Grant County was created on April 1, 1832 and was formed fromMadison County, Adams New Purchase and Unorganized Land. The Adams New Purchase: Begun in 1827, Adams was the new name for the Delaware New Purchase. The Adams Purchase existed until 1844, when it became the counties of Adams, Clinton, Grant, Huntington, Jay, and Wells, and portions of the counties of Boone, Carroll, Tipton, and Wabash. The County was named for Captains Samuel and Moses Grant of Kentucky, who were killed in 1789 in a battle with the Indians near the creek since called by their name in the northeast part of Switzerland County.
The County Seat is Marion. Marion, the County Seat, was selected during the summer of 1831, and the first lots were sold on the first Monday in November, the first settlers being David Bronson [Branson?] and Martin Boots. The first Courthouse was not erected until three years later and by 1849 the population had reached 700. See also County History for more historical details.
Grant County is divided into 13 Civil Townships as follows: Center, Fairmount, Franklin, Green, Jefferson, Liberty Mill, Monroe, Pleasant, Richland, Sims, Van Buren and Washington.
Cities, Towns and Communities include Arcana, Brookhaven, Cole, Dooville, Fairmount, Farrville, Fowlerton, Gas City, Hackleman, Hanfield, Herbst, Home Corner, Jadden, Jalapa, Jonesboro, Kiley, Lake Wood, Landess, Marion, Matthews, Michaelsville, Mier, Normal, Point Isabel, Radley, Roseburg, Shadeland, Sims, Swayzee, Sweetser, Upland, Van Buren, and Weaver.
Indiana Newspaper Holdings for Grant County: The county newspaper holdings are under regular revision, as new microfilm holdings are added. These files are not up to date; there are continuous updates and corrections.
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
NOTE: The date listed for each category of record is the earliest record known to exist in that county. It does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and certainly does not indicate that all such events that year were actually registered.See also the Grant County Courthouse History
Grant County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1831 , Probate Records from 1831 and Court Records from 1831 and is located at 101 E 4th St,
Marion, IN 46952;
(765) 668-8121,
FAX: (765) 668-6541, clerk@grantcounty.net The Clerk of the Circuit Court is a ministerial officer who is the custodian of the Clerk's record and seal, issues process, accepts filings of commencement of actions in litigation, enters judgments and orders of the court, receives money in his official capacity, makes certified copies of record, issues many miscellaneous licenses, and keeps a record of all wills and matters of trust in probate proceedings.
Grant County Recorder has Land Records from 1831 and is located at 401 S Adams St,
Marion, IN 46953;
(765) 668-8871, (765) 668-6559,
Email: recorder@grantcounty.net. The county recorder's function is to maintain permanent public records involving a wide variety of instruments. These documents detail transactions involving real estate, mining, personal property, mortgages, liens, leases, subdivision plats, military discharges, personal bonds, etc. Generally, all of these instruments are recorded either for giving legal public notice of their existence or for safekeeping and future reference. The recorder maintains and preserves all legal documents affecting title to real property.
Grant County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at Court House Complex and Security Center, 401 South Adams Street, Marion, IN 46953; (765) 668-8871, ext 156
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Grant County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Indianapolis Newspaper Index, 1848-1991: Select articles from 1848-1888 Indianapolis daily newspapers; heavily focused on deaths and marriages. Select articles from 1898-1991 about people, places, events, and topics in Indianapolis and the state of Indiana. Extremely limited for deaths; no coverage of marriages. Card file also available in the Microforms Area, second floor.
Reference & Government Services CD Collection: Database to allow searching of the hundreds of CDs from the federal government and other sources, part of the collections of the Reference & Government Services Division.
Indiana Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Indiana Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Birth Certificates:
The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains birth records that occur in Indiana since Oct 1907 to the present.
Prior to October 1907, records of birth are filed only with the local health department in the county where the birth actually occurred.
Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $10.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy.
Make your check or money order payable to "Indiana State Department of Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
In Person:
The ISDH Vital Records office is located at 6 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The office is open for walk-in requests from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., E.S.T., Monday through Friday (excluding official State Holidays). The cost for the first certificate is $10.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Average wait time is less than an hour.
Processing Time: 5 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Death Certificates: The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains death records that occur in Indiana since 1900 to the present. Prior to 1900, records of death are filed only with the local health department in the county where the death actually occurred.
