Butler County, Ohio Genealogy

United States

Ohio

Butler County

Guide to Butler County, Ohio ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Ohio Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Hamilton Organized: 24 March 1803 Parent County(s): Hamilton Neighboring Counties Hamilton  • Warren  • Montgomery  • Preble  • Union (IN)  • Franklin (IN)  • Dearborn (IN) See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The county was named for General Richard Butler, who died in 1791 fighting Indians in northern Ohio. It is located in the Western area of the state.

County Courthouse

Butler County Courthouse
101 High St.
Hamilton, Ohio 45011-2732
Phone: 513-887-3000
Butler County Website

County Health Department has birth and death records.
Probate Judge has marriage and probate records.
Court Clerk has divorce and court records.
County Auditor has land records.

Butler County, Ohio Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1856	1803	1856	1803	1803	1851	1820
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1908. General compliance year is unknown.

Record Loss

1912 Although the Butler County Courthouse was reported to have been destroyed by fire on March 14, 1912, it was the original, four-tiered, domed tower which was capped with a statue of Justice that was destroyed. The courthouse still stands and is being used today by the Probate Court. County records were saved by spectators and courthouse employees who carried them out of the building. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Formed from Hamilton County 24 March 1803. County Seat: Hamilton Interactive Map of Ohio County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes Ohio Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Populated Places

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Fairfield Hamilton (county seat) Middletown	Monroe Oxford	Trenton Sharonville
Villages
College Corner Jacksonburg	Millville New Miami	Seven Mile
Unincorporated communities
Alert Bethany Blue Ball Collinsville Excello Gano Layhigh Maud	McGonigle Miltonville Okeana Oneida Overpeck Pisgah Poast Town	Port Union Princeton Scipio Shandon Tylersville West Middletown Woodsdale
Census-designated places
Beckett Ridge Darrtown Four Bridges	Olde West Chester Ross Somerville	Wetherington Williamsdale
Townships
Fairfield Hanover Lemon Liberty Madison	Milford Morgan Oxford Reily	Ross St. Clair Wayne West Chester(formerly Union)

Resources

Bible Records

For an extensive list of resources for Bible Records see Ohio Bible Records.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Butler County, Ohio online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave OH GenWeb Interment.net OH Tombstone Transcription Project Ohio Gravestones Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Find A Grave
See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1810	11,150	—
1820	21,746	95.0%
1830	27,142	24.8%
1840	28,173	3.8%
1850	30,789	9.3%
1860	35,840	16.4%
1870	39,912	11.4%
1880	42,579	6.7%
1890	48,597	14.1%
1900	56,870	17.0%
1910	70,271	23.6%
1920	87,025	23.8%
1930	114,084	31.1%
1940	120,249	5.4%
1950	147,203	22.4%
1960	199,076	35.2%
1970	226,207	13.6%
1980	258,787	14.4%
1990	291,479	12.6%
2000	332,807	14.2%
2010	368,130	10.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Ohio denominations, see Ohio Church Records.

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Hamilton

Directories

• Rural Directory, Butler County, 1932-1934 at The Lane Libraries

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Ohio Land and Property for additional information about early Ohio land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• 1790-1907 Bureau of Land Management index at OHGenWeb Archives
• 1836 Butler County 1836 land ownership maps at OHGenWeb

Local Histories

Local histories are available for this county. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see Ohio Local Histories.

• A History and biographical cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio: with illustrations and sketches of its representative men and pioneers (Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Biographical Pub. Co., 1882) Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library
• Bartlow, Bert S., Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio ([Indianapolis, Ind.] B. F. Bowen & Co., 1905) Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library
• Ohio Indexes at EveryNameIndex.com — Select the county.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Ohio (1788-1940) at MapofUS.org

Military Records

• 1888-1919 Ohio Soldier Home Records, 1888-1919 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• Butler County, Ohio Veteran Search at Soldiers, Sailors, and Pioneers Monument, Butler County
• Veteran Searches: Military Discharge (DD214) at Butler County Recorder

World War I

• 1914-1919 Ohio, World War I Statement of Service Cards, 1914-1919 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1914-1918 Ohio, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1916-1920 Ohio, WWI Index and Return Cards, 1916-1920 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Naturalization and Citizenship

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

• 1800-1977 - Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.

Newspapers

Butler County newspapers often contain genealogical value including obituaries, births, marriages, deaths, anniversaries, family gatherings, family travel, achievements, business notices, engagement information, and probate court proceedings.

For more Ohio newspaper information see Ohio Newspapers and Obituaries.

• 1793-late 1900's Newspapers at Ohio History Connection — Select county.
• Early to late-1900's Newspapers at Ohio Memory — sort by County, City, Time Period, and more.
• Newspaper Articles at OHGenWeb Archives

Probate Records

From 1797 or the creation of the county, probate records were held by the Court of Common Pleas. After 1852, records are held by the Butler County Probate Court. Records include wills, estates, guardianships, naturalizations, marriage, adoption, and birth and death records (1867-1908 only). The records may give the decedent's date of death, name of spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, neighbors, associates, relatives, and their place of residence.

