Lawrence County, Indiana Genealogical Records Information

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Lawrence County History and Information

Lawrence County Facts

Lawrence County was created on March 1, 1818 and was formed from ? . The County was named for Capt. James Lawrence, who uttered the famous words "Don't give up the ship" after being mortally wounded during the War of 1812.

The County Seat is Bedford. Often called the limestone capital of the world, Bedford wasn't always the County Seat. The first County Seat was named Palestine and chosen may 21, 1818, on land donated by Benjamin and Ezekiel Blackwell and Henry H. Massie. Commissioners named in the legislative act of February 9, 1825 moved the County Seat to Bedford. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Lawrence County are Monroe County (north), Jackson County (east), Washington County (southeast), Orange County (south), Martin County (west), Greene County (northwest).

Lawrence County is divided into 9 Civil Townships as follows: Bono, Guthrie, Indian Creek, Marion, Marshall, Perry, Pleasant Run, Shawswick and Spice Valley. The township once known as Flinn in now included in portions of Shawswick, Pleasant Run and Guthrie Townships.

Cities, Towns and Communities include Avoca, Bartlettsville, Bedford, Bryantsville, Buddha, Coveyville, Coxton, Englewood, Erie, Fort Ritner, Georgia, Guthrie, Heltonville, Hartleyville, Huron, Judah, Leesville, Logan, Mitchell, Moorestown, Needmore, Oolitic, Peerless, Pinhook, Rabitville, Rivervale, Sand Pit, Shawswick, Silverville, Springville, Stemm, Thornton, Tunnelton, Williams, Yockey, and Zelma.

The Lawrence County Official Government Website
Lawrence County Township Map
Indiana Newspaper Holdings for Lawrence 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.
Official County Historians
Lawrence County, Indiana History Books at Amazon.com

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Lawrence County Courthouse

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 Lawrence County Courthouse History

Lawrence County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1818 , Probate Records from 1819 and Court Records from 1819 and is located at 916 15th Street, # 31, Bedford, IN 47421; Pho: (812) 275-7543, Fax: (812) 277-2024
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.

Lawrence County Recorder has Land Records from 1819 and is located at 916 15th Street, Bedford, IN 47421; (812)275-3245.
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.

Click Here to Search Indiana Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Lawrence County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at Dunn Plaza, 2419 Mitchell Rd, Bedford, IN 47421; (812) 275-3234

Below is a list of online resources for Lawrence County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
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.
Lawrence County, Indiana Court Books at Amazon.com
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.

Lawrence County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

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 Lawrence County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Lawrence County, Indiana Tax Books at Amazon.com

Lawrence County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Indiana Genealogical Addresses

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 Lawrence County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Lawrence County Historical & Genealogical Society, 929 15th St., Bedford, IN 47421; Ph. (812) 278-8575
Local Indiana Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Indiana Libraries: Database to allow searching for Indiana's public libraries.
National Archives - Great Lakes Region (Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60629-5898; 773-948-9001; E-mail: chicago.archives@nara.gov (Maintains retired records from Federal agencies and courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.)
General Information Leaflet
Indiana State Archives, 6440 E. 30th St., Indianapolis, IN 46219; (317) 591-5222, [EMAIL]
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 Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10507, Fort Wayne IN 46852
Indiana Historical Society, 450 W. Ohio St, Indianapolis,IN 46202; 1-800-447-1830 or 317-232-1882
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.
indiana Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Lawrence County Church & Cemeteries

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.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Lawrence County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Lawrence County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Baptist records are found at Franklin College (in Franklin); Methodist at DePauw University (in Greencastle); Mennonite at Goshen College (in Goshen); Presbyterian at Hanover College (in Hanover); Disciples of Christ at their historical society in Nashville, Tennessee; and French Catholic at Vincennes University in the Byron R. Lewis Collection. There are also Catholic church histories and records at the Catholic Archives, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Quaker records are at Earlham College (at Richmond).

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 Lawrence County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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 Lawrence County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Lawrence County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Lawrence County ] [ Indiana ] [ Main Page ]
Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
The Indiana Family Group Sheet Project
Lawrence County INGenWeb Archives
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
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.
Meet your ancestors. Learn their stories. Start your FREE family tree.
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.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Lawrence County, Indiana Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain

Lawrence County, named in honor of Captain James Lawrence, of the Frigate "Chesapeake," who was killed in the battle with the Frigate "Shannon," was organized in 1818. It is bounded on the north by Monroe, east by Jackson and Washington, south by Orange, and west by Martin and Greene, and it contains 438 square miles. The civil townships are Shawswick, Pleasant Run, Perry, Indian Creek, Spice Valley, Marion, Bono and Flinn. The population in 1830 was 9,237, in 1840, 11,782, and at this time [1849] about 13,000.

There is very little level land, except the bottoms on the river and creeks, which comprise about one-tenth part of the whole county. The rest of the country is either rolling, hilly, or very much broken; but the soil is mostly of a very good quality, the timber probably not surpassed in any part of the State. Limestone and excellent springs of water are found in abundance. The surplus products are corn, wheat, oats, and about 15,000 hogs, 1,000 fat cattle, and 500 horses and mules are exported annually, the value of which is estimated at $175,000.

