.

Marriage

 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch – free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index

Deaths

 * 1840-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Family History Centers

 * Cincinnati Ohio Family History Center
 * Cincinnati Ohio East Family History Center (Montgomery)
 * Hamilton Ohio Family History Center

Libraries
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County

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

''PLCH is one of the largest genealogical libraries in the country. Very extensive Hamilton County history, genealogy and manuscript sources including a personal name card index to many local histories and manuscript materials.Online resources include: 'Catalog', 'Virtual Library', 'Newsdex'.''

Cincinnati History Library and Archives

1301 Western Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45203 (513) 287-7030

''Large collection of manuscript and microfilm materials including deeds, photographs, directories, census, local histories and military rosters. They have a vital record card index to some of their newspaper and manuscript materials (incomplete coverage). Online resources include: Name Index to Local Histories, Digital Journals, Catalog (incomplete)'and 'Archive and Manuscript Registers (incomplete).''

University of Cincinnati Archives &amp; Rare Books Library

8th Floor Blegen Library P.O. Box 210113 2602 McMicken Circle Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0113 (513) 556-1959 Location and Hours

The University of Cincinnati is the Ohio Network Of American History Research Center ''for Hamilton County. They are the designated repository for government records of Adams, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren Counties in Ohio. The UC Archives has numerous records including the following online indexes: Hamilton County Ohio Citizenship Records 1837-1916, Hamilton County Ohio Wills 1791-1901 and Deaths 1865-1912 (image and index, in progress).''

Societies
Hamilton County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society

Hamilton County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society Blog

P. O. Box 15865 Cincinnati, OH 45215-0865 (513) 956-7078

''Cincinnati Newspaper Death Notice and Hamilton County Marriage Indexes are available on their website. HCGS has numerous publications including the "The Tracer" (journal) and "The Gazette" (newsletter).HCGS sponsors or co-sponsors numerous genealogical events.''

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

Websites

 * Hamilton County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Hamilton County OH Genealogy
 * Hamilton County, Ohio GenWeb
 * Greater Cincinnati Memory Project
 * Virtual Library for Cincinnati and Hamilton County

Upcoming Events
Hamilton County Genealogical Society events can be found on the website:

Calendar of Events

Sources Consulted
The following sources were consulted in creating the Hamilton County, Ohio Wiki and its subpages:

The Handybook of Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002.

Archives and Rare Books Department, University of Cincinnati. Inventory of Government Documents for Eight Counties of Southwest Ohio, Revised Edition. Cincinnati: University of Cincinnati, 1993.

Bell, Carol Willsey. Ohio Guide to Genealogical Sources. [Baltimore]: Genealogical Pub. Co., Inc., 1988.

Cyprych, Deb. "Hamilton County, Ohio, Probate Court Records: Online at Last!." The Tracer 31 (February 2010): 1, 6-9.

Cyprych, Deb. "Hamilton County, Ohio, Vital Records." The Tracer 27 (March 2006): 1, 9-15.

Dempsey, Jim. "TRACER, Article Index, 1979-2008." County Genealogical Society accessed 26 February 2011.

Graver, Bill and Deb Cyprych. "Cincinnati and Hamilton County Directories," The Tracer 27 (September 2006): 65, 71-74.

Graver, William H. Hamilton County, Ohio Guide to Recorder's Indexes and Documents 1794-1988. Milford, Ohio: Little Miami Pub. Co., 2003.

Ohio. Supreme court. Ohio Supreme Court Reports of Cases Argued and Decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio, Vol. 1, 1852-1853. Columbus: Osgood and Blake, 1853.

Sperry, Kim. Genealogical Research in Ohio, 2nd Edition. [Baltimore]: Genealogical Pub. Co., Inc., 2003.

Stratton, Liz. "Probate Court Records Update - Indexes to Vital Records." The Tracer 31 (November 2010): 102.

Terheiden, Connie Stunkel and Kenny R. Burck. Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati; Hamilton Co., Ohio, 6th Edition. Milford: Little Miami Pub. Co., 2009.

Wikipedia."Northwest Territory." Wikipedia. accessed 26 February 2011.