Marion County, Indiana Genealogy

United States

Indiana

Marion County

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

Indiana Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Indianapolis Organized: December 31, 1821 Parent County(s): Delaware New Purchase Neighboring Counties Boone  • Hamilton  • Hancock  • Shelby  • Johnson  • Morgan  • Hendricks See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption Adopt-a-wiki page This page adopted by: Indiana Genealogical Society who welcome you to contribute. Adopt a page today

County Information

Description

Marion County is named after "The Swamp Fox" Revolutionary War Brigadier General Francis Marion (1732-1795). It is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Marion County Courthouse
200 E. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 317-327-4740
County Website

Marion County Health Department
3838 N. Rural Street
Indianapolis, IN, 46205
Health Officer: Virginia Caine, MD
Phone Number: 317-221-2000
Fax: 317-221-2307
Email: HealthDept@MarionHealth.org
Health Department

CountyClerk has marriage and divorce records.
County Recorder has birth, death and land records.
Probate Court has probate records.
Health Department has birth records and death records.
Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Marion County, Indiana 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
1882	1822	1882	1822	1822	1822	1807
Statewide registration for births in 1907 and deaths in Oct 1899. General compliance by 1917.

Record Loss

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

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Formed 31 December 1821 from the Delaware New Purchase County Seat: Indianapolis Interactive Map of Indiana County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Indiana county boundary changes Indiana 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
Beech Grove Indianapolis	Lawrence	Southport
Towns
Clermont Crows Nest Cumberland Homecroft	Meridian Hills North Crows Nest Rocky Ripple Speedway	Spring Hill Warren Park Williams Creek Wynnedale
Townships
Center Decatur Franklin	Lawrence Perry Pike	Warren Washington Wayne

Resources

Biographies

• Indiana Biography Index at Indiana State Library

• Pictorial and Biographical Memoirs of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana: Together with Biographies of Many Prominent Men of Other Portions of the State, Both Living and Dead. (Tucson, Arizona: Americana Unlimited, 1974.) Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Google books
  
• Nowland, John H. B. Sketches of Prominent Citizens of 1876: with a Few of the Pioneers of the City and County Who Have Passed Away. (1876.) Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Internet Archive

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

Occupational Records

• Members of Indianapolis Electrotypers and Stereotypers Union (1930) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Marion County, Indiana online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave INGenWeb INGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Indiana Interment Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com
See Indiana Cemeteries for more information.

• Marion County Cemeteries at Genealogical Society of Marion County
• Crown Hill Cemetery
• Index of Pioneer Cemeteries, Perry Township at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Index of Pioneer Cemeteries, Warren Township at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• United States, Cemetery Abstracts, 1949-1969- Vol. 5 page 181 - Williams Creek Cemetery

Census Records

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

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	7,192	—
1840	16,080	123.6%
1850	24,103	49.9%
1860	39,855	65.4%
1870	71,939	80.5%
1880	102,782	42.9%
1890	141,156	37.3%
1900	197,227	39.7%
1910	263,661	33.7%
1920	348,061	32.0%
1930	422,666	21.4%
1940	460,926	9.1%
1950	551,777	19.7%
1960	697,567	26.4%
1970	792,299	13.6%
1980	765,233	−3.4%
1990	797,159	4.2%
2000	860,454	7.9%
2010	903,393	5.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

• Index to Mortality Schedule for Marion County, Indiana (1860) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Index to Defective, Delinquent & Dependent Census for Marion County, Indiana (1880) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Enumeration of Males in Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana (1913) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

• United States. Names of Persons Enumerated in Marion County, Indiana, at the Fifth Census Eighteen Hundred and Thirty. (Indianapolis: E.J. Hecker, printer and publisher, 1908.) Online at:FamilySearch Digital Library;Google books
  

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Indiana Church Records.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Indianapolis
• Indianapolis Dist
• Indianapolis N.
• Indianapolis S.

Lutheran
aka Evangelical

• Records of the American Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records

• Selected Lists of Jurors in Marion County, Indiana (1800s) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Directories

• Genealogical Society of Marion County holds several city directories in their library. website
  
• Indianapolis City Directories 1857, 1861, 1864-1923 at Fold3 ($)

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African American

• 28th US Colored Troops , Companies A, B, C, E, G, and Addition Recruits for Colored Troops
• African American Firefighters, at Digital Indy, Indianapolis Public Library.
• Black History at Digital Indy, Indianapolis Public Library.
• Jacob Brothers Funeral Home Records, Indianapolis at Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center.
• Indianapolis Recorder, 1899-2005 - African-American newspaper; digitized collection at Hoosier State Chronicles.
• African Americans in Civilian Conservation Corps, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis (1938) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Funeral Homes

• Jacobs Brothers Funeral Home at Allen county Public Library Genealogy Center

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 Indiana Land and Property for additional information about early Indiana land grants and patents.

After land was transferred from the government to private ownership, subsequent transactions were recorded at the Marion County courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Marion County. County histories may include biographies; church, school and government histories; and military information. For more information about local histories, see Indiana Local Histories.

