Putnam County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Putnam 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 Shelby County in 1820 (1834).
 * County Seat: Ottawa

Description
The county was named in honor of Israel Putnam, who was a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War. It's county seat is Ottawa and was founded 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
Defiance County • Henry County • Wood County • Hancock County • Allen County • Van Wert County • Paulding 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.

History


The county is named after Revolutionary War Major General Israel Putnam (1718-1790).

Local Histories

 * Kinder, George D., History of Putnam County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, (Indianapolis, Indiana: B.F. Bowen, 1915). Digital copy at Internet Archive


 * Putnam County Pioneer Association, Centennial History, 1873-1973, (Columbus Grove, Ohio : Heffner Printing, 1973).


 * History of Putnam County, Ohio: Containing Outline Maps, Fifteen Farm Maps, and a History of the County, (Chicago, Illinois: H. H. Hardesty, 1976).


 * Calvin, Marguerite, People and Places: Putnam County, Ohio, 1800-1900, (Defiance, Ohio: Hubbard, 1981).


 * The Putnam County Atlas, 1895: Brief History of the County, Towns, Churches, Crawfis College, Schools, and Other Interesting and Valuable Data, (Ottawa, Ohio: D.W. Seitz and O.C. Talbot, 1895).


 * Verhoff, Roselia Dieters, Putnam County Ohio: History and Families, (Evansville, Indiana: M &amp; T Pub., 2006).

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

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers 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.

Courthouse
Putnam County Courthouse 245 E Main Street Ottawa, OH 45875-1968 Phone: 419.523.3110 Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1834; Probate Judge has marriage and probate records; County Recorder has land records

Family History Centers

 * Lima 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.

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

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

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

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

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