There are in the county twenty-one gristmills, eighteen sawmills, one woolen factory, six carding machines, forty stores and groceries, one printing office, six lawyers, twenty-two physicians, twenty-four preachers, and about 400 mechanics of the trades most in demand. The extension of the railroad from New Albany through this county will do much to develop its resources. The taxable land amounts to 222,606 acres, and about 25,000 acres have been purchased, but not yet taxable.

Bedford, the Seat of Justice of Lawrence County, is beautifully situated on the high ground between the East Fork of White River and Salt Creek three miles from the former and two miles from the latter; seventy-five miles southwest of Indianapolis, twenty-four south from Bloomington, sixty-six northwest from Louisville, and forty-eight north from Leavenworth. It was laid out in 1826 by John Lowry, S. F. Irwin, Jos. Glover and John Owen. Bedford contains thirty brick and 114 frame houses, and a population of 700. It has an excellent Courthouse, surpassed by very few in the State; Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist Churches, a good building for a County Seminary, and it has ten stores and two groceries. At Bedford is located one of the branches of the State Bank. The country around is fertile and healthy, and a very prudent and industrious population have secured to this town and its vicinity an almost uninterrupted course of prosperity. There has, however, been less attention paid to education here than in many other towns inferior in size and wealth. A newspaper, the "Bedford Herald," is published here, and exertions are now making to continue the railroad from New Albany to Salem, to this place.

1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature

Lawrence County is famous for its great limestone industry. The Oolitic Limestone found in this region is excellent for building purposes and it has been used in construction of many of the greatest public buildings in Canada as well as the United States. The stone products from Lawrence County are shipped to every state in the Union. Some twenty concerns are engaged in milling and quarrying the stone. The county is, in addition, the home of a large cement industry.

Lawrence County is situated near the center of southern Indiana's hill country, an area untouched by the glacier. Its rolling surface covers 456 square miles, divided into nine townships. The incorporated cities are Bedford, 13,208, and Mitchell, 3,226. Oolitic, 1,210, is the only incorporated town. In 1890 the population was 19,792; 1900, 25,792; 1910, 30,625; 1920, 28,228; 1930, 35,583.

Bedford is one of southern Indiana's important cities. It lies about fifty-six miles northeast of Vincennes, and is served by three railroads. In addition to its national prominence as the center of the nation's building stone industry, it is the center of a rich agricultural district. Part of the city's industrial activity is centered in the railroad shops of one of the lines located there. According to federal census figures of 1935, the city had seventeen manufacturing establishments employing 887 wage earners on pay rolls of $853,028, producing to the extent of $2,637,822.

Bedford is one of the art centers of the state. Among the points of interest is the monument to all soldiers and pioneers. The monument is located on the grounds of the County Courthouse. The city's Pose Office is constructed of the native limestone and is noted for its carved doorway. The Carnegie Public Library is another example of the regions stone.

One of the churches of the city, the Roman Catholic Church, has an unusually beautiful art interior. Among the several outstanding Bedford Residences are the Mrs. Katherine Voris Residence, the Philip Furst Residence with its fine sunken gardens, and the Mrs. Will Walls Residence, also notable for its gardens. Many of the city's homes contain interesting collections of antiques, pioneer needlework, and crafts. One of the better art associations of the state is located in Bedford, the Ladies of the Round Table, organized in 1895. Another point of note is the community-owned hotel of the city.

Some of the other towns have unusual cultural and historic features. In Heltonville there are a number of fine residences, which contain collections of antiques. The town of Williams has some old estates built as early as 1849 and a dam across White River by the Southern Indiana Power Company for the purpose of producing inexpensive electricity. In recent years, the county has become famous as a fruit region and the dairy business has grown rapidly.. Leesville is the site of the Granny White Log House, originally built in 1824.

In the southern part of the county is Mitchell, home of one of the nation's important lime and cement companies. A body works is the other important industry. Mitchell is served by two railroads. The city is well equipped as to educational facilities, having one large high school, two grade schools, and a well-stocked library.

Near Mitchell is one of the Indiana's outstanding spots of natural beauty, Spring Mill State Park, on a tract of 1,100 acres. Within the grounds is a reconstruction of the original village, which was settled by the Bulletts, relatives of George Washington, in 1816. Included among the buildings are two colonial residences and gardens, Post Office, apothecary shop, cobbler's shop, distillery, taverns, hat factory, schoolhouse, and nursery. The pioneer handiwork turned out in the shops provides income enough to support the village. Other features of the park are Donaldson's Woods and Cave and Hamer's Hollow.

Lawrence County is the home of the Ninth District Representative, Congressman Eugene B. Crowe, whose residence is in Bedford.

Federal census figures for 1935 listed 2,337 farms in the county averaging 101.4 acres each, their total value being $6,507,583. A total of 37,719 head of livestock was reported.

There were twenty-eight manufacturing establishments employing 1,394, who earned $1,232,457. The value of the manufactured products was $4,091,059. The tax valuation of Lawrence County, according to 1936 figures, was $24,533,555.

Courthouse History

Map of Indiana Historical Markers

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