For deaths occurring from 1900 to 1917, the city and/or county of death is required in order to locate the record.
Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $8.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy.
Make your check or money order payable to "Indiana State Department of Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
In Person:
The ISDH Vital Records office is located at 6 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The office is open for walk-in requests from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., E.S.T., Monday through Friday (excluding official State Holidays). The cost for the first certificate is $8.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Average wait Time is less than an hour.
Processing Time: 5 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage Certificates: Certified copies of marriage certificates are not available from the State Health Department. They are available from the Clerks of the Circuit Court in the county where the marriage was granted. Fees vary.
Divorce Certificates: Certified copies of divorce certificates are not available from the State Health Department. They are available from the County Clerk in the county where the divorce was granted. Fees vary.
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Grant County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Indiana newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Click Here to Search Indiana Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Grant County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Indiana Census, 1790-1890: This collection contains the following indexes: 1790 (Northwest Territory) Federal Census Index; 1807 State Census Index; 1810 Wayne County Census Index; 1812 Census Index; 1820 Federal Census Index; 1830 Federal Census Index; 1840 Federal Census Index; 1840 Pensioners List; 1850 Federal Census Index; 1860 Federal Census Index; 1870 Federal Census Index; 1890 Veterans Schedule.
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at County Maps
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Maps. Email us with websites containing Grant County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Indiana Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Grant County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Indiana (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Indiana World War II Servicemen: Database to locate information about Indiana men and women who served in World War II who were mentioned in one of the Indianapolis daily newspapers during the war.
Records of county taxes were kept as early at 1842, although most were discarded. Remaining ones would be at the county courthouse. National Archives-Great Lakes Region has records of the Internal Revenue Service for Indiana for 1867 to 1873. These are tax assessment records, arranged by district and then chronologically.
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Grant County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Grant County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Grant County Genealogical Club,
Grant County Courthouse,
Marion, IN 46952
Indiana State Library,
Attn: (Division or Staff Name),
140 North Senate Avenue,
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2296
Loan Desk and General Inquiries: 317-232-3675,
ind@statelib.lib.in.us
Genealogy Division: 317-232-3689,
genealogy@statelib.lib.in.us
Indiana Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Indiana Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
The commissioner's office of each Indiana county may have burial records for soldiers, sailors, and marines. If available, the records should include name, age, date of enlistment, discharge date, and death date. Records begin about 1862.
The Indiana State Library holds records of inscriptions from some Indiana cemeteries. The "Indiana Cemetery Locator File," compiled by the Genealogy Division, is an alphabetical listing of cemeteries, indicating the location in the state and the designation in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library where inscriptions may be found.
Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Grant County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Indiana obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Indiana newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Indiana.
Click Here to Search Indiana Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Grant County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Grant County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Indiana Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain
Grant County was organized in 1831, and was named in honor of Captain Samuel Grant and Moses Grant, who were killed in 1789 in a battle with the Indians near the creek since called by their name in the northeast part of Switzerland County. Grant County is bounded north by Wabash and Huntington, east by Wells and Blackford, south by Delaware and Madison, and west by Howard and Miami. It is twenty-tow miles in length from east to west, and nineteen in breadth, and contains 418 square miles. It is divided into the following townships, viz: Van Buren, Washington, Pleasant, Richland, Center, Monroe, Jefferson, Union and Liberty. The population in 1840 was 4,875 and at this time [1849] it is about 8,000. Except along the boarders of the Mississinewa, which are beautifully rolling, the balance of the county is quite level and nearly all originally covered with heavy timber. The soil without exception s rich and well adapted to the cultivation of all kinds of grain, grass, fruit, etc., sited to the climate. There are in the county eighteen stores and groceries, fourteen mills propelled by water, eight lawyers, eight physicians, six preachers, twelve churches, belonging to the Methodists, Presbyterians and Friends, or Quakers, and the taxable land amounts to 162,268 aces. A considerable part of Grant lay in the bounds of the Miami Reserve, and ha been but recently settled; but except in facilities for the transportation of produce, there are few parts of the State that are better calculated to sustain a dense and prosperous population.
