Knox County, OhioEdit This Page

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Guide to Knox County Ohio genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

	Ohio Online Records

Knox County, Ohio
Map
Location of Ohio in the U.S.
Courthouse
Address	Knox County Courthouse 106 East High Street Mt. Vernon, Ohio 43050 Knox County Website

Historical Facts

• Parent Counties: Formed from Fairfield and Franklin Counties 30 January 1808.^[1]
• County Seat: Mount Vernon
• Neighboring Counties: Knox County, Ohio residents may also have records in ^[2]Richland and Ashland (north) · Licking (south) · Delaware (southwest) · Holmes (northeast) · Morrow (west) · Coshocton (east)

Boundary Changes

Knox County gave up land for the formation of Morrow County in February 1848.  The townships of Chester, Franklin and South Bloomfield went to Morrow County.

See an interactive map of Knox County boundary changes.

Record Loss

Resources

Bible Records

Biography

Business Records and Commerce

Cemeteries

Ankenytown Owl Creek Church of the Brethern Cemetery, Berlin Township; active from 1815–1952. North side of TR 288 (Tims Road), north of Ankenytown.

Bassett Cemetery, Berlin Township; active from 1820–1940. South side of CR 55 (Mishey Road), east of SR 95; 1 mile south of Ankenytown.

Old Ankenytown Cemetery, Berlin Township; active from 1842–1886. South side of TR 396 (Gregg Road), 3/4 mile north of Ankenytown.

Mound View Cemetery, Mount Vernon, Clinton Township; BillionGraves

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

See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Census

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Ohio denominations, view the Ohio Church Records wiki page.

Court Records

Emigration and Immigration

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups

Gazetteers

Genealogy

History

Local histories are available for Knox County, Ohio. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories see the wiki page section Ohio Local Histories.

The county is named for General Henry Knox (1750-1806), Revolutionary War hero, and the nation's first Secretary of War.^[3]

The first white man known to have passed through this area was John Stilly, a white captive of a native tribe, who crossed through in 1779. The "frontier character" Andrew Craig is believed to be the first permanent white settler—arriving before Ohio became a state and remaining until it became "too crowded" about 1809.^[4]

The first settlers who remained in the area were mostly from Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Many of these earliest settlers arrived between 1800-1808, attracted by inexpensive, but fertile, military land.

Local Histories

• Knox County Black History Digital Archives (Kenyon College), African-American History in Knox County, Ohio

• History of Knox County, Ohio, Its Past and Present,...a complete history of Knox County; its townships, city, towns, villages, schools, churches,... etc; a record of its soldiers in the late war (Civil War); portraits of its early settlers and prominent men; biographies and histories of pioneer families; etc. compiled by Norman Newell Hill (published: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham, 1881. 854 p.)

• A History of Knox County, Ohio, from 1779 to 1862 Inclusive: comprising biographical sketches, anecdotes and incidents of men connected with the county from its first settlement: together with complete lists of the senators, representatives, sheriffs and other officers of the county, also of those who have served in a military capacity from its organization to the present time..., by Anthony Banning Norton, (Columbus : R. Nevins, 1862, 424 p.)

Land and Property

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Ohio Land and Property for additional information about early Ohio land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Maps

Military

Civil War

Civil War service men from Knox County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment)that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Knox County.

- 4th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company A (also known as Knox County Guards) and Company B (also known as Union Guards).

For information about these companies, such as muster out rolls, see History of Knox County, Ohio, Its Past and Present starting with p. 290

- 96th Regiment, Ohio Infantry

Company A, roster 

Company B, roster

Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers

Template:OHnewspaper

Obituaries

Periodicals

Probate

Probate records created after 1852 are held by the Knox County, Ohio Probate Court. From 1797 or the creation of the county, probate records were held by the Court of Common Pleas. Most counties transferred all records to the Probate Court, but in some circumstances, Court of Common Pleas records should be searched for records prior to 1852. Most records are housed at the Knox County, Ohio Courthouse. Some records are on microfilm at the Ohio Genealogical Society and the Family History Library. For more complete information about the location of county probate records see:

• Carol Willsey Bell, Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850: An Index (1981). ^[5] FamilySearch Books Online - Free online copy.
  

See the wiki page Ohio Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Content: Probate Records may give the decedent's date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

Record types: Wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records (1867-1908 only).

Public Records

Repositories

Courthouse

Knox County Courthouse
111 East High Street
Mount Vernon, OH 43050-3453
Phone: 740.393.6788 

County Health  Department has birth records from 1908,
death and burial records; Probate Judge has marriage records
from 1803 and probate records; Clerk Court has divorce and 
court records from 1810; County Records has land records^[1]

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
• Mount Vernon Ohio Family History Center

Libraries

Museums

Societies

Taxation

Finding Tax Records at Other Repositories

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Knox County, Ohio Tax Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Although Ohio enacted a statute in 1856 -1857 requiring registration of births, deaths and marriages, many did not comply. A second law was written in 1867 but, again, was not always followed. By 1908, the law was more clearly defined and kept. Any existing birth and death records from 1867 through December 19, 1908 are located at the Knox County, Ohio Probate Court. The Ohio Department of Health has birth records filed after December 20, 1908 and death records filed after January 1, 1954 while the Ohio Historical Society houses death records from December 20, 1908 through December 31, 1953.

Original marriage records are held at the office of the Knox County, Ohio Probate Court with divorce records located with the Knox County, Ohio Clerk of Courts.

Birth

Marriage

Death

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.

Web Sites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog

Places

Populated Places

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), [FHL book 973 D27e 2002].
2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Knox County, Ohio" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_County,_Ohio (accessed 10 May 2012).
3. ↑ "Henry Knox," Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Knox.
4. ↑ A. Banning Norton. A History of Knox County, Ohio, from 1779 to 1862 Inclusive. Columbus: Richard Nevins, Printer (1862)
5. ↑ Carol Willsey Bell, Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850: An Index (Columbus, Ohio: the author, 1981). FamilySearch Books Online - Free online copy.

• This page was last modified on 17 May 2013, at 02:19.
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