Sandusky County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Sandusky 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 Huron County in 1820.
 * County Seat: Fremont

Description
The county was named for a native word meaning "water" (Wyandot: saundustee). It's county seat is Fremont and was founded February 12, 1820. It is located in the Northcentral area of the state.

Neighboring Counties
Ottawa County • Erie County • Huron County • Seneca County • Wood 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.

Biography
Many histories of individuals can be found at the Sandusky History website.

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.

Lutheran

 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Sandusky County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories

 * History of Sandusky County, Ohio: With Portraits and Biographies of Prominent Citizens and Pioneers,
 * Twentieth Century of History of Sandusky County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens,
 * A History of Sandusky and Erie County,
 * Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens,

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 Sandusky 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 Sandusky County.


 * - 100th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company K


 * - 111th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies A and G


 * Manion, Richard L. Sandusky County, Ohio, Civil War Soldiers. (Fremont, Ohio : Sandusky County Kin Hunters, 1992). Libraries with book., Online Roster of Soldiers from Sandusky County.

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
Sandusky County Courthouse 100 N Park Avenue Fremont, OH 43420-2473 Phone: 419.334.6100 County Health Department has burial, death and burial records; Probate Judge has marriage and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce records from 1820 and court records; County Recorder has land records from 1822

Family History Centers

 * Sandusky 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
The finest source for Sandusky County, Ohio genealogical and historical research is the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library, Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio. The libraey has an obituary search link to the Hayes Presidential Center’s Obituary Index. This index is being expanded to cover many areas of Ohio, not just Sandusky and surrounding counties. The center holds the older probate packets, biographical files, local business records, and has many rolls of microfilm covering most area newspapers. It is available free to researchers and has a small fee for sending obituaries or doing other limited work.

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

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Erie
 * Huron
 * Ottawa
 * Seneca
 * Wood