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

	Ohio Online Records

Washington County, Ohio
Map
Location of Ohio in the U.S.
Courthouse
Address	Washington County Courthouse 205 Putnam St. Marietta, Ohio 45750 Washington County Website

Historical Facts

• Parent Counties: Formed from unorganized land in 1788.
  
• County Seat: Marietta
   
• Neighboring Counties: Washington County, Ohio residents may also have records in ^[1]Noble (north) · Wood County, West Virginia (south) · Athens (west) · Morgan (northwest) · Pleasants County, West Virginia (southeast) · Tyler County, West Virginia (east)

Boundary changes

See an interactive map of Washington County boundary changes.

Record Loss

Resources

Bible Records

Biography

Business Records and Commerce

Cemeteries

• Cemeteries
• Washington County, Ohio Cemetery Index
• Washington County, Ohio
• Cemetery Index
• The Tombstone Transcription Project
• Washington County Cemeteries
• Ohio Cemetery Records $
• The Political Graveyard
• Epodunk Cemetery List
• Ohio Gravestones
• Find a Grave
• Ohio Tombstone Photo Project

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

See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Census and Directories

• Census Index
• U. S. City Directories for Marietta $

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.

• The Parish Register of St. Luke's Church Burials
• The Parish Register of St. Luke's Church Baptisms
• Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Vol. IV: (Ohio Monthly Meetings) $

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Washington County, Ohio Church Records in online catalogs like:

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

Court Records

Emigration and Immigration

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups

Funeral Homes

• Marietta Times $

Gazetteers

Genealogy

History

Local histories are available for Washington 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.

Local Histories

• Biographies, Oral Histories, Diaries, Memoirs, Genealogies
• Washington County History
• Washington County Pioneers
• Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Early Pioneer Settlers of Ohio

Template:FSbook101901

• A History of Belpre, Washington County, Ohio, 1920
• Washington County Histories
  

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.

• Locations in Washington County
• Washington County Land Records
• Bureau of Land Management-General Land Office Records

Maps

• Washington County Maps
• Maps and Gazetteers

Military

Civil War

Civil War service men from Washington 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 Washington County.

Sams, Catherine J. (Catherine Jean Lewis). 1890 census, veterans & widows of the Civil War, Washington County, Ohio. (Caldwell, Ohio : F & L Enterprises, 1989) FHL Book 977.198 X2s

- 1st Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, Company L

- 36th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies A, F, and G

• MIlitary Records for Ohio Counties
• Daughters of the American Revolution. Marietta Chapter (Marietta, Ohio). Revolutionary soldiers buried in Washington County, Ohio : containing military records and short history of lives. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1973. FHL Collection
  
• Civil War - Fallen Soldiers From Washington County, Ohio.  Taken from The History of Washington Co., Ohio 1778-1881 by H. Z. Williams    (Partial List - 624 Names)
• 1890 Census for Civil War Veterans & Widows - Duhham Twp, Washington County, Ohio
  
  

War of 1812

Martin, Eleanor, Veterans, War of 1812 (Ohio, E. Martin 1992) page 34 FHL Book 977.1 A1

Naturalization and Citizenship

Newspapers

Washington County, Ohio newspapers may contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings.

To access newspapers, contact public libraries, Ohio Genealogical Society chapters, college or university libraries, the Library of Congress, Google News, or the Ohio Historical Society. The Ohio Genealogical Society Obituary Database is another source of newspaper information.

For more Ohio newspaper information see the Newspaper Guides on the wiki page Ohio Newspapers.

• Old Marietta Papers
• Marietta Register
• Obituaries and Death Notices
• NewsandSentinel
• The Marietta Register
• Marietta College Special Collections

Obituaries

• Obituaries and Death Notices

Periodicals

Probate

Probate records created after 1852 are held by the Washington 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 Washington 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). ^[2] 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).

• Abstracts of wills and administrations of estates of Washington County, Ohio at Ancestry.com ($) Abstract

• Abstract of Probate records, Washington County, Ohio at Ancestry.com($) abstract

• Abstracts of Wills & Administrations
  

• Washington County Wills & Estates
  

• Abstract of Probate Records, Washington County, Ohio $
  

• Abstract of Probate Records, Washington County, Ohio: Wills, Estates & Guardianships (1789-1855) $
  

• Gateway to The West, Vol. II $

Public Records

Repositories

Courthouse

Washington County Courthouse
205 Putnam Street
Marietta, OH 45740
Phone: 740.373.6623

Probate Judge has birth and death records from 1867,
marriage and probate records from 1789; Clerk Court has
divorce and court records from 1795; County recorder has
land records^[3]

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Libraries

• Washington County Public Libraries

Museums

• The Henry Fearing House Museum
• Ohio River Museum

Societies

• Washington County Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society
• Washington County Historical Society of Ohio
• Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen Organized to perpetuate the memory of pioneer rivermen and river history. (Not a lineage-based organization)
• The Ohio Historical Society Campus Martius
• The Castle

Schools

Taxation

Ohio tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses before 1820 or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information see the wiki page Ohio Taxation.

• 1800–1850 Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. Name index of tax records as recorded with the County Auditor of each county. Entries are recorded in voucher books, one person per page. The majority of the tax records in this collection are for the years 1816 through 1838. Currently (September 2012) this collection is 17% complete. Additional records will be added as they are completed.
  

Finding Tax Records at Other Repositories

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington County, Ohio Probate Court with divorce records located with the Washington County, Ohio Clerk of Courts.

Birth

Marriage

• Marriages 1789-1882

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
• Genealogy Trails

Places

Populated Places

Adams, Alden, Archers, Archers Fork, Aurelius
Barlow, Bartlett, Bevertown, Beckett, Belpre
Bevan, Beverly, Blennerhassett View, Bonn, Briggs
Caywood, Churchtown, Clifton, Coal Run, Constitution Corner
Cornerville, Cow Run, Cutler, Dale, Dalzell
Dart, Decatur, Decaturville, Dell, Deucher
Devola, Dunbar, Dunham, East Norwood, Elba
Equity, Fairfield, Fay, Fearing, Fillmore
Fleming, Gasville, Germantown, Glass, Gracey
Grandview, Harmar, Hayward, Heslop, Hills
Hohman, Independence, Layman, Leith, Liberty
Little Hocking, Locust Fork, Lowell, Lower Newport, Lower Salem
Ludlow, Luke Chute, Macksburg, Marietta, McAvan
Moore Junction, Moss Run, Murphy, Napier, New Matamoras
Newell Run, Newport, Norwood, Oak Grove, Patten Mills
Pinehurst, Porterfield, Qualey, Rainbow, Rathbone
Redbush, Relief, Reno, Riverview, Rockland
Sandhill, Schley, Shay, Sitka, Springdale
Stanleyville, Steel Run, Swift, Tick Ridge, Unionville
Upper Lowell, Veto, Vincent, Wade, Warner
Waterford, Watertown, West Marietta, Wesley, Whipple, Wingett Run, Wolf Creek,Yankeeburg

• Washington County Townships & Cities

Neighboring Counties

• Athens
• Monroe
• Morgan
• Noble
• Pleasants County, West Virginia
• Tyler County, West Virginia
• Wood County, West Virginia

References

1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Washington County, Ohio" in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_County,_Ohio (accessed 10 May 2012).
2. ↑ Carol Willsey Bell, Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850: An Index (Columbus, Ohio: the author, 1981). FamilySearch Books Online - Free online copy.
3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Washington County, Ohio. Page 546 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.

• This page was last modified on 17 May 2013, at 20:10.
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