Henry County, Ohio Genealogical Records Information

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Henry County History and Information

Henry County Facts

Henry County was created on February 12, 1820 and was formed from Logan, Shelby, Wood and Williams Counties. The County was named for Virginia legislator Patrick Henry. The County Seat is Napoleon. Henry County was attached to Wood and Williams Counties from 1820-1834. Early court records may be found there. See also County History for more historical details.

The Health Department has Birth & Death Records from 1908-Present, see the Vital Records section for more details. For birth and death records prior to Dec. 20, 1908, contact the Probate Court of this county.

Counties adjacent to Henry County are Fulton County (north), Lucas County (northeast), Wood County (east), Putnam County (south), Defiance County (west), Williams County (northwest), Hancock County (southeast).

Henry County Municipalities Include Napoleon, Deshler, Florida, Hamler, Holgate, Liberty Center, Malinta, McClure, New Bavaria. Townships Include Bartlow, Damascus, Flatrock, Freedom, Harrison, Liberty, Marion, Monroe, Napoleon, Pleasant, Richfield, Ridgeville, Washington. Other localities Include Colton, Grelton, Okolona, Ridgeville Corners

The Henry County Official Government Website
Search the Ohio USGenWeb Archives
Henry County, Virginia History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

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 Henry 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. Henry County was attached to Wood and Williams Counties from 1820-1834. Early court records may be found there.

All Departments below are in the Henry County Courthouse 660 North Perry, PO Box 71, Napoleon, OH 43545; Phone: +1-419-592-4876, unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.henrycountyohio.com/ . NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Henry County Clerk of Probate Court has Marriage Records from 1847, Birth / Death Records from 1867-1908 and Probate Records from 1847 and is located in Suite 301. Phone Number: 419-592-5926
The Probate Court handles the following administrative functions: the probating of wills, estate administrations (full estates and releases from administration), trusts, guardianships of incompetent adults and minors, commitment hearings for the mentally ill and mentally challenged, adoptions, birth corrections, name changes, delayed birth registrations, custodial accounts, lost heir accounts, order disinterments, and issues marriage licenses. In addition, the Court tries litigation issues in all the above matters. A unique aspect of the Probate Court is that the Probate Judge is the ex-officio Clerk of Courts, thus, the Court performs all the duties as its own Clerk of Courts (indexing, filing, docketing, etc.).

Henry County Recorder has Land Records from 1846 and is located in Suite 202. Phone Number: 419-592-1766
In Ohio, the Recorder, as an elected official, is charged by law with the exacting duty of keeping certain specific records which may include: deeds, mortgages, financing statements, easements, leases, federal tax liens, personal tax liens, military discharges, powers of attorney, mechanics liens, plats, recognizance liens, partnerships, living wills, zoning resolutions, etc.

Henry County Clerk of Court of Common Pleas has Court Records from 1847 and is located in Suite 401. Phone Number: 419-599-5951
The Clerk of Courts of Common Pleas is responsible for various administrative and ministerial duties in conjunction with the Court of Common Pleas. These duties include filing, docketing, indexing, and preserving all court pleadings for civil, felony criminal and domestic relations cases. The Clerk of Courts must also follow procedure required by law and issues writs to carry out Court orders. Some of these writs include summons, subpoenas, warrants to arrest and to convey to penal institutions, and signing the death warrant in capital cases. The Clerk is responsible for the receipt and disbursement of all money paid into the court system. Other services provided by the Clerk of Court of Common Pleas are accepting bonds, recording notary commissions, administering oaths, keeping naturalization records, and recording and retention of coroner records.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include:Ohio Land Records and Ohio Early Land Ownership Records.

Click Here to Search Ohio 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.

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

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Ohio Marriages: Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
Ohio Marriages, 1803-1900: This database contains records of marriages that took place in Ohio between 1803 and 1900.
Henry County, Ohio Court Books at Amazon.com
Ohio 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.

Henry County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Tax records for Ohio began as early as 1800. The archives section of the Ohio Historical Society has a collection of original Ohio tax lists from the state auditor's office. They include lists from the county's organization to 1838, usually arranged by county and township. They are not indexed. County courthouses hold various tax records that have not been inventoried. They are in the office of the county auditor or the county records manager. The FHL has microfilm copies of all known extant tax records 1800-38 for Ohio.

The National Archives-Great Lakes Region retains numerous federal tax records for Ohio. These include assessment books for 1867-73 and corporate and personal records for District 10, Toledo, and District 11, Columbus.

