Muskingum County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Muskingum 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 Fairfield and Washington Counties 7 January 1804.
 * County Seat: Zanesville

Description
The county was named is based on a Delaware American Indian word translated as "town by the river" or "elk's eye". It's county seat is Mount Gilead and was founded March 1, 1804. It is located in the Mid-Central 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
Coshocton County •  Guernsey County  •  Noble County  •  Morgan County  •  Perry County  •  Licking County

Boundary Changes

 * A part of the county was returned to Fairfield County 1817.
 * Parts set off to create Coshocton 1810, Guernsey 1810, Morgan 1817.

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

 * Pioneers of Muskingum County, Ohio

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

LDS Cemetery Records (rural or uncertain specific location) Vol. 1, page 139 - South Adamsville

Roman Catholics

 * The Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Ohio Archives 6616 Beechmont Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45230 Telephone: 513-231-0810 website: Archives Genealogy Research


 * St. Nicholas Catholic Church 925 E. Main St. Zanesville, OH 43701

Lutherans

 * Records kept by Carl Louis Wagner, Lutheran minister, 1920-1965 Contains baptisms, confirmations, funerals and weddings in the following locations.
 * Brandywine and Sugar Grove, Pendleton County, West Virginia
 * Zanesville and Philo, Muskingum County, Ohio
 * Eagleport, Morgan County, Ohio
 * Lake Township, Fort Wayne, Indiana
 * Dixon and Amboy, Lee County, Illinois
 * Muskingum County OHGenWeb Project has additional information about various church groups and their records.

Baptists

 * 105 South 6th Street
 * Zanesville, Ohio 43701-3608
 * Phone: (740) 452-1620

Methodists
On Prospect Church Road (County Road 99). Has cemetery beside it, see 'Cemeteries' below for link with Google map, headstone images.

Directories
Muskingum County, Ohio Online Historical Directories - identifies historical city, county, business and other directories available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Gazetteers

 * United States Geographic Survey Place Names - GNIS for Muskingum County (may not always be present in alphabetic order on first try.)

History
Home of the "Y" Bridge which crosses the Muskingum and Licking Rivers. The Ohio government authorized the creation of Muskingum County on January 7, 1804 and the County of Muskingum was established on 1 March 1804. Muskingum County was named from the Delaware Indian word meaning “a town near the river”.

Local Histories

 * Everhart, J.F., History of Muskingum County, Ohio: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Pioneers, (Columbus, Ohio: J. F. Everhart, 1882). Digital copy at Internet Archive


 * Ohio Genealogical Society, Muskingum County, Ohio Families and History, 1803-2003, (Evansville, Indiana: M.T. Pub. Co., 2005).


 * Sutor, J. Hope, Past and Present of the City of Zanesville and Muskingum County, Ohio, (Chicago, Illinois: S.J. Clarke, 1905). Digital copy at Google Books

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)
 * 1866 Atlas of Muskingum County Ohio.

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Muskingum 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 Muskingum County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, Company B, also known as "Laughlin's Cavalry"
 * - 1st Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company H, also known as the Zanesville Guards
 * - 97th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies E, F, G, and K

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Muskingum County Libraries, Ohio State University Library, and the Ohio Historical Society are all resources for historical newspapers. Over the years Zanesville has had it's newspaper change names many times. This Historical Newspapers article lists the names of early newspapers for Adamsville, Dresden, New Concord, and Zanesville.

Online Newspapers


 * The Zanesville Times Recorder 34 S. Fourth St. Zanesville, OH 43701 Telephone: (740) 452-4561
 * Coshocton Tribune 550 Main Street Coshocton, OH 43812 Telephone: (740) 622-1122

Online Newspaper Abstracts Online obituaries since 27 Dec 2001. 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.

County Courthouse
Muskingum County Courthouse 401 Main Street Zanesville, OH 43701 Phone: 740.455.7104 Probate Court has birth and death records 1867-1908, marriage and probate from 1804 and naturalization records; County Recorder has land records from 1803 and and military records from 1865; Clerk Court has divorce and court record from 1804

Family History Centers

 * Zanesville 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


 * 1800-1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at ancestry.com ($)


 * 1908-1964 - Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 at ancestry.com ($)

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

 * Muskingum County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Muskingum County OH Genealogy
 * The Muskingum County OHGenWeb Project, an member of The OHGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Muskingum County.