Medina County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Medina 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 Portage and County 18 February 1812.
 * County Seat: Medina

Description
The county was named for Medina, Saudi Arabia. Its county seat is Medina and was founded February 18, 1812. It is located in the north-central area of the state.



Medina County was a part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. The Reserve was a part of northeast Ohio originally intended for settlement by Revolutionary War refugees from Connecticut. The former Connecticut Western Reserve lands were in the modern counties of Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Huron, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage, and Trumbull fully, but also in parts of Ashland, Mahoning, Ottawa, Summit, and Wayne counties in Ohio.

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
Lorain County • Cuyahoga County • Summit County • Wayne County • Ashland 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.

Local Histories

 * History of Medina County, (Fostoria, Ohio: Gray Print. Co., 1948).


 * Sheffer, Josephine C. History of Medina County and Ohio: Containing a History of the State of Ohio, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time,(Chicago, Illinois: Baskin &amp; Battey, 1881). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive ''


 * Northrop, Nira B., Pioneer History of Medina County, (Medina, Ohio: G. Redway, 1861). Digital copy at Google Books Internet Archive Ancestry ($)(Indexed)

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

 * 166th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (National Guard), Companies B, D, E, and F

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers Online Newspaper Abstracts Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

The following newspapers are available at the Medina County District Library (1) Medina County Gazette 1855-present (2) Medina County Sentinel 1899-1961 (3) Seville chronicle 1948-1984

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
Medina County Courthouse 93 Public Square Medina, OH 44256 Phone: 330.723.3641

Probate Court has birth and death records to 1909, marriage and probate records; County Health Department Health Department has birth and death records from 1909; Clerk Court has divorce and Court Recordsc from 1818; County Recorder has land records

Family History Centers

 * Medina 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

 * Medina County District Library 210 South Broadway Street Medina, Ohio 44256 Phone: 330-725-0588 Website This library has a dedicated Local History Genealogy Collection located in the Franklin Sylvester Room of this library, which includes film readers and copy machines.


 * Western Reserve Historical Society Research Library Cleveland History Center 10825 East Boulevard Cleveland, OH 44106 The premier repository for Cleveland, Ohio and Connecticut Western Reserve history material. One of the principal strengths is its manuscript collections.

Societies

 * Medina County Genealogical Society PO Box 804 Medina, OH 44258-0804 Email: [mailto:president@medinacoogs.org president@medinacoogs.org] Website


 * Medina County Historical Society 206 North Elmwood Street Medina, OH 44256 Phone: 330-722-1341 Email: [mailto:mchs@zoominternet.net mchs@zoominternet.net]

For more information on meetings and collections, http://www.medinahistorical.com/.

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

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

FamilySearch has deaths indexes and images of registers (not certificates) 1867-1909 online.


 * 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.

Websites

 * Medina County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Medina County OH Genealogy
 * USGenWeb project: Has maps, name indexes, history, Census, County Records, Newspaper films, and other information for this county.
 * Medina County (Rootsweb)