Ross County, Ohio Genealogical Records Information

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Ross County History and Information

Ross County Facts

Ross County was created on August 20, 1798 and was formed from Adams, Hamilton and Washington Counties. The County was named for Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania, a Federalist.. The County Seat is Chillicothe.

Ross County was the sixth county formed from the Northwest Territory. James A. Ross was a Federalist politician and a friend of governor Arthur St. Clair. The county seat of Chillicothe was once the capital of Ohio. It now houses a branch of the Ohio State University and the Chillicothe Correctional Institute for the State of Ohio. The canal era brought prosperity that compensated for the loss of the capital. Probate Judge has birth, marriage, death & probate records; Clerk of Courts has divorce records from late 1800s & civil court records; County Recorder has land records. 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 Ross County are Pickaway County (north), Hocking County (northeast), Vinton County (east), Jackson County (southeast), Pike County (south), Highland County (southwest), Fayette County (northwest).

Municipalities Include Chillicothe, Adelphi, Bainbridge, Clarksburg, Frankfort, Kingston, South Salem. Townships Include Buckskin, Colerain, Concord, Deerfield, Franklin, Green, Harrison, Huntington, Jefferson, Liberty, Paint, Paxton, Scioto, Springfield, Twin, Union. Other localities Include Bourneville, Denver, Hallsville, Knockemstiff, Londonderry, Richmond Dale, North Fork Village

The Ross County Official Government Website
Search the Ohio USGenWeb Archives
Ross 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 Ross 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.

All Departments below are in the Ross County Courthouse 2 N Paint Street, Chillicothe, OH 45601, unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.ross.oh.us/. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Ross County Clerk of Probate Court has Marriage Records from 1798, Birth / Death Records from 1867-1908 and Probate Records from 1797 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: 740-774-1179
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.).

Ross County Recorder has Land Records from 1797 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: Phone: 740-702-3000, Fax: 740-702-3006; Email: rossrec@bright.net
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.

Ross County Clerk of Court of Common Pleas has Court Records from 1798 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: 740-702-3010
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 Ross County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Ross 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.
Ross 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.

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

Ross County, Ohio Tax Books at Amazon.com

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

Ross County Chapter, OGS, PO Box 6352, Chillicothe, OH 45601-6352; Ross County Chapter, OGS meets the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm at the RCGS Office/Library, 444 Douglas Ave., Chillicothe, OH. Annual dinner meeting is held in June., E-mail: rcgs@bright.net
Ross County Genealogical Library, 444 Douglas Avenue; PO Box 6352; Chillicothe, OH 45601
740-773-2715
Ross County Historical Society, 45 West Fifth Street, Chillicothe, OH 45601; 740-772-1936
Ross County Public Health Dept, 425 Chestnut Street, Chillicothe, OH 45601; 740-775-1146
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

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

Ohio Cemetery Records: Extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
Ross County: Assorted Deaths 1840s-1860s from census mortality schedules & newspapers
Ross County, Ohio Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Ross 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 Ross County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Ross County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Ross County ] [ Ohio ] [ Main Page ]
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Ross County, Ohio Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

On August 20, 1798, the government of the Northwest Territory authorized the creation of Ross County. Governor Arthur St. Clair named the county in honor of his friend James Ross. Before the arrival of settlers from the East, Ohio's Native American people had lived in the region for many years. The Hopewell Indians constructed numerous mounds and other earthworks in Ross County. Some of these earthworks form the basis of Mound Builders National Monument.

Ross County is located in southern Ohio. It is predominantly rural, with only 1.3 percent of the county's 688 square miles consisting of urban places. The county seat is Chillicothe. With a population of 21,796 people, Chillicothe was the county's largest community in 2000. Chillicothe was Ohio's first state capitol. In 1800, the territorial capital moved to Chillicothe, and in 1802, the city hosted the Ohio Constitutional Convention. Chillicothe played an important role in early state government because of its central location. In addition, important political leaders like Edward Tiffin and Thomas Worthington lived in the town. The city continued to be Ohio's capital until 1810, when state government moved to Zanesville. The capital returned to Chillicothe two years later and moved to Columbus in 1816. Unlike many of Ohio's more rural counties, Ross County experienced a 5.8% increase in population between 1990 and 2000. Ross County is home to 73,345 people and the county averages almost 107 people per square mile

Retail positions and service industries are the largest employers in Ross County. Farming and manufacturing businesses also employ many county residents. Many people work in these industries, while others commute to Ohio's current capital in Columbus. In 1999, the per capita income in the county was 20,291 dollars and 14.6 percent of the people were living in poverty.

