Darke County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Darke 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 Miami County 3 January 1809.
 * County Seat: Greenville

Description
The county was named for William Darke, a General in the American Revolution. It's county seat is Greenville and was founded January 3, 1809. It is located in the West-Central area of the state.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. Hometown Locator

The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in Darke County:

Neighboring Counties
Mercer County •  Auglaize County  •  Shelby County  •  Miami County  •  Montgomery County  •  Preble County  •  Shelby County  •  Wayne County, Indiana  •  Randolph County, Indiana  •  Jay County, Indiana

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Bible Records
For an extensive list of resources for Bible Records see Ohio Bible Records.

Biography
All 659 biographies included in The History of Darke County, Ohio published by W. H. Beers ; Co. in 1880 are available free online at: Darke County, Ohio Biographies



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

Church Records
Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Darke County, Ohio Church Records in online catalogs like:


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

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

History
Local histories are available for Darke County, Ohio. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Ohio Local Histories.

Local Histories

 * Wilson, Frazer Ells, History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present… (Milford, Ohio : Hobart Pub. Co., 1974) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archives; available on microfilm at.
 * McIntosh, W.H., The History of Darke County, Ohio, containing a history of the county… (Chicago : W.H. Beers, 1880) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archives; indexed in Index to History of Darke County, Ohio.
 * A Biographical History of Darke County, Ohio: a compendium of national biography (Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co., 1900) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archives.
 * Biographies from The History of Darke County, Ohio (1880) published by W. H. Beers &amp; Co. are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Land and Property

 * 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Darke 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 Darke County.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers


 * 1793-1996 - Ohio Newspapers Index Searchable database. Link to the Ohio Historical Society courtesy of OhioGenWeb

Online Newspaper Abstracts

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.
 * 1817-1878 - Drake County, Ohio Common Pleas Court Records, 1817-1860 at Ancestry ($) Abstracts and miscellaneous sources
 * various years - community contributed wills Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Courthouse
County Courthouse Darke County Courthouse 504 S Broadway Street Greenville, OH 45331 Phone: 937.547.7335  Probate Judge has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage records from 1817 and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1820; County Recorder has land records from 1816 and burial records (veterans graves) from 1832

Family History Centers
Richmond Indiana Family History Center For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory. Put your town name in the top search box.

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

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1800-1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1908-1964 - Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 at ancestry.com ($)
 * various years - community contributed births Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records Original Marriage Records on Microfilm


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Name index to marriage records from the state of Ohio. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and some FamilySearch Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1817-1840 - Darke County, Ohio Marriages at [http:ancestry.com Ancestry.com] ($)
 * various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

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.
 * 1913-1937 - Ohio deaths index link courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * 1927-1996 - Darke County Burial Index Courtesy OhioGenWeb
 * various years - community contributed death records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

 * Darke County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Darke County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Darke County Genealogical Researchers: Large collections of varying types of genealogical records
 * Darke County Genealogical Researchers: Large collections of varying types of genealogical records