Clark County, Ohio Genealogy

United States

Ohio

Clark County

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

Ohio Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Springfield Organized: March 1, 1818 Parent County(s): Champaign, Greene, Madison Neighboring Counties Miami  • Champaign  • Madison  • Greene  • Montgomery See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The county was named for General George Rogers Clark who fought Indians in Ohio in the early Nineteenth Century. It is located in the West Central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Clark County Courthouse
101 N. Limestone St.
Springfield, Ohio 45502
Phone: 937-521-1680
Clark County Website

Clark County Probate Court
50 E. Columbia Street Springfield, Ohio 45502
Phone: 937-521-1845
Email: sweldy@clarkcountyohio.gov
Clark County Probate Court

Births and deaths recorded from 1867 to August 1908. Marriage records from 1818 to the present. Naturalization records from March 20, 1861, to March 5, 1904 (index at Clerk of Courts Office, Common Pleas Court). Estate records from 1818 to 1985 on microfilm and original records from 1985 to the present.

Probate Judge has birth, marriage, death, probate and naturalization records.
Court Clerk has divorce and court records.
County Recorder has land records.

Clark County, Ohio Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1867	1818	1867	1818	1818	1818	1820
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1908. General compliance year is unknown.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Formed from Champaign, Greene and Madison counties 26 December 1817. It was founded March 1, 1818. County Seat: Springfield Interactive Map of Ohio County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes Ohio Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

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:

Cities
New Carlisle	Springfield (county seat)
Villages
Catawba Clifton Donnelsville	Enon North Hampton South Charleston	South Vienna Tremont City
Unincorporated communities
Beatty Brighton Cortsville Dialton Dodo Dolly Varden Durbin	Eagle City Harmony Hustead Lawrenceville Limestone City Lisbon Locustgrove	Medway New Moorefield Pitchin Plattsburgh Selma Sugar Grove Villa
Census-designated places
Crystal Lakes Green Meadows	Holiday Valley Northridge	Park Layne
Townships
Bethel German Green Harmony	Mad River Madison Moorefield Pike	Pleasant Springfield

Resources

Bible Records

For an extensive list of resources for Bible Records see Ohio Bible Records.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Clark County, Ohio online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave OH GenWeb Interment Tombstone Project Billion Graves Ohio Gravestones
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Find A Grave
See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	9,533	—
1830	13,114	37.6%
1840	16,882	28.7%
1850	22,178	31.4%
1860	25,300	14.1%
1870	32,070	26.8%
1880	41,948	30.8%
1890	52,277	24.6%
1900	58,939	12.7%
1910	66,435	12.7%
1920	80,728	21.5%
1930	90,936	12.6%
1940	95,647	5.2%
1950	111,661	16.7%
1960	131,440	17.7%
1970	157,115	19.5%
1980	150,236	−4.4%
1990	147,548	−1.8%
2000	144,742	−1.9%
2010	134,083	−7.4%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

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, see Ohio Church Records.

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Ohio Land and Property for additional information about early Ohio land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Clark County Recorder's Office has a searchable online index beginning in 1988. All prior land records must be searched on location at the A.B. Graham building in downtown Springfield.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for this county. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see Ohio Local Histories.

• A standard history of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past… By Benjamin F. Prince. (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1922). Volume 1 online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Google Books; Volume 2 online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive.
• The History of Clark County, Ohio: containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men… By Grace Hildy Croft. (Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1881) Online at FamilySearch Digital Library.
• 20th Century History of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and Representative Citizens. By William Mahlon Rockel. (Chicago, Illinois Biographical Publishing Co., 1908) Online at Google Books; Internet Archive, FamilySearch Digital Library.
• Ohio Indexes at EveryNameIndex.com — Select the county.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Ohio (1788-1940) at MapofUS.org

Military Records

• 1888-1919 Ohio Soldier Home Records, 1888-1919 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Civil War

• With Diplomas of Patriotism: African American Civil War Veterans in Ohio by Amy L. Crow (Senior Thesis, The Ohio State University, 2009). This thesis uses Springfield as a case study.

World War I

• 1914-1918 Ohio, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1914-1919 Ohio, World War I Statement of Service Cards, 1914-1919 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1916-1920 Ohio, WWI Index and Return Cards, 1916-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Naturalization and Citizenship

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

• 1800-1977 Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Newspapers

Clark County newspapers often contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings.

