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Warren County History and Information
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Warren County Facts

Warren County was created on March 1, 1827 and was formed from Wabash New Purchase and Unorganized Land. The Wabash New Purchase: Begun in 1820, this tract lasted until 1835 and then became all of White County and portions of the counties of Boone, Carroll, Fountain, Hendricks, Jasper, Montgomery, Morgan, Parke, Putnam, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, and Warsaw. The County was named for Dr. Joseph Warren, killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in which he fought as a private, because his commission as a General had not yet taken effect.

The County Seat is Williamsport. Williamsport wasn't always the County Seat. The first seat of justice of Warren County was located at Warrentown, two miles up the river from Williamsport. For reasons unknown, this site proved unsatisfactory and the Legislature on January 22, 1829, passed an act for the relocation of the County Seat. On the second Monday of June 1830, locating commissioners met at Warrentown, and after a liberal donation of land by William Harrison, selected the present site of Williamsport for the new County Seat. First settled in 1829 by Wm. Harrison, J. J. McAlilly, James H. Buell and Thomas Gilbert, by 1849 Williamsport contained 100 houses and 400 inhabitants. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Warren County are Benton County (north), Tippecanoe County (east), Fountain County (southeast), Vermillion County (south), Vermilion County, Illinois (west).

Warren County is divided into 12 Civil Townships as follows: Adams, Jordan, Kent, Liberty, Medina, Mound, Pike, Pine, Prairie, Steuben, Warren and Washington. Cities, Towns and Communities include Chatterton, Judyville, Kramer, Marshfield, Pine Village, Sloan, State Line, Tab, Williamsport and Winthrop.

 

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.

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Records at the Warren County Courthouse

See Also Indiana Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

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. The Courthouse at Williamsport was destroyed by fire on Sunday, January 20, 1907. All the records but those of the commissioners were saved.

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 Warren County Courthouse History

   Warren County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1827 , Probate Records from 1829 and Court Records from 1828 and is located at 125 North Monroe Street, # 11, Williamsport, IN 47993; Pho: (765) 762-3510, Fax: (765) 762-7251
   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.

   Warren County Recorder has Land Records from 1830 and is located at 125 North Monroe Street, Williamsport, IN 47993; (765) 762-3510
   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.

Search Online 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.

   Warren County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at 210 South Perry Street, Attica, IN 47918; (765) 762-3035

Below is a list of online resources for Warren County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Warren 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.
  • Warren 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.

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Warren County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Indiana

Search Online 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.

Some documents are just too important to wait 6 weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Often in as few as three business days!

  • 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
      • Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
  • 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.

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

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Warren County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records

Search Online 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.

  Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Warren County, Indiana are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Warren County, Indiana are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms.

  See Also Statewide Records that exist for Indiana

Below is a list of online resources for Warren County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Warren 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.
  • Warren County, Indiana Census Books at Amazon.com

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Warren County Maps & Atlases

   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 Warren County Maps. Email us with websites containing Warren County Maps by clicking the link below:

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Warren County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Indiana

Search Online 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 Warren County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Warren County Military Records by clicking the link below:

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

  • Warren County, Indiana Tax Books at Amazon.com

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

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Warren County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Indiana

Search Online 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 Warren County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Warren 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 Warren County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Warren County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

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Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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

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County History

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

Warren County, organized in 1828, was named in honor of General Joseph Warren, of the Revolutionary War, who fell in the Battle of Bunker's Hill. It is bounded north by Benton, east and southeast by Tippecanoe and Fountain, south by Vermillion, and west by the State of Illinois, and it contains about 360 square miles. The civil townships are Medina and Pine in the north; Mound and Steuben in the south, and Warren, Washington, Liberty and Pike in the center. The population in 1830 was 2,834, in 1840, 5,646, and at this time [1849] is about 8,000.

On the river there is an average width of bottom for half a mile, then come the bluffs from 60 to 200 feet in height, very much broken and precipitous, then follows a gently ascending and undulating surface to the Illinois line. The strip of timber along the river averages six miles in width, being much the heaviest near the river, and it runs out into points on the prairies along the borders of the creeks, and there are also occasional groves in the prairies. At least half the county is prairie, consisting of arms of the Grand Prairie, which have uniformly a rich loamy soil, generally sandy. About half the timbered land is either so hilly or so poor, as not to be profitable for farming; the balance of the timberland has a rich soil.

The surplus products are wheat, corn oats and grass, and pork, beef cattle, horses and mules estimated to be worth $200,000 annually, and the amount must soon be largely increased. There are in the county 13 sawmills, six gristmills, three woolen factories, 14 stores, six warehouses, two groceries, five lawyers, 13 physicians, 14 preachers of the Gospel, 25 carpenters, 45 blacksmiths, 15 saddlers, eight shoemakers, 25 tanners, 14 wagon makers and eight cabinetmakers. There are also nine churches, of which four belong to the Methodists, two to the United Brethren, one to the Campbellites, one to the Baptists and one to the Newlights.

The taxable land in the county amounts to 179,893 acres, and about 30,000 acres still belong to the United States.

Near Williamsport is a remarkable fall. The water of Fall Branch is precipitated over a perpendicular rock 70 feet, into a wild glen, surrounded with steep rock, pine trees, etc. A pathway appears to have been made by some convulsion of nature, by which persons can descend in single file to a platform half way down the precipice, and there have a good view of the scene.

There is a Chalybeate spring in a deep ravine below Williamsport, much resorted to by invalids. The Grand Prairie, and much other wild and romantic scenery within on hour's ride, must make the place very pleasant as an occasional residence. Schoonover's Hotel also affords other inducements.

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

About half of Warren County was once heavily timbered and is traversed by streams and dotted with hills. The remainder is rolling prairie lying on the edge of what is known as the Grand Prairie. The northwest portion of the county is characterized by rich, black loam, which produces an abundant supply of corn, oats, and hay. In the southeast part, along the Wabash River and its Tributaries, clay predominates, and corn, wheat, timothy, and clover are the principal crops. Large deposits of gravel for cement are found along the river. Some high quality coal has also been mined in Warren County.

Warren is one of the western counties, which form par of the Illinois line. The Wabash River forms its entire southeastern border. The county has an area of 368 square miles and is divided into twelve townships.

The incorporated towns of Warren County are Williamsport, population 1,053; West Lebanon, 595; Pine Village, 323, and State Line, 165. Total county population in 1890 was 10,955; 1900, 11,371; 1910, 10,899; 1920, 9,699; 1930, 9,167.

Williamsport is located on the Wabash River, twenty-five miles southwest of Lafayette, and is served by one railroad. Its importance is as a center for the county's grain, dairying, livestock, and poultry interests.

There are a number of places of scenic beauty in Warren County, one of the most unusual being a waterfall, which falls over a perpendicular rock into a wild glen. At the Courthouse in Williamsport are two World War Memorials, one a bronze tablet and the other a service flag listing the names of the men in the county that served in the war.

Warren County had one manufacturing establishment, according to 1935 federal census figures.

The county had 1,300 farms averaging 166 acres each and having a total value of $12,718,631. A total of 45,903 head of livestock was reported. The total county tax valuation for 1936 was $15,296,080.

Courthouse History

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