• History of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana. 1884. By Berry R. Sulgrove. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : L.H. Everts. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat).

• The People's Guide : a Business, Political and Religious Directory of Marion Co., Ind. 1874. By Cline & McHaffie. Indianapolis, Indiana : Indianapolis Printing and Publishing House. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive.

• History of Clermont at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Maps and Gazetteers

• Historic Indiana Maps at IUPUI University Library

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana

Military Records

• Military Record Series Index at Indiana Digital Archives
• Veterans in Marion County, Indiana (1913) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Civil War
Civil War service men from Marion 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 Marion County.

• 1st Regiment, Indiana Heavy Artillery, Companies B, L, and M
• 1st Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company K
• 3rd Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 4th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company A
• 5th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers), Company M
• 7th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Companies C, D, G, and H
• 7th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company I
• 8th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company H
• 9th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Companies A, F, H, I, and L
• 10th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, B, E, H, K , and Reorganized Companies A, B, E, F, H, and K
• 12th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company A
• 13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, H, and Reorganized Companies D, and E
• 14th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 16th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Companies F, I, and K
• 19th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies D, and F
• 20th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 26th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies E, and I
• 30th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company A
• 35th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 40th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G
• 47th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G
• 52nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, K, and Reorganized Company E
• 70th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, E, and F
• 79th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, C, and F
• 99th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
• 100th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 104th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, All of Companies A-H
• 106th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 107th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, All of Companies A-M
• 110th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B
• 113th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, All of Companies A-I
• 123rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 124th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies C, and D
• 132nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies A, B, C, F, and K
• 148th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, C, and G
• 156th Regiment, Indiana Infantry Company A
• 28th US Colored Troops, Companies A, B, C, E, G, and Addition Recruits for Colored Troops
• Wilder Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
  

World War I

• 1919 Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• Residents of Marion County Who Received Medals in World War I at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Women from Marion County Who Served in World War I at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Residents of Marion County Who Died in World War I at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

World War II

• Soldiers From Marion County, Indiana Who Died in World War II (1941-1946) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Indianapolis Water Company Employees Serving in World War II (1940-1945) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Naturalization and Citizenship

• Naturalization Record Series (for this county) at Indiana Digital Archives. Search by names.

Newspapers

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

For more Indiana newspaper information see the wiki page Indiana Newspapers.

• Indiana Farmer Newspaper, 1851-1917 - digitized collection via Purdue University Libraries
• Indianapolis Recorder, 1899-2005 - African-American newspaper; digitized collection via Purdue University Libraries
• Hoosier State Chronicles

Probate Records

In most counties in Indiana, probate records have been kept by the county clerk of the circuit court. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the Marion County courthouse. For more information, see Indiana Probate Records.

• 1798-1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry $

School Records

• Students, Graduates, and Teachers of some Marion County Schools (1826, 1834-1853, 1856-1865, 1883, 1886, 1898-1947) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

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

Indiana tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses 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. For more information see the wiki page Indiana Taxation.

• Selected Tax Lists of Marion County, Indiana (1840-1850) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Delinquent Taxpayers of Indianapolis, Marion County (1840) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Indiana law in 1882 required registration of births and deaths in counties. The Indiana Department of Health has birth records filed after October 1907 and death records filed after January 1900 for deaths. Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Marriage

• 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  
• 1800s-2007 Indiana, United States Marriages at FindMyPast $
• 1800-1925 Indiana, Marriage Index, 1800-1941 at Ancestry $
• 1802-1892 Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892 at Ancestry $
• 1811-2007 Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1925-2012 Web: Marion County, Indiana, Marriage Index, 1925-2012 at Ancestry $

Death

• 1750-1993 - Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  
• 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  
• 1899-2011 Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry $
• 1939-1956 Records of Jacobs Brothers Funeral Home, Indianapolis (1939-1956) at Indiana Genealogical Society

Research Facilities

Archives

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

Family History Centers

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.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Libraries

White River Indiana Family History Center
110 N White River Pkwy
Indianapolis IN 46222
Phone: 317-917-3210
Email: IN_WhiteRiver@familyhistorymail.org
Website

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Marion County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Marion County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Societies.

Genealogical Society of Marion County
9370 E. Washington St
Indianapolis, IN 46229
Phone: 317-891-4762
Email: Info@GenealogyIndy.org
Website

Websites

• Indiana Digital Archives Search by name in all records or specific collections
• Indiana Historical Society Digital Collections Extensive - keyword searches suggested
• Indiana Memory Click the map or select a statewide collection
• List of indexes and databases at Indiana State Library
• Indiana Genealogical Society Databases Free and Members-only. Scroll the list.
• The Marion County IN GenWeb Project, a member of The INGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
• Marion County Genealogy LDS Genealogy (Indiana Genealogy)
• EveryNameIndex.com for Indiana Free online genealogy indexes for county histories. Select a county.
• Marion County, Indiana: Family History & Genealogy, Census, Birth, Marriage, Death Vital Records & More at Linkpendium
• 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.