For more Ohio newspaper information see Ohio Newspapers and Obituaries.

• 1793-late 1900's Newspapers at Ohio History Connection — Select county.
• Early to late-1900's Newspapers at Ohio Memory — sort by County, City, Time Period, and more.

Obituaries

• 1810s-2016 Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Obituary Index, 1810s-2016 at Ancestry ($) — index and images.

Probate Records

From 1797 or the creation of the county, probate records were held by the Court of Common Pleas. After 1852, records are held by the Clark County Probate Court. Records include wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records (1867-1908 only). The records may give the decedent's date of death, name of spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

See Ohio Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1786-1998 Ohio, Wills and Probate Records 1786-1998 at Ancestry ($) — index and images.
• 1789-1996 Ohio Probate Records 1789-1996 at FamilySearch.org — How to Use this Collection.
• Will and Probate Records at OhioGenWeb

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index 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

Ohio tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses before 1820 or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties.

Online Tax Indexes and Records

• 1800-1850 Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at MyHeritage ($) — index
• 1800-1950 Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1818 Tax Lists at OhioGenWeb

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Marriages were usually recorded from the formation of the county and are held at the office of the County Probate Court. Divorce records are located with the county Clerk of Courts.

Any existing birth and death records from 1867 through December 19, 1908 are located at the County 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 History Connection houses death records from December 20, 1908 through December 31, 1953.

Birth

• 1800-1962 Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at Ancestry ($) — Index
• 1821-1962 Ohio Births and Christenings, 1821-1962 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
• 1841-2003 Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1867-1889 Clark County Births at OhioGenWeb
• 1908-1998 Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1998 at Ancestry ($) — Index

Marriage

• 1789-2013 Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1800-1942 Ohio Marriages, 1800-1942 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
• 1800-1958 Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
• 1803-1900 Ohio, Compiled Marriage Index, 1803-1900 at Ancestry ($) — Index
• 1818-1865 Clark County, Ohio marriage records, 1818-1865 at Ancestry ($); book transcription.
• 1818-1929 Clark County Marriages at OhioGenWeb
• 1970-2003 Ohio, Marriages, 1970 - 2003 at MyHeritage ($) — Index
• 1970-2007 Ohio, Marriage Abstracts, 1970, 1972-2007 at Ancestry ($)

Death

• 1840-2001 Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1854-1997 Ohio Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1867 Clark County Deaths in 1867 at OhioGenWeb
• 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007 Ohio Death Index, 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
• Death Certificates at OhioGenWeb

Divorce

• 1962-2007 Ohio, Divorce Abstracts, 1962-1963, 1967-1971, 1973-2007 at Ancestry ($)
  

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Clark County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Ohio Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Dayton Ohio East Family History Center
• Champaign County Library - an affiliate library

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Clark County. For state-wide library facilities, see Ohio Archives and Libraries.

Clark County Public Library
201 South Fountain Ave
Springfield, OH 45506
937-328-6903
E-mail:askref@ccpl.lib.oh.us
Website

Friends of the Library Genealogical Research Group
Website

New Carlisle Public Library
111 E Lake Avenue
New Carlisle, OH 45344
937-845-3601
Website

Fisher Family Library and Archives at the Heritage Center
Heritage Center of Clark County
117 South Fountain Ave
Springfield, OH 45502
937-324-0657
Website

Museums

The Heritage Center
117 S Fountain Ave
Springfield, OH 45502
937-324-0657
Email:clarkcountyhistory@gmail.com
Website

Societies

Listed below are societies in Clark County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Ohio Societies.

Clark County Genealogical Society
117 S Fountain Avenue
Springfield, OH
937-324-0657, ext. 230
E-mail:Clark.Gen.Soc@gmail.com
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
• Clark County OH Genealogy at LDSgenealogy.com
• Clark County Ohio GenWeb at OhGenWeb. It includes vital records, cemetery transcriptions, census indexes, maps, and other information provided by volunteers.
• USGW Archives, Clark County
• FamilySearch Catalog – 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.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

FamilySearch affiliate libraries may have access to center-only databases, but do not always have all services normally provided by a family history center.