Williams County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Williams 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 Darke County in 1820 (1824).
 * County Seat: Bryan

Description
The county was named for David Williams, one of the captors of John André in the American Revolutionary War. Williams, a militiaman, was born October 21, 1754 at Tarry-town-on-the-Hudson, NY and enlisted in 1775, serving under General Montgomeryown-on-the-Hudson, NY and enlisted in 1775, serving under General Montgomery. It's county seat is Bryan and was founded April 1, 1820. It is located in the Northwest 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
Fulton County • Henry County • Defiance County • DeKalb County • Steuben County • Hillsdale 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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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

Catholic

 * 1796–2004 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection includes images of parish registers recording the events of baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage, and death in the Diocese of Toledo (Ohio), Roman Catholic Church. These records are accessed by browsing the images by county. In addition to traditional parish registers, this collection includes miscellaneous cemetery records, Books of the Elect, Professions of Faith, Sick Call registers, etc.

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

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


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

History

 * Shinn, William Henry, The County of Williams: A History of Williams County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, (Madison, Wisconsin: Northwestern Historical Assoc., 1905).


 * Writers' Program (Ohio), Bryan and Williams County, Ohio, (Fort Wayne, Indiana: Allen County Public Library, 1984).


 * Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical, (Chicago, Illinois : F.A. Battey, 1882). Digital copy at Google Books


 * Bowersox, Charles A., A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era, Digital copy at Google Books (Fort Wayne, Indiana: Allen County Public Library, 1984).


 * Maynard, Kevin M., Images of America: Williams County, (Chicago, Illinois: Arcadia Publishing, 2008). Digital copy at Google Books

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Williams 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 Williams County.


 * - 100th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company C
 * - 111th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company C

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers The Bryan Times 11,650 issues Jan 23, 1800 - Dec 31, 2007 is online for free through news.google.com/newspapers. Online Newspaper Abstracts Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

The Williams County Public Library has an online obit index Website to the local Williams County newspapers. Email them your index information and your snail mail address to obtain a copy of the obit.

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.

Courthouse
Williams County Courthouse 107 W Butler Street Bryan, OH 43506 Phone: 419.636.8253 County Record Center has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage and probate records 1824-1984, divorce and court records 1824-1977 and naturalization records 1860-1926; County Health Department has birth and death records from 1909

Family History Centers

 * Wauseon 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
William County Public Library 107 E. High Street Bryan, OH 43506

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

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 — free; Index.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index

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

 * Williams County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Williams County OH Genealogy
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.