Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy

United States

Ohio

Harrison County

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

Harrison County, Ohio
Map
Location of Ohio in the U.S.
Courthouse
Address	Harrison County Courthouse 100 West Market Street Cadiz, Ohio 43907 Harrison County Website

Harrison County, Ohio Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1867	1813	1867	1813	1812	1813	1820
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1908. General compliance year is unknown.

• Parent Counties: Formed from Jefferson and Tuscarawas Counties 2 January 1813.
• County Seat: Cadiz

Description

The county was named for General William Henry Harrison, the Hero of Tippecanoe in the War of 1812 and who was later the 9th President of the United States. It's county seat is Cadiz and was founded February 1, 1813. It is located in the Southeastern area of the state.

Places

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:

Villages
Adena Bowerston Cadiz (county seat) Deersville	Freeport Harrisville Hopedale	Jewett New Athens Scio
Unincorporated communities
Georgetown New Rumley	Piedmont Pittsburgh Junction
Census-designated places
Tippecanoe
Townships
Archer Athens Cadiz Franklin Freeport	German Green Monroe Moorefield North	Nottingham Rumley Short Creek Stock Washington

Neighboring Counties

Tuscarawas County  • Carroll County  • Jefferson County  • Belmont County  • Guernsey 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.

Resources

Cemeteries

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

Online Grave Transcripts	Published Grave Transcripts	County Cemetery Directories
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
Interment.net	WorldCat	Names in Stone
USGW Tombstones		Billion Graves
Billion Graves		Epodunk
Ohio Gravestones
Tombstone Photos
See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

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.

Finding More Church Records

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

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).
  

History

Local histories are available for Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy. 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

• McGavran, S.B., A Brief History of Harrison County, Ohio, (Cadiz, Ohio: Harrison Tribune, 1894). Digital copy at Internet Archive FamilySearch Digital Library FHL film 924404 Item 5

• Eckley, H.J., History of Carroll and Harrison Counties, Ohio, (Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing, 1921). Digital copy at Google Books FamilySearch Digital Library FHL film 934879 Items 2-3

• Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Harrison and Carroll, Ohio, (J. H. Beers and Company, 1891). Digital copy at Google Books

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.

• 1790-1907 - Bureau of Land Management database Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Finding More Land Records

Additional land records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy Land and Property Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog(For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

• The Trumbull County Archives/Microfilm department has online maps and deed indexes
  

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)

Military

• 1888-1919 - Ohio Soldier Home Records, 1888-1919 at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War

Civil War service men from Harrison 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 Harrison County.

• 30th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company B
• 98th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies C and F

World War I

• 1914-1919 - Ohio, World War I Statement of Service Cards, 1914-1919 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1914-1918 - Ohio, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1800-1977 - Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy 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.
Online Newspapers
Online Newspaper Abstracts
Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate

Probate records created after 1852 are held by the Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy 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 Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy 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).  Carol Willsey Bell, Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850: An Index (Columbus, Ohio: the author, 1981).FamilySearch Digital Library - 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).

Online Probate Records

• 1786 - 1998 Ohio Wills and Probate Records 1786-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1789 - 1996 Ohio Probate Records 1789-1996 at FamilySearch.org — images
• 1790–1967 - Ohio, Probate Records, 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 theRecord Description page.
  
• various years - community contributed wills Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Finding More Probate Records

Additional probate records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy Probate Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Repositories

Courthouse

Harrison County Courthouse
100 W Market Street
Cadiz, OH 43907-1132
Phone: 740.942.4623

Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1813;
Probate Judge has birth records to 1917, marriage and
probate records; County Health Office has birth records
from 1917, death and burial records; County Recorder
has land records

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

• Wintersville Ohio Family History Center

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

Societies

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

Taxation

• 1800-1950 - Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at FamilySearch — index and images

Finding More Tax Records

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

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch 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 counties 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 Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy 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 Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy Probate Court with divorce records located with the Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy Clerk of Courts.

See also How to order Ohio Vital Records or order vital records electronically online.

Birth

Online Birth Indexes and Records

• 1841-2003 - Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003 at FamilySearch — index and images

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage

• 1789-2013 - Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1800-1958 - Ohio, Marriages, 1800-1958 at FamilySearch — free; Index.
• 1800-1942 - Ohio, Marriages, 1800-1942 at FamilySearch — index

Online Marriage Indexes and Records
Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death

Online Death Indexes and Records

• 1840-2001 - Ohio, County Death 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. Finding More Vital Records

Additional vital records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Harrison County, Ohio Genealogy Vital Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Websites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Harrison County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Harrison County OH Genealogy
• Ohio Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.

Family History Library