Holmes County, Ohio Genealogy

United States

Ohio

Holmes County

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

Holmes County, Ohio
Map
Location of Ohio in the U.S.
Courthouse
Address	Holmes County Courthouse 1 East Jackson Millesburg, Ohio 44654 Holmes County Website

Holmes County, Ohio Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1867	1825	1867	1825	1808	1825	1820
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1908. General compliance year is unknown.

• Parent Counties: Formed from Coshocton, Tuscarawas, and Wayne Counties 20 January 1824.
• County Seat: Millersburg

Description

The county was named after Andrew Holmes, an officer killed in the War of 1812. It's county seat is Millersburg and was founded January 20, 1824. It is located in the Mid-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:

Villages
Baltic Glenmont Holmesville	Killbuck Loudonville	Millersburg (county seat) Nashville
Unincorporated communities
Big Prairie Charm	Farmerstown Lakeville	Mount Hope Unionville
Census-designated places
Berlin Lake Buckhorn	Walnut Creek Winesburg
Townships
Berlin Clark Hardy Killbuck Knox	Mechanic Monroe Paint Prairie Richland	Ripley Salt Creek Walnut Creek Washington

Neighboring Counties

Ashland County  • Wayne County  • Stark County  • Tuscarawas County  • Coshocton County  • Knox 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
OHGenWeb Tombstone Photos
Ohio Gravestones
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.

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Nashville

Finding More Church Records

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Holmes 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).
  

Court Records

• 1825-1900 - Holmes County Civil Court index Courtesy OHGenWeb

History

Local histories are available for Holmes 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

• Holmes County Historical Society, Holmes County Historical Sketches: Ohio Bicentennial Edition, 1803-2003, (Holmes County Historical Society, 2002). FHL fiche 6007465; book 977.164 H2ho

• Holmes County History Book Committee, Holmes County Ohio to 1985, (Salem, West Virginia: Walsworth Pub. Co., 1985). FHL book 977.164 H2hc

• Egger, Donald, Holmes County, Ohio: Flashes from the Past, (Library Archives of Holmes County, 1963). FHL book 977.1 A1

Land and Property

Finding More Land Records

Additional land records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Holmes 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 Morgan 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 Morgan County.

- 102nd Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies A and G

- 166th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (National Guard), Companies A, I and K

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
• 1916-1920 - Ohio, WWI Index and Return Cards, 1916-1920 at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

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

Newspapers

Holmes 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 Holmes 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 Holmes 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).

Probate Records: Civil, Criminal, Guardianships, Probate and Wills

• Holmes Co.- OHGenWeb
• Select Court Indexes. There are five choices to browse: Civil, Criminal, Guardianship, Probate and Wills
• For any Civil, Criminal or Guardianship record, as of this writing, the record must be pulled locally at the Genealogy Department of the Holmes County Library
• For Probate and wills, you can log the information from the index and go to FamilySearch to obtain the actual record:
• FamilySearch wiki – search ‘Holmes County’
• Select ‘Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996’ [1]
• Identify the category that your document is in, for example if you want will #1200, then select ‘Wills 1895-1910, no 940-1339’

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 the Record Description page.
  
• 1852-1900 - Holmes County Probate Court index Courtesy OhioGenWeb
• 1825-1920s - Holmes County Will index Courtesy OhioGenWeb

Finding More Probate Records

Additional probate records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Holmes 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

Holmes County Courthouse
1 East Jackson Street
Millersburg, OH 44654
Phone: 330.674.0286 

Probate Court has birth and death records 1867-1982,
marriage and probate records from 1825 and naturalization
records; Clerk Circuit has divorce and court records;
County Recorder has land and military records; County
Library has burial and census 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

• Wooster 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 Holmes 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 Holmes 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 Holmes County, Ohio Genealogy Probate Court with divorce records located with the Holmes 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

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

• 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
• various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

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.
• various years - community contributed marriage records Courtesy OhioGenWeb Archives

Finding More Vital Records

Additional vital records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Holmes 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

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

Family History Library