Putnam County, Ohio Genealogy

Guide to Putnam County Ohio genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

United States Ohio  Putnam County

Historical Facts

 * Parent Counties: Formed from Shelby County in 1820 (1834).
 * County Seat: Ottawa
 * Neighboring Counties: residents may also have records in Henry (north)·Allen (south)·Paulding (west)· Defiance (northwest)·Hancock (east) · Van Wert (southwest)·Wood (northeast corner)

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Putnam County boundary changes.

Cemeteries

 * Clevenger Cemetery, Columbus Grove BillionGraves

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

See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Catholic

 * 1796–2004 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection includes images of parish registers recording the events of baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage, and death in the Diocese of Toledo (Ohio), Roman Catholic Church. These records are accessed by browsing the images by county. In addition to traditional parish registers, this collection includes miscellaneous cemetery records, Books of the Elect, Professions of Faith, Sick Call registers, etc.

History


The county is named after Revolutionary War Major General Israel Putnam (1718-1790).

Local Histories

 * Kinder, George D., History of Putnam County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions, (Indianapolis, Indiana: B.F. Bowen, 1915). Digital copy at Internet Archive


 * Putnam County Pioneer Association, Centennial History, 1873-1973, (Columbus Grove, Ohio : Heffner Printing, 1973).


 * History of Putnam County, Ohio: Containing Outline Maps, Fifteen Farm Maps, and a History of the County, (Chicago, Illinois: H. H. Hardesty, 1976).


 * Calvin, Marguerite, People and Places: Putnam County, Ohio, 1800-1900, (Defiance, Ohio: Hubbard, 1981).


 * The Putnam County Atlas, 1895: Brief History of the County, Towns, Churches, Crawfis College, Schools, and Other Interesting and Valuable Data, (Ottawa, Ohio: D.W. Seitz and O.C. Talbot, 1895).


 * Verhoff, Roselia Dieters, Putnam County Ohio: History and Families, (Evansville, Indiana: M & T Pub., 2006).

Maps

 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Newspapers
Online Newspapers Online Newspaper Abstracts Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate

 * 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.

Courthouse
Putnam County Courthouse 245 E Main Street Ottawa, OH 45875-1968 Phone: 419.523.3110 Clerk Court has divorce and court records from 1834; Probate Judge has marriage and probate records; County Recorder has land records

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

Birth
Online Birth Indexes and Records

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage
Online Marriage Indexes and Records

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records

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.

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.

Neighboring Counties

 * Allen
 * Defiance
 * Hancock
 * Henry
 * Paulding
 * Van Wert
 * Wood