Chillicothe was the name of several historic towns in Ohio. The word is from the language of the Shawnee Indians. It was the name of one of their clans. The principal leader of the Shawnees could only come from the Chillicothe clan. When a village was called Chillicothe it meant that it was home to the principal leader. It was the capital city of the Shawnees until the death of that person. Then the capitol would move to the home village of the next person selected to lead. That village would then become Chillicothe.

One Chillicothe was located on the site of the modern city of Piqua. Another was on the Scioto River south of Circleville at, or near, modern-day Westfall. A third Chillicothe was approximately three miles north of Xenia. When the Shawnee Indians captured Simon Kenton in 1778, the Indians brought him to this town. A fourth Chillicothe was at Frankfort along Paint Creek in Ross County. A fifth Chillicothe was at Hopetown, three miles north of present-day Chillicothe.

Modern Chillicothe was Ohio's first state capitol, but it was never the site of a former Shawnee town. In 1796, Nathaniel Massie laid out the town on the Scioto River. This community grew quickly, becoming a center of political influence within the Northwest Territory. Massie himself chose to settle in Chillicothe, along with other influential men in the territory, such as Thomas Worthington and Edward Tiffin. The town originally consisted of 456 lots. Massie promised to give away one hundred lots to the first settlers. By late 1796, several taverns, stores, and artisan shops had been built. In 1798, Ross County became incorporated with Chillicothe as the county seat. In 1800, the territorial capital moved to Chillicothe, and in 1802 as Ohio moved toward statehood, the city hosted the Ohio Constitutional Convention. Chillicothe became Ohio's first state capital. The reasons why Chillicothe played such an important role in early state government were its central location as well as the prominent men, like Tiffin and Worthington, who resided in the town. The city continued as Ohio's capital until 1810, when state government moved to Zanesville. The capital returned to Chillicothe two years later, only to move to Columbus, forty-five miles to the north, in 1816.

During the 1800s, Chillicothe became a busy economic center. While agriculture was the backbone of the local economy, other industries, especially papermaking, contributed to the town's prosperity. In 1831, the Ohio and Erie Canal connected Chillicothe more closely with other parts of the state, expanding the city's markets. Chillicothe entered the railroad age in 1852, when the Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad entered the town. As the railroad acquired new owners, including the Cincinnati, Washington, and Baltimore Railroad Company and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Chillicothe residents acquired even more markets for their goods. Usually, railroads quickly drove canal companies out of business. The principal reason for this was that railroads could transfer people and supplies at a much quicker rate and for a cheaper price than the canals. In the case of Chillicothe, however, the railroads and the canal peacefully coexisted. The railroads generally ran from the East to the West, while the canal handled business from the north to the south. The canal remained in operation until 1907, when a flood severely damaged it and forced it to close.

World War I contributed immensely to Chillicothe's growth. In 1917, the United States government established Camp Sherman on the outskirts of the city. Within a few months, more than two thousand buildings had been built. They housed soldiers in training for duty in World War I. The city's population swelled from sixteen thousand people to approximately sixty thousand people practically overnight. Today, Camp Sherman does not exist. The United States government still owns the land and has established a Veterans Administration medical center. Three prisons also currently occupy parts of the site, as well as the Mound City National Monument, a National Park dedicated to preserving Hopewell Indian earthworks. The Hopewell earthworks as well as other historic sites, including First Lady Lucy Hayes's home and Adena, the home of Thomas Worthington, have provided the community with an important tourism industry. Chillicothe businesses continue to produce paper, an industry that had its beginnings in the town in 1810. Chillicothe was the original home of the Mead Corporation, one of the United States' leading paper manufacturers. Daniel Mead established the company in 1890 in the city. During the twentieth century, additional industries moved to Chillicothe. Most importantly was the Kenworth Truck Company, which remains one of the main employers in the community today. Almost twenty-two thousand people called Chillicothe home in 2000. Many people worked in these various industries, while others commuted roughly one hour to Ohio's current capital in Columbus.

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