See Ohio Probate Records for information about how to use probate records.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1786-1998 Ohio, Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998 at Ancestry ($); index and images
• 1789-1996 Ohio Probate Records, 1789-1996 at FamilySearch.org — How to Use this Collection.
• 1811-1869 Wills at OHGenWeb Archives

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

Ohio tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses before 1820 or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties.

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Marriages were usually recorded from the formation of the county and are held at the office of the County Probate Court. Divorce records are located with the county Clerk of Courts.

Any existing birth and death records from 1867 through December 19, 1908 are located at the County Probate Court. The Ohio Department of Health has birth records filed after December 20, 1908 and death records filed after January 1, 1954, while the Ohio History Connection houses death records from December 20, 1908 through December 31, 1953.

Birth

• 1800-1962 Ohio, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1962 at Ancestry ($)
• 1821-1962 Ohio Births and Christenings, 1821-1962 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1841-2003 Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1908-1998 Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1998 at Ancestry ($); index

Marriage

• 1789-2013 Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1800-1958 Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1800-1942 Ohio Marriages, 1800-1942 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1970-2003 Ohio, Marriages, 1970 - 2003 at MyHeritage ($); index

Death

• 1840-2001 Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1854–1997 Ohio Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1908–1953 Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection.
• 1908–1932, 1938–1944, and 1958–2007 Ohio Death Index, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
• 1908-1932, 1938-2018 Ohio, Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018 at Ancestry ($); index and images
• 1913-1944, 1954-1963 Ohio Death Index, 1913-1944, 1954-1963 at MyHeritage ($); index
• 1913-1944, 1954-1963 Ohio Death Index at Ohio History Connection

Divorce

• 1962-2007 Ohio, Divorce Abstracts, 1962-1963, 1967-1971, 1973-2007 at Ancestry ($)
  

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Butler County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Ohio Archives and Libraries.
Butler County Records Center and Archives
123 North Third St
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
513-887-3437
Website

Family History Centers

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Fairfield/Hamilton Ohio Family History Center. (Fairfield)
• Middletown Ohio Family History Center
• Oxford Ohio Family History Center
• West Chester Ohio Family History Center (Middletown)

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Butler County. For state-wide library facilities, see Ohio Archives and Libraries.

Hamilton Lane Library
300 North Third Street
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
513 894-7156
Website

Smith Library of Regional History
A Department of the Oxford Lane Public Library
441 S. Locust Street
Oxford, Ohio 45056
513 523-3035
Website

MidPointe Library - Middletown
125 South Broad Street
Middletown, Ohio 45044
513-424-1251
Website
Midpointe Library System Genealogy Collection

Museums

Middletown Historical Society Canal Museum
1605 North Verity Parkway
Middletown, Ohio
513 422-7161
Website

Located along the historic route of the Miami-Erie Canal, the Canal Museum, a relocated lock tenders house, offers Middletown and Miami-Erie Canal history through artifacts, photographs, and videos.

Monroe Historical Society Museum
Main and Elm Streets
Monroe, Ohio 45050
513 539-7310
Website

The Museum houses many displays and artifacts depicting the history of Monroe, platted in 1817, and the surrounding area.

Trenton Historical Society Museum
17-A East State Street
Trenton, Ohio 45067
513 988-9634

The Museum, located in the circa 1890 Adam Shafer house, displays exhibits relating to the development of Trenton, platted 1816, and the surrounding area.

Chrisholm Historic Farmstead
2070 Woodside Road
Hamilton, Ohio
513 867-5835
Website

This home was built in 1830 by Christian Augspurger, leader of the local Amish-Mennonite settlement. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1873 with the present brick farmhouse being built by Samuel Augspurger in 1874.

Butler County Historical Society Benninghofen House
327 North Second Street
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
513 896-9930
Website

This is the restored mansion of Hamilton industrialist, John Benninghofen. The Italianate style structure was the home of Benninghofen family members from 1874-1947. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Butler County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Ohio Societies.

Butler County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 13006
Hamilton, Ohio 45013
Email:BCOGS@butlercountyogs.org
Website

Butler County Historical Society
327 North Second Street
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
513-896-9930
Email:bcomuseum@fuse.net
Website

Butler-Warren County African American Historical Society
4521 Poppy Drive
P.O. Box 715
Middletown, Ohio
513-424-1791

Southwest Butler County Genealogical Society
P. O. Box 243
Hamilton, Ohio 45012
Website

Websites

• Local Gov't Records by County at Ohio History Connection — Browse their list; records are not online.
• Custom Browse of Historical Collections at Ohio Memory — Use map or alpha bar to select county or place, then browse search options in left sidebar.
• Ohio Genealogical Society ($) - online databases
• Butler County OH Genealogy at LDS Genealogy
• Butler County Rootsweb site at Rootsweb
• Butler County GenWeb
• Butler County USGenWeb Archives
• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.