Henry County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Henry 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 12 February 1820.
 * County Seat: Napoleon

Description
The county was named for Patrick Henry, the Virginian famous for his "give me liberty or give me death" speech. It's county seat is Napoleon and was founded April 1, 1820. It is located in the Northwestern 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
Williams County •  Fulton County  •  Lucas County  •  Wood County  •  Hancock County  •  Putnam County  •  Defiance County

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
1847  A courthouse fire may have damaged or destroyed some records.

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 HenryCounty, Ohio Church Records in online catalogs like:


 * WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Local Histories

 * Henry County Historical Society, Henry County, Ohio: A Collection of Historical Sketches and Family Histories, (Napoleon, Ohio: Henry County Historical Society, 1976).


 * Aldrich, Lewis Cass, History of Henry and Fulton Counties, Ohio: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, (Syracuse, New York: D. Mason and Co., 1888). Digital copy at Internet Archive


 * Ohio Genealogical Society, Henry County Chapter, Towns and Ghost Towns of Henry County, Ohio: 1794-Present, (Ohio Genealogical Society. Henry County Chapter, 2002).

Land and Property

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

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images


 * Civil War Civil War service men from Henry 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 Henry County.


 * - 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry


 * - 100th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company B

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.
 * various years - community contributed wills Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Courthouse
Henry County Courthouse 660 North Perry Street Napoleon, OH 43545-0546 Phone: 419.592.4876 Probate Judge has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage and probate records from 1847; Clerk Court has divorce and court records 1880; County Recorder has land records from 1835

Family History Centers

 * Ashtabula 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.

Societies
Henry County Genealogical Society

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 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.
 * 1904 and after, several collections - Ohio History Connection death index

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

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