Franklin County, Indiana Genealogy

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

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Created by a legislative act dated November 27, 1810. Formed 1 Feb 1811 from Clark and Dearborn.
 * County Seat:  Brookville

Description
The county was named in honor of the distinguished Benjamin Franklin. It's county seat is Brookville and was founded November 27, 1810. It is located in the South 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
Union •  Fayette  •  Rush  •  Decatur  •  Ripley  •  Dearborn  •  Butler  •  Hamilton  •  Preble

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Indiana County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Indiana County Boundary Maps" (1790-1873) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
Feb. 1852 Franklin County courthouse was destroyed by fire, but no records were lost.

Cemeteries

 * Cemetery - Linkpendium

Census Records

 * Index to Mortality Schedule (1860) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)
 * Index to Defective, Dependent &amp; Delinquent Census (1880) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)
 * Franklin County Census Records - INGenWeb

Church Records

 * Members of Big Cedar Grove Baptist Church (1817-1835) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Diaries
Jerome Wiley's Journal Franklin County, Indiana 1841-1891

Directories

 * Directory of Businesses in Franklin County (1858, 1868) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)
 * Directory of Selected Residents of Franklin County (1876) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)
 * Residents of Indiana Masonic Home (1930) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Local Histories

 * Every Name Index to History of Franklin County, Indiana. Every Name Index compiled by Cathy L. O'Connor, 2007; original text by August Jacob Reifel, 1915; reproduction by Unigraphic, Inc., 1971.  EveryNameIndex.com
 * History of Franklin County - Linkpendium
 * Biographical and Genealogical History of Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin Counties, Indiana. (Indianapolis, Ind: Frederic Luther Co, 1980).977.26 H2b 977.26 H2b v. 2 FHL US/CAN Book   other libraries   vol. 1 INTERNET ARCHIVE


 * Reifel, August J. History of Franklin County, Indiana; Her People, Industries and Institutions. (Indianapolis, Ind: B.F. Bowen, 1915.) FHL US/CAN Film 934904 Item 3   other libraries    INTERNET ARCHIVE

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Indiana
 * Maps and Gazetteers -Linkpendiun
 * Maps of Franklin County Location - INGen Web

Military Records

 * Franklin County Military Records - INGenWeb
 * Military Records and Histories - Linkpendium

Civil War
Civil War service men from Franklin 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 Franklin County


 * 4th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company B
 * 7th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company G
 * 13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C, and Reorganized Company A
 * 18th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
 * 37th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B, and Reoganized B
 * 52nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies F, anf H
 * 68th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, C, G, H, and I
 * 83rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
 * 123rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, D, I, and K
 * 134th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company H
 * 139th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company B
 * 146th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
 * 148th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, and B

Civil War Books


 * "Civil War" in "Military History of Franklin County" Chapter 12 of Reifel, August J. History of Franklin County, Indiana; Her People, Industries and Institutions. (Indianapolis, Ind: B.F. Bowen, 1915.), (page 292-315, Regiment, Companies, some Name's) FHL US/CAN Film 934904 Item 3   other libraries    INTERNET ARCHIVE

World War I (The Great War), 1914-1918

 * 1919 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Occupations

 * Roster of Civilian Conservation Corps, Brookville (1938) ($, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1798 – 1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Probate records are court records created after an individual’s death that relate to a court’s decisions regarding the distribution of the estate to the heirs or creditors and the care of any dependents. These documents are important to family history researchers because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept. While probate records are one of the most accurate sources of genealogical evidence, they have limitations. The Circuit Court has responsibility for the probate records of Franklin County.

The following Franklin County probate records have been indexed and abstracted:


 * Franklin County Inventories provides transcribed probate inventories indexed by date.
 * The University of Mary Washington has indexed and transcribed probate inventories for Dearborn, Franklin, and Ripley counties.

Courthouse
Franklin County Courthouse 634 Main Street Brookville, IN 47012-1405 Phone: 765.647.3322

County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1811. County Recorder has land records from 1811. County Health Department has birth and death records from 1882. Public Library has cemetery records from from 1817 and naturalization records from 1820.

Societies
Franklin County Historical Society Route 4, Box 52 Brookville, IN 47012

Franklin Historical Society PO Box 342 Brookville, IN 47012-0342 Email: [mailto:FranklinCountyHistSoc@gmail.com focogensoc@netscape.net] Website

Franklin Township Historical Society P.O. Box 39015 Indianapolis, IN 46239

Family History Centers

 * Batesville Indiana Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the family history center directory.

Vital Records

 * Franklin County Vital Record - INGenWeb
 * - see - Vital Record - Linkpendium

Marriage Records

 * 1800s-2007 - Indiana, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1780-1992 - FamilySearch
 * 1802-1892 Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892 - Ancestry.com $
 * 1811-2007 at FamilySearch — index and images

Death Records

 * 1882-1920 at FamilySearch Historical Records - Index only
 * 1899-2011 Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry - ($), index and images
 * Indiana State Digital Archives
 * Deaths at Indiana Masonic Home (1930-1931) Indiana Genealogical Society $

Websites

 * Franklin County, IN History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Indiana Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Indiana Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * EveryNameIndex.com  Free online genealogy indexes for those big old county histories.
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Franklin County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Franklin County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)