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

Henry County, Ohio Tax Books at Amazon.com

Henry County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Ohio 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 Henry County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Henry County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Henry County Chapter, OGS, PO Box 231, Deshler, OH 43516; Henry County Chapter, OGS meets at the Edwin Wood Memorial Library in Deshler at 7:00pm on the third Monday evening of each month except December.
Local Ohio Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
Ohio Historical Society, Archives-Library Division,1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211; Telephone: 614-297-2300
The Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library is, by law, the archives for the State of Ohio. As such, we collect, preserve, and make available to the public, documents pertaining to the operation of state and local governments.
Ohio Genealogical Society, 713 S. Main St, Mansfield, OH 44907-1644;(419) 756-7294, [EMAIL]
Columbus Metropolitan Library, Genealogy Division, 96 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH 43215. 614-645-2ASK (2275);The Genealogy Division holds microfilm; printed, typescript, and manuscript collections, including family and local histories; atlases; cemetery records; city directories; military records; censuses and census indexes; and transcribed records provided by the Ohio chapters of the DAR.
Ohio 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.
Ohio Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Henry County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Ohio 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 Henry County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Henry County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Religion in Ohio was an early and important factor in settlement. The first Moravian mission was established in 1772. Presbyterians and Quakers were in the state at an early date, the latter having established forty-three monthly meetings and settlements between 1801 and 1883. The Presbyterians founded seventeen towns between 1784 and 1799. Baptists, Congregationalists, several reformed groups, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ, United Brethren, Methodists, and Catholics arrived prior to 1850. By 1890 the latter two denominations were the largest in the state. The Methodist circuit in Ohio was organized in 1798, with circuit riders traveling from log cabins to camp meetings across the territory. In 1831 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints migrated from New York to Kirtland in Lake County. No thorough survey exists of any of the holdings of individual churches in Ohio, although many are on microfilm through the FHL. The Ohio Genealogical Society is presently undertaking a church records survey.

According to the Ohio Genealogical Society, the majority of Ohio counties have published cemetery records in one form or another. They suggest contacting local societies or one of the major genealogical libraries in the state.

Below is a list of online resources for Henry County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Henry County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Ohio Cemetery Records: Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
Henry County, Ohio Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Henry County, Ohio Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Ohio 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 Henry County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Henry County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Henry County ] [ Ohio ] [ Main Page ]
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Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
The OHGenWeb Project Ohio Research Exchange Program
OHIO Family Group Sheets
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Ohio 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
Henry County, Ohio Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Geographically, Henry County is a creation of the Ice Age and is located 40 miles southwest of Toledo, OH. Henry County was part of the Great Black Swamp and its earliest settlers found it nearly uninhabitable.

The first people of this area were the Native Americans. The Ottawa Tribe lived along the banks of the Maumee River. Their village sites and burial grounds are scattered along the river.

The missionaries, traders, trappers, hunters and explorers entered the scene. The Native Americans, of course, resented the intrusion. The British, in and attempt to interfere with the successful formation of the United States Government, incited the Native Americans to fierce resistance to settlement. The white renegade British agent, Simon Girty who aided the Natives, cause this uprising in the 1780's and 1790's.

Girty served as a scout under Lord Dunsmore in Pennsylvania. It is said that he and another scout, Simon Kenton, served with merit. However, Girty, for some reason of his own, deserted his fellowmen, turned traitor and from that time on lived and fought with the Native Americans. He is supposed to have been adopted by the Seneca Tribe, the fiercest of the tribes composing the Iroquois alliance.

Up the river a distance about five miles from Napoleon is located "Girty Island" and "Girty's Point" which were his favorite places to retreat. Simon Girty fell from favor with the Native Americans and he retreated to the north bank of the river opposite the island where he built a cabin. Early settlers in the 1820's report finding the remains of his cabin. It was located on what now is the Gunn farm.

Although the State of Ohio was created in 1803, it was not until February 12, 1820 that Ohio created Henry County, named in honor of Patrick Henry. Henry County originally included all of what is now Fulton County, and also parts of Lucas and Defiance counties.

The Miami and Erie Canal was finished in 1843, along with political unrest in Europe. This brought the first wave of German immigrants to the county, placing an external stamp upon the ethnic makeup of the communities. These immigrants worked with diligence to drain the land and settle the area. The first communities were along the Maumee River, Damascus and Flatrock. Over time, drainage technology and improved transportation encouraged agriculture to flourish and the population steadily grew.

After the Civil War, small towns began to develop throughout the County and at commercial stops along the railroads. By the turn of the century, growth of a strong diversified economy was a reality.

Agriculture has left a permanent mark on Henry County as the heart of its economic growth. Today, the work ethic, inventive genius and skill of the people have led to a thriving economy based on industry, service engineering and warehousing as well as the traditional agriculture based economy.

Napoleon is the county seat of Henry County, Ohio. Established in 1832, the town grew slowly, having only three hundred residents in 1840. Over the following four decades, Napoleon, which was named for French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, grew quickly. By the 1880s, it had a population of 3,032 residents, with over one-third of the inhabitants consisting of school-aged children. One of the principal reasons for this growth was the community’s location, having the Miami and Erie Canal and two separate railroads passing through the town. In 1886, Napoleon contained four newspaper offices, six churches, and one bank. Several manufacturing businesses existed in the town, the majority of which made products for farmers in the surrounding countryside. Napoleon continued to grow during the twentieth century. With a population of 9,318 people, almost one-third of all Henry County residents lived in the county seat in 2000. Inhabitants of the county seat continue to find employment by producing items for Henry County farmers.

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