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County Courthouse

Kosciusko County Courthouse
121 N Lake Street
Warsaw, IN 46580
Phone: 219.372.2331

County Health Department has birth and death records from 1882.
County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1836.
County Recorder has land records
Township Trustees have burial records. ^[1]

History

Parent County

1835--Kosciusko County was created 7 February 1835 from Elkhart and Cass Counties.
County seat: Warsaw ^[2]

Boundary Changes

Kosciusko County, Indiana was named for General Kosciusko who was instrumental in winning the Revolutionary War.  In 1781, General Green had laid siege to Ninety Six, in South Carolina. It was in this siege that the Polish General Kosciusko, who had joined the Army, particularly distinguished himself; his conduct on this and as on all other occasions contributed to win the highest esteem of General Washington.

Thaddeus Koscusko, so greatly distinguished in the American Revolution, was born in Lithuania in 1755, of an ancient and noble family, and educated at the military school in Warsaw. His studies were completed in France. By the recommendation of Ben Franklin, he came to America, where Washington appointed him as one of his aids. He was appointed an engineer, with the rank of Colonel in October, 1779. He fortified the camp of general Gates, in his campaign against Burgoyne, and was afterwards sent to West Point, to erect the works there. He stood high in the esteem of both the American and French Officers. He was admitted a member of the Cincinnati, and received the thanks of Congress for his service. At the close of the Revolutionary War, he returned to his native country and was made a Major General under Punistowski. He fought several battles with great bravery, but all his efforts were destroyed by the miserable conduct of the Polish diet.

He was made Generalissimo in 1794 at the outbreak of a new Revolution. He conducted the war with great bravery until he was overpowered and made prisoner by the Russians. The Russians carried him to St. Petersburg and Catharine kept him in close confinement. He was released at the death of Catherine. He was given honors and offered employment in the Russian Service which he declined. The Russian Emperor presented him his own sword but Kosciusko stated, “I no longer need a sword, since I have no longer a country.”

He visited the United States in 1797 and received a grant from Congress for his services. The latter part of his life was spent in Switzerland, where he died in 1817.

Record Loss

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Pierceton--Washington Township

Neighboring Counties

• Elkhart
• Fulton
• Marshall
• Noble
• Wabash
• Whitley

Resources

Biographies

Kosciusko County, Indiana Biographies are available online.

Cemeteries

• Cemeteries of Kosiusko County - Linkpendium

Census

For tips on accessing Kosciusko County, Indiana census records online, see: Indiana Census.

• Kosciusko County, Indiana Census Records are available online.
• Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Kosciusko County, Indiana (1880) (members only database, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Church

Court

Directory

• Directory of Businesses in Koscuiusko County, Indiana (1858) (members only database, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Land

Kosciusko County, Indiana Original Tract Book are available online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana Index to Deed Books 1 to 10: 1836- May, 1952 are availabe online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana Land Record Research are available online.

Local Histories

• Every Name Index to Biographical and Historical Record of Kosciusko County, Indiana.  Every Name Index compiled by Cathy L. O'Connor, 2007; original text published by the Kosciusko County Historical Society, 1980.  EveryNameIndex.com

• Hillis, L. B. Kosciusko County, Indiana: Early History, Biographical Sketches. ([S.l.]: Reub Williams, 1911.) 977.282 H2k FHL US/CAN Book FHL Collection    other libraries    INTERNET ARCHIVE
  

• Royse, L. W. A Standard History of Kosciusko County, Indiana: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development : a Chronicle of the People with Family Lineage and Memoirs. (Agawan, MA: Bridgeport National Bindery, 2008.) 977.282 D3bi FHL US/CAN Book  FamilySearch Books Online; FHL Collection  other libraries
• History of Kosciusko County - Likpendium

Maps

Kosciusko County, Indiana Combination Atlas Map 1879 are available online.

Military

• Kosciusko County, Indiana Civil War Soldiers are available online.
• Veterans in Kosciusko County, Indiana (1913) (members only database, Indiana Genealogical Society)

Civil War
Civil War service men from Kosciusko 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 Kosciusko County.

• 4th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company A
• 5th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers), Company M
• 7th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company I
• 12th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company I
• 12th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E, and Reorganized Company I
• 13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company D
• 20th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 23rd Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 26th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 30th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B, and Reorganized Company E
• 44th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, and D
• 48th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G
• 74th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, F, I, and K
• 118th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (6 months, 1863-4), Company A
• 128th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G
• 129th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies G, H, I, and K
• 152nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, B, and D

Civil War Books

• "The County In Three Wars" Chapter 12 in Royse, L. W. A Standard History of Kosciusko County, Indiana: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development : a Chronicle of the People with Family Lineage and Memoirs. (Agawan, MA: Bridgeport National Bindery, 2008.), ( page 203-253; Regiment) 977.282 D3bi FHL US/CAN Book  FHL Collection  other libraries       Family History Archives         INTERNET ARCHIVE

Newspapers

Kosciusko County, Indiana Obituaries are online.

Probate

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. You may find the names of married daughters or other relatives and their residences; or information about the adoption or guardianship of minor children and dependents. Probate records do not always give an exact date of death, but the death usually occurred within four months of probate. These documents are important to family history researchers, because they usually exist for time periods before civil birth and death records were kept.

The Circuit Court has responsibility for the probate records of Kosciusko County.

The following Kosciusko County probate records have been indexed or abstracted:

• The Kosciusko County page of USGenWeb has an Index to Wills 1844 - 1920, an Index to Estate Inventories and Administrations 1852 - 1975, and an Index to Guardianship Reports 1871 - 1964.

Taxation

Vital Records

Kosciusko County, Indiana Birth Records from 1882-1920 are available online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana Delayed Birth Records1858-1935 are available online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana Marriage Records from 1836-1921 are available online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana Divorce Records from 1908-1933 are available online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana Death Records from 1882-1920 are available online.

Kosciusko County, Indiana County Farm Records, 1879-1953 are available online.

• Indiana State Digital Achives for Death, E-Publication, Instiution, Military, Misc Historical, Naturalization Records can be searched by person name (accessed 26 May 2011)
  

• Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892 - Ancestry.con $
  

• Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992  - FamilySearch
  

• Indiana Marriage, 1811-1959  - FamilySearch
  

• Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 - FamilySearch

Voters

Kosciusko County, Indiana Voter's Registratoin Index for 1922 is available online.

Societies and Libraries 

Kosciusko County Historical Sociey

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

• 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. Select the state, then the county. Kosciusko County, Indiana USGenWeb is available online.
• Family History Library Catalog
• Kosciusko County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Kosciusko County, Indiana 214 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).