Ohio, Cuyahoga County Records, 1880-1950

What is in This Collection?

The collection consists of the following types of records from the Cuyahoga County courthouse in Cleveland:

• Birth affidavits (1849 -1908;1878-1952)
• Delayed birth registrations and corrections (1873 -1908)
• Voter Registration/List of Electors (1890 -1900)

County officials, usually the county clerk, began keeping records from the time the county was formed. This collection is being published as images become available.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

To Browse This Collection

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The birth affidavits and the delayed birth registrations and corrections both vary in content from a simple form or court statement to detailed letters. They were used to add given names, correct spellings or dates, or correct names that had been changed in court. Some simply state that the child has turned 15 and graduated from 6th or 8th grade for a work permit or to quit school. Some are given to provide proof of citizenship for children who returned to Europe with their parents.

The Delayed Birth Registrations and Corrections relate to the Cleveland City Birth Records. The corrections should appear on the City Records themselves, but the documentation for the changes were filed separately as Delayed Birth Registrations and Corrections.

Information may include:

The Voter Registrations/List of Electors is a listing of those eligible to vote by alphabetical order with wards and precincts. The biographical information found in the List of Electors is:

• Name of voter
• Address
• Used as proof of American citizenship

Collection Content

Sample Images

• Ohio Cuyahoga County Records
• 

  1904 Birth Affidavit

• 

  1905 Birth Certificate

Each type of record within the county was created for a different purpose.

• Delayed birth records were created to formalize a birth record where none previously existed or to change information on an existing birth record
• Voter registrations/ List of Electors were created to track those were eligible to vote and to ensure their right to vote
• The birth and marriage records are usually reliable depending upon the reliability of the informant. Voter records are usually reliable however, there have been cases of fictitious names included in the registers