Clark County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Clark 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 Champaign, Greene and Madison counties 26 December 1817.
 * County Seat: Springfield

Description
The county was named for General George Rogers Clark who fought Indians in Ohio in the early Nineteenth Century. It's county seat is Springfield and was founded March 1, 1818. It is located in the West 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
Miami County •  Champaign County  •  Madison County  •  Greene County  •  Montgomery 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.


 * Ferncliff Cemetery. By far, the largest cemetery in Springfield. The cemetery's website has a searchable database.

Harmony Township Cemeteries


 * South Vienna Cemetery, State Route 40, just west of South Vienna.
 * Plattsburg Cemetery, on Plattsburg Road just east of Plattsburg.
 * Wragg Cemetery, located south of Plattsburg Road with no public access.

Genealogy
Miami Valley Genealogy Index is an Index to more than a half million pointers to records all over Miami Valley including Clark County.

Clark County Ohio GenWeb is the Clark County branch of the Ohio GenWeb project. It includes vital records, cemetery transcriptions, census indexes, maps, and other information provided by volunteers.

Clark County Ohio Historical Society is located in the Heritage Center of Clark County, with an extensive library and archives containing local history documents. This is also the location of the Clark County Genealogical Society.

Clark County Public Library has genealogical records on microfilm including census, birth and death records, naturalization records, local newspapers, etc. Also holds city directories beginning in 1852 and some rural directories beginning in 1903.

Local History

 * Prince, Benjamin F. A standard history of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past… (Chicago : American Historical Society, 1922) Volume 1 only digital version at Google Books; Volume 2 only digital verson at Internet Archive; Volume 1 only digital version at and Volume 2 only digital version at ;.
 * Croft, Grace Hildy, The History of Clark County, Ohio: containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men… (Chicago : W.H. Beers, 1881) Digital version at ; ; Index of names in “Index to the history of Clark County, Ohio”.
 * Rockel, William Mahlon, 20th Century History of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens (Chicago, Illinois : Biographical Publishing Co., 1908) Digital version at Google Books; Internet Archive.

Land and Property
Clark County Recorder's Office has a searchable online index beginning in 1988. All prior land records must be searched on location at the A.B. Graham building in downtown Springfield.

Maps

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

 * 1888-1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

 * With Diplomas of Patriotism: African American Civil War Veterans in Ohio by Amy L. Crow (Senior Thesis, The Ohio State University, 2009). This thesis uses Springfield as a case study.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1977 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Online Newspapers Online Newspaper Abstracts


 * Springfield Daily News, Springfield, Ohio See:  Ohio Obituary Index, 1830s-2009, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center - Ancestry $

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 probate extracts and transcriptions Courtesy of OhioGenWeb

Clark County Probate Court 50 E. Columbia Street Springfield, Ohio 45502

Phone:(937) 521-1845 Fax:(937) 328-2589 Email: sweldy@clarkcountyohio.gov

Genealogical resources available:


 * Births and deaths recorded in Clark County from 1867 to August 1908.
 * Marriage records from 1818 to the present.
 * Naturalization records from March 20, 1861, to March 5, 1904 (index at Clerk of Courts Office, Common Pleas Court).
 * Estate records from 1818 to 1985 on microfilm and original records from 1985 to the present.

Hours: M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed on weekends and holidays.

All materials are available to be researched personally. Staff will do lookups and make copies by written request, with a $3.00 fee for each name requested. Extensive genealogical requests cannot be filled and will be forwarded to experienced local researchers.

Courthouse
Clark County Courthouse Ab Graham Building Springfield, OH 45502 Phone: 937.328.2458

Probate Judge has birth, marriage, death, probate and naturalization records. Court Clerk has divorce and court records. County Recorder has land records.

Family History Centers
Dayton Ohio East Family History Center. For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory.


 * Champaign County Library Family History Center

Libraries

 * Clark County Public Library
 * New Carlisle Public Library
 * Fisher Family Library and Archives at the Heritage Center
 * Friends of the Library Genealogical Research Group

Societies

 * Clark County Genealogical Society 117 S. Fountain Avenue Springfield, OH (937) 324-0657, ext. 230 [mailto:Clark.Gen.Soc@gmail.com Clark.Gen.Soc@gmail.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
 * U.S. and Canada Genealogy Research - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join

Taxation

 * 1818 - Tax list Courtesy of OhioGenWeb

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records


 * 1800-1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1821–1962 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This is an incomplete index of extractions of original records and of patron-submitted records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. Information may have been previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.
 * 1856–1909 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. The collection includes a name index and images of county birth records in Ohio. The time period and type of record varies by county.
 * 1800-1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1908-1964 - Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1867-1889 - Clark County Births Courtesy of OhioGenWeb

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records


 * 1789-2013 - at FamilySearch — index and images. Name index and images of county marriage records acquired from local courthouses.
 * 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
 * 1803-1900 - Ohio Marriages, 1803-1900 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1818-1865 - Clark County, Ohio marriage records, 1818-1865 at Ancestry.com ($); book transcription.
 * 1898-1912 - Ohio Marriages at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1970-2007 - Ohio Marriage Index, 1970, 1972-2007 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1818-1929 - Clark County Marriages Courtesy of OhioGenWeb

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1840-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1854–1997 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Name index to death and burial records from the state of Ohio. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. This set contains 2,535,556 records. 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.
 * 1908–1932, 1938–1944, and 1958–2007 - at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. Index of deaths from the Ohio Department of Health in Columbus. Index provided by Ancestry.com.
 * 1908-2007 - Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007 at ancestry.com ($)
 * 1867 - Clark County Deaths in 1867 Courtesy of OhioGenWeb
 * various years - Community contributed death certificate extracts Courtesy of OhioGenWeb

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Divorce

 * 1962-2007 - Ohio Divorce Index, 1962-1963, 1967-1971, 1973-2007 at ancestry.com ($)

Websites

 * Clark County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Clark County OH Genealogy
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook