Lake County, Ohio Genealogy

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

Description
The county name was derived from its location on the southern shore of Lake Erie. It is located in the Northeastern area of the state. Lake County was created from Geauga County with one township (Willoughby) from Cuyahoga County. It is the smallest county in the state.

County Courthouse
Lake County Courthouse 47 North Park Place Painesville, OH 44077-3414 Phone: 440-350-2657 Lake County Website

Clerk has court records from 1840 at 25 N. Park Place. Probate Judge has marriage and probate records at 25 N. Park Place. County Recorder has land records at 105 E. Main Street, basement Bldg D.

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:

Biographies

 * Riddle, Albert Gallation; History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio: with illustrations and biographical sketches of its pioneers and most prominent men (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Williams Bros., 1878) Online at Google Books, FamilySearch Digital Library
 * Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio, embracing the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga and Lake: ... (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1893) online at FamilySearch Digital Library
 * Many biographies are on the Lake County OHGenWeb site.

Church Records

 * early to 1907 Churches, Ministers and Bibles at OHGenWeb - including Congregational, Episcopal, Baptist, Church of Christ, and Presbyterian

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * Kirtland
 * 1833-1842 Mormon Vital Records Extraction at Ohio GenWeb - Marriages and Deaths abstracted from Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine from original Latter-day Saint newspapers of the day.

Lutheran
 * Records of Resurrection Lutheran Church, Painesville, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
 * Lake County Ohio by Ancestry ($). All U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 Results

Local Histories

 * Riddle, Albert Gallation, History of Geauga and Lake Counties, Ohio: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Pioneers and Most Prominent Men, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Williams Bros., 1878). Online at Google Books, FamilySearch Digital Library
 * Lake County's 125th Anniversary Souvenir Album, 1840-1965, (Painesville, Ohio: The Telegraph, 1965) Online at FamilySearch Digital Library
 * Stith, Bary Oyler, Lake County, Ohio: 150 Years of Tradition, (Northridge, California: Windsor Publications, 1988).
 * Ohio Indexes at EveryNameIndex.com — Select the county.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Ohio (1788-1940) at MapofUS.org
 * Stranahan, H.B., Corey, G.D., Atlas of Lake County, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio: H.B. Stranahan & Co., 1898) online at FamilySearch Digital Library

Military Records

 * 1888-1919 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Revolutionary War


 * New Connecticut Chapter (Painesville, Ohio), DAR, A record of the revolutionary soldiers buried in Lake County, Ohio with a partial list of those in Geauga County (Columbus, Ohio: The Champlin Press) 1902. Online at FamilySearch Digital Library

Civil War Civil War service men from Lake 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 Lake County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Ohio Light Artillery, Battery C
 * - 11th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company E
 * - 105th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Companies D and K

World War I
 * 1914-1919 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
 * 1916-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization Records - An Alphabetical Abstract of the naturalization petitions from Lake County Probate Court (1860-1906) and Lake County Common Pleas Court (1906-1975). This includes Declarations of Intention and petitions that failed for a variety of reasons. Naturalizations between 1840 and 1860 were done in a variety of courts, which will be abstracted later.


 * 1800-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Newspapers

 * 1793-late 1900s at History Connection —  Select county.
 * 1881-1900 Index to Birth Notices at Ohio GenWeb - index to birth notices in the Painesville Telegraph
 * 1897 Willoughby Township Mortuary Report at OhioGenWeb - from The Willoughby (Ohio) Independent.
 * Early-late 1900s  Newspapers at Ohio Memory — sort by County, City, Time Period, and more.
 * Newspapers at Ohio GenWeb - index to newspapers at top; scroll down for Obituaries
 * Evening and Morning Star at BYU Digital Collections
 * Painesville Telegraph and Telegraph Republican'' at Google News

Obituaries

 * 1850-1975 Cleveland Necrology File and News Index at Cleveland Public Library - index and abstracts

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1786-1998 Ohio Wills and Probate Records 1786-1998 at Ancestry ($) — index and images.
 * 1789-1996 at FamilySearch.org — How to Use this Collection.
 * 1806-1940 Probate Court Records at Ohio GenWeb - Links to online probate, guardianship, estates and other probate records.
 * 1840-1846 Probate Records, Vol. A: 1840-1842; Vol. B: 1842-1846 at USGenWeb Ohio Archives.
 * Wills at USGenWeb Ohio Archives.

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records
Online Tax Indexes and Records
 * 1800-1850 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
 * 1800-1850 Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Birth

 * 1841-2003 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
 * 1867-1908 Probate Birth Records Index at Ohio GenWeb - births from the Probate Court.
 * 1867-1908 Corrected and Delayed Birth Records Index at Ohio GenWeb
 * 1867-1908 Perry Township Birth Records 1867-1908 at OHGenWeb Archives
 * 1867-1908 Registrars Birth Report at Ohio GenWeb - miscellaneous non-probate births.
 * 1908-1998 Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1998 at Ancestry ($) — Index
 * 1959-1998 Ohio, Birth Index, 1959-1998 at MyHeritage - index ($)

Marriage
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 * 1789-2013 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
 * 1840-1915 Probate Marriage Records Index at Ohio GenWeb - This index includes marriages from Vol. A-K, and 12-14 and part of 15.
 * 1970-2003 Ohio, Marriages, 1970 - 2003 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Death

 * 1833-1967 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
 * 1840-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
 * 1867-1908 Probate Death records at Ohio GenWeb.
 * 1867-1908 Registrar's Death Report at Ohio GenWeb - miscellaneous non-probate deaths.
 * 1867-1908 Perry Township Death Records 1867-1908 at Ohio GenWeb.
 * 1908-1932, 1938–1944, and 1958–2007 at FamilySearch – How to Use this Collection
 * 1908-1932, 1938-2018 Ohio, Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1913-1944, 1954-1963 Ohio Death Index, 1913-1944, 1954-1963 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Divorce

 * 1806-1839 Geauga County Supreme Court Divorces, 1806-1839 at Ohio GenWeb - An abstract of the divorce proceedings of the Ohio Supreme Court at Geauga County, mostly residents of what is now Lake County.
 * 1878-1881 Divorce Proceedings at GenWeb - This Common Pleas Court volume covers 1878-Feb 1881 and lists over 60 couples applying for divorces.
 * 1962-1963, 1967-1971, 1973-2007 Ohio, Divorce Abstracts, 1962-1963, 1967-1971, 1973-2007 at Ancestry ($)

Family History Centers

 * Kirtland Ohio Family History Center
 * Western Reserve Historical Society Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Fairport Harbor Public Library 335 Vine St Fairport Harbor, OH 44077-5799 440-354-8191 Email: [mailto:askus@fairport.lib.oh.us askus@fairport.lib.oh.us] Website Kirtland Public Library 9267 Chillicothe Rd Kirtland, OH 44094-8500 440-256-7323 Website Madison Public Library 6111 Middle Ridge Rd Madison, OH 44057 440-428-2189 Website Mentor Public Library 8215 Mentor Ave Mentor, OH 44060-5786 440-255-8811 Website Perry Public Library 3753 Main St Perry, OH 44081-9501 440-259-3300 Email: [mailto:askus@perry.lib.oh.us askus@perry.lib.oh.us] Website Wickliffe Public Library 1713 Lincoln Rd Wickliffe, OH 44092-2499 440-944-6010 Email: [mailto:ref.desk@wickliffe.lib.oh.us ref.desk@wickliffe.lib.oh.us] Facebook Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library 263 E 305th St Willowick, OH 44095 440-943-2203 Website

Museums
Lake County History Center 415 Riverside Dr Painesville, OH 44077, USA 440-639-2945 Email: [mailto:research@lakehistory.org research@lakehistory.org] Website Museums & Historical Sites 105 Main St 5th Floor Nolan Building Painesville, OH 44077 440-357-2290 Website Indian Museum of Lake County, Ohio Physical Address: 7519 Mentor Ave, Ste A112 Mentor, OH 44060 Mailing Address: PO Box 883 Willoughby, OH 44096 440-951-3813 Website

Societies
Western Reserve Historical Society Research Library in the History Center 10825 East Blvd Cleveland, OH 44106 216-721-5722 FamilySearch Wiki Website Lake County Genealogical Society c/o Morley Library 184 Phelps St Painesville, OH 44077 Website

Websites

 * Local Gov't Records by County at Ohio History Connection — Browse their list; records are not online.
 * Custom Browse of Historical Collections at Ohio Memory — Use map or alpha bar to select county or place, then browse search options in left sidebar.
 * Ohio Genealogical Society ($) — online databases
 * Lake County OH Genealogy at LDS Genealogy
 * OHGenWeb - The GenWeb site has many databases, biographies, vital records, etc.
 * Lake County Genealogical Society projects page with the cemetery inscriptions, naturalizations and other information.
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.