Fairfield County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Fairfield County, Ohio ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.


 * This article is about a county in Ohio. For other uses, see Fairfield (disambiguation).

Ohio Online Genealogy Records

Fairfield County, Ohio Record Dates

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Ross and Washington Counties in 9 December 1800.
 * County Seat: Lancaster

Description
The county was named for a reference to the Fairfield area of the original Lancaster. It's county seat is Lancaster and was founded December 9, 1800. 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. Hometown Locator The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Licking County •  Perry County  •  Hocking County  •  Pickaway County  •  Franklin 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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Bible Records
For an extensive list of resources for Bible Records see Ohio Bible Records.

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

The Fairfield County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society has published readings of all of the cemeteries in Fairfield County. A surname index is available on their website.

Local Histories

 * Scott, Hervey, A complete history of Fairfield County, Ohio, 1795-1876 (Cleveland, Ohio : Siebert &amp; Lilley, 1877) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archives; available on microfilm at ; indexed in Bischoff, Richard, Index to a complete history of Fairfield County, Ohio, 1795-1876 (Columbus, Ohio : Maxwell Publications, c1976).
 * A biographical record of Fairfield County, Ohio, illustrated (New York : S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1902) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archives.
 * Wiseman, Charles M. L., Pioneer Period and Pioneer People of Fairfield County, Ohio (Columbus, Ohio : Heer, 1901) Digital version at Google Books; FamilySearch Digital Library; available on microfilm at.

Land and Property

 * 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database
 * 1801-1899 - Fairfield County Recorder Grantor/Grantee Index
 * 1996-2016 - Fairfield County Recorder Leases, Liens & Misc, Mortgages, Deeds

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Fairfield 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 Fairfield County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, Company F
 * - 114th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies C, H, and K

World War I

 * 1914-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1914-1918 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1916-1920 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Original & Microfilm:
Ohio History Connection Archives Library, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus, Ohio, 43211 Ohio History Online Newspapers Online Newspaper Abstracts
 * American Lancaster gazette - American Lancaster gazette [npdb]. Lancaster, Ohio : Tom S. Slaughter, 1855-1860.
 * Baltimore Fairfield County News (Fairfield) - Baltimore Fairfield County News (Fairfield) [npdb]  Baltimore 1889-1897
 * Baltimore Fairfield Leader (Fairfield) - Baltimore Fairfield Leader (Fairfield) [npdb] Baltimore 1977-1988
 * Baltimore Fairfield Recorder (Fairfield) - Baltimore Fairfield Recorder (Fairfield) [npdb] Baltimore 1970-1974
 * Baltimore News (Fairfield) - Baltimore News (Fairfield) [npdb] Baltimore 1962-1969
 * Baltimore News Recorder (Fairfield) - Baltimore News Recorder (Fairfield) [npdb] Baltimore 1968-1969
 * Baltimore Twin City News (Fairfield) - Baltimore Twin City News (Fairfield) [npdb] Baltimore 1897-1960
 * Bremen Derrick (Fairfield) - Bremen Derrick (Fairfield) [npdb] Bremen 1911-1977
 * The Buckeye news - The Buckeye news [npdb]. Canal Winchester, Ohio : O.P. Gayman
 * Canal Winchester times - Canal Winchester times [npdb]. Canal Winchester, Franklin Co., Ohio : C.M. Gould
 * Lancaster Gazette Search and browse historical pages from the Lancaster Gazette newspaper. The Lancaster Gazette was published in Lancaster, Ohio and with 650 searchable pages from 1936.
 * Lancaster Eagle-Gazette Search and browse historical pages from the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette newspaper. The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette was published in Lancaster, Ohio and with 74,488 searchable pages from 1915 – 2016.
 * Lancaster Daily Eagle (Various years between 1915 - 1963)
 * Lancaster Daily Gazette (1915, 1916, 1926, 1929)
 * Lancaster Eagle Gazette (1927-1928, 1936, 1958-1960, 1962-1963, 1973-1974)
 * Lancaster Gazette (1936)
 * Political Observatory, and Fairfield Register (09/08/1810 – 09/15/1810)


 * various years - community contributed newspaper articles Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Obituaries

 * Pickerington Times-Sun (Pickerington, Fairfield County, Ohio) (09/18/2007 – 04/16/2012)

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and 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

Courthouse
Fairfield County Courthouse 224 E Main Street PO Box 370 Lancaster, OH 43130-3842 Phone: 740.687.7030 County Judge has birth records 1803-1907, marriage, death and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce records from 1860 and court records from 1800; County Recorder  has land records from 1803

Family History Centers

 * Columbus Ohio South Family History Center (Reynoldsburg)

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory. Put your town name in the top search box.

Libraries

 * Fairfield Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society
 * 503 Linwood Dr
 * Lancaster, Ohio, 43130
 * 740-653-2573
 * Wonderful resources, much more so than the Public Library
 * See Fairfieldgenealogy.org


 * Fairfield County District Library

Societies
Fairfield County Chapter of the Ohio 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

Taxation

 * 1800-1950 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1850 Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1806 - Fairfield County 1806 tax list Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records
 * 1841-2003 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1908-1998 Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1998 at Ancestry.com ($) — index


 * various years - community contributed birth records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1800-1958 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Name index to marriage records from the state of Ohio. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and some FamilySearch Centers. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.
 * 1800-1942 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1970-2003 Ohio, Marriages, 1970 - 2003 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

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.
 * 1908-1932, 1938-2018 Ohio, Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018 at Ancestry.com ($) — index and images
 * 1913-1944, 1954-1963 Ohio Death Index, 1913-1944, 1954-1963 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * various years - community contributed death records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

 * USGenWeb for Fairfield County, Ohio
 * Fairfield County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Fairfield County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook

City Websites:

 * Amanda
 * Baltimore
 * Bremen
 * Canal Winchester
 * Carroll
 * Lancaster
 * Millersport
 * Pickerington
 * Thurston

Township Websites

 * Bloom Township
 * Greenfield Township
 * Hocking Township
 * Liberty Township
 * Pleasant Township
 * Pleasant Township
 * Rushcreek Township
 * Violet Township
 * Walnut Township