1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature
Grant County, located in the central eastern part of the state, is noted for its fine agricultural and was the center of the Gas Belt in the days of gas and oil discovery in Indiana. It covers an area of 423 square miles, divided into thirteen townships. A great part of this county lies within the bounds of the Miami Indian reserve. Here, on the banks of the Mississinewa River, formerly lived Meshingomesia and his ancestors, and the Battle of Mississinewa between the reds and whites was fought in primitive days.
The incorporated cities are: Marion, 44,496, and Gas City, 3,087; towns: Fairmount, 2,056; Fowlerton, 204; Jonesboro, 1,496; Matthews, 513; Swayzee, 604; Upland, 906, and Van Buren, 766. The population in 1890 was 31,493; 1900, 64,693; 1910, 61,426; 1920, 51,353, and 1930, 51,066.
Marion is located seventy miles northeast of Indianapolis and is served by four railroads. The city is the home of the present Governor, M. Clifford Townsend. The Revolutionary soldier Francis Marion inspired the naming of the city.
Marion has a number of important industries, chief among which are its glass and malleable iron works. Other Marion products are furniture, gasoline motors, paper, flour, brick, stoves, radios, and cabinets. Federal census figures for 1935 listed fifty-eight manufacturing establishments employing 4,326 wage earners on pay rolls of $3,752,188. The value of the products was $18,723,238.
On the grounds of the Courthouse at Marion is a marker to Martin Boots, the first settler on the land on which the city is located. There is also a marker to the World War Mothers.
The city is the home of Marion National Soldier's Home, which was established by an Act of Congress in 1890 and obtained chiefly through the efforts of George W. Steele who was a member of Congress at the time. For a number of years Steele served as superintendent of the facility, which is located on a beautiful 250-acre tract approximately two and one-half miles southeast of the city on the west bank of the Mississinewa River. Approximately 1,500 veterans are cared for at the institution.
Several notable educational institutions are located in the county, notably Marion Normal College, Taylor University at Upland and the Wesleyan Theological Seminary and the Fairmount Academy at Fairmount. [The Marion Normal College became Marion College and is now (in 2002) known as Indiana Wesleyan University. Also, the Fairmount Academy is no longer in operation -- thanks to June Fulton]
Many famous personages have been natives or residents of Grant County. Outstanding were Thomas R. Marshall, once state Governor and later Vice President of the United States; Caleb Smith, a state and national legislature and Secretary of Interior under Lincoln; David L. Payne, the original Oklahoma Boomer; Joaquin Miller, a poet; Kenesaw Mountain Landis, former Attorney-General and Federal Judge and now High Commissioner of Organized Baseball; Willis VanDevanter, a former Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court; Major George W. Steele, mentioned in connection with the National Soldiers' Home at Marion, and his son, Captain Steele, an Annapolis graduate and naval official. Some others connected with Grant County have attained national and international fame: composers, Audra Clarr, Edward Truechech, and the late Colonton R. Cuttle; Mildred Gilling, who has played before the heads of both American and European governments, and has achieved world-wide reputation as a harpist; Bishop Milton Wright, a former resident of Grant County, was the father of Orville and Wilbur Wright, builders of the first practical airplane.
The city of Marion has one large and eight small parks, but long before any parks were officially set aside, the Mississinewa River afforded natural grounds for recreation and rest. Deer Creek and Lake Galatia were and are popular fishing and picnic resorts.
The most noted of several large mastodon skeletons of Grant County was found near Lake Galatia. This, about twelve feet tall, was bought by the Smithsonian Institution, another by the Museum of Natural History of New York City. Taylor University is in possession of another found at Dollar Lake near Upland.
The county has also uncovered several prehistoric mounds. The largest ever found in the county was located two miles southwest of Upland. It was fifty feet high and one hundred feet in diameter. The most noted was at Marion in the center of the Public Square, measuring sixty feet in diameter and seven feet in height. It was leveled off in 1832 and the first courthouse was built on that site. During building of the second courthouse the mound was opened and a human skeleton nearly nine feet in length was found.
In 1935, there were 2,756 farms averaging 89.1 acres each. The value of these farms according to1935 figures was $15,878,390. A total of 95,442 head of livestock was reported.
The value of the manufactured products of Grant County was $28,502,404 according to 1935 federal census figures. There were eighty-one manufacturing establishments, employing 5,906 wage earners, who received $4,917,498.
Tax valuation for the county, 1936, was $44,456,010.
