Hancock County, Indiana Genealogy

United States

Indiana

Hancock County

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

Indiana Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Greenfield Organized: March 1, 1828 Parent County(s): Madison Neighboring Counties Hamilton  • Madison  • Henry  • Rush  • Shelby  • Marion See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption Adopt-a-wiki page This page adopted by: Indiana Genealogical Society who welcome you to contribute. Adopt a page today

County Information

Description

Hancock County was named for John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, who signed his name prominently to the Declaration of Independence. The county is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Hancock County Courthouse]
9 E Main Street
Greenfield, IN 46140
Phone: 317-462-1109
County Website

Hancock County Health Department
111 American Legion Pl, Rm 150
Greenfield, IN, 46140
Health Officer: Sandra Aspy, MD
Phone Number: 317-477-1125
Fax: 317-477-1154
Email: cbaker@hancockcoingov.org
Health Department

County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1828.
County Recorder has land records.
County Health Department has birth and death records from 1882.
Health Department has birth records and death records.
Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Hancock County, Indiana 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
1882	1828	1882	1828	1827	1828	1807
*Statewide registration for births in 1907 and deaths in Oct 1899. General compliance by 1917.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Founded March 1, 1828 from Madison County County Seat: Greenfield Interactive Map of Indiana County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Indiana county boundary changes Indiana Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

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
Greenfield
Towns
Cumberland Fortville McCordsville	New Palestine Shirley	Spring Lake Wilkinson
Unincorporated communities
Maxwell
Townships
Blue River Brandywine Brown	Buck Creek Center Green	Jackson Sugar Creek Vernon

Resources

Biographies

• Indiana Biography Index at Indiana State Library

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Hancock County, Indiana online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave Billion Graves INGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Indiana Interment
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Genealogy Center Cemetery list and name data for Hancock County
See Indiana Cemeteries for more information.

Census Records

For tips on accessing Hancock County census records online, see: Indiana Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	1,436	—
1840	7,535	424.7%
1850	9,698	28.7%
1860	12,802	32.0%
1870	15,123	18.1%
1880	17,123	13.2%
1890	17,829	4.1%
1900	19,189	7.6%
1910	19,030	−0.8%
1920	17,210	−9.6%
1930	16,605	−3.5%
1940	17,302	4.2%
1950	20,332	17.5%
1960	26,665	31.1%
1970	35,096	31.6%
1980	43,939	25.2%
1990	45,527	3.6%
2000	55,391	21.7%
2010	70,002	26.4%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

• Index to Mortality Schedule (1860) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Indiana Church Records.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

African American

• 28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops

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 Indiana Land and Property for additional information about early Indiana land grants and patents.

After land was transferred from the government to private ownership, subsequent transactions were recorded at the Hancock County courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Hancock County. County histories may include biographies; church, school and government histories; and military information. For more information about local histories, see Indiana Local Histories.

• History of Hancock County, Indiana : From its Earliest Settlement. 1882. By John H. Binford. Greenfield, Ind. : King & Binford. Online at: Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat).
• History of Hancock County, Indiana, its People, Industries, and Institutions. 1916. By George J. Richman. Indianapolis, Indiana : Federal Publishing. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat). Note: Two histories of Hancock County by George J. Richman were published in 1916 by two different publishers, one was 860 pages and the other was 1,252 pages. The additional pages were biographical sketches. The smaller book was reprinted in 1978. The additional pages from the second book were reprinted separately in 1979. The 1978 reprint includes an index to all of the pages. This index was prepared by the WPA in 1941. Both books should be consulted, as neither one is complete.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Historic Indiana Maps at IUPUI University Library
• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana
• Historic Indiana Atlases for Hancock County at University Library (IUPUI)

Military Records

• Military Record Series Index at Indiana Digital Archives
• Veterans in Hancock County, Indiana (1886) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Mexican War, 1846-1848

• Men of Hancock County in The Mexican -Genealogy Trails

Civil War, 1861-1865
Civil War service men from Hancock County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Hancock County

• 5th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers), Company G
• 8th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, G, and Reorganized Company G
• 9th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company C
• 9th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company B
• 12th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B, and Reorganized Company G
• 13th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company I
• 20th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company E
• 51st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
• 53rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 57th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company A
• 69th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, C, and D
• 75th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
• 99th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company B
• 105th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 132nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies F, and I
• 134th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company K
• 147th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
• 148th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies C, and I
  
• 28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops

Civil War Book:

• Men of Hancock County in The Civil War - Genealogy Trails
  
• "Military Annals" Chapter 7 in Richman, George J.History of Hancock County, Indiana; Its People, Industries and Institutions. (Greenfield, Ind: Wm. Mitchell Printing Co, 1916.) (page 255-328 Regiment, Company, Name) Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; FHL CollectionInternet Archive
  

World War I

• 1802-1892 Indiana, Compiled Marriages, 1802-1892 at Ancestry ($)
• 1919 Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Collection
• A Record of Indiana Men and Women who Died in the Service of the United States and the Allied Nations in the World War. 1914-1918 -Genealogy Trails
• Residents of Hancock County, Indiana Who Served in World War I at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

World War II

• Hancock County, Indiana World War II Casualties, Army and Army Air Corps Access Genealogy

Naturalization and Citizenship

• Naturalization Record Series (for this county) at Indiana Digital Archives. Search by names.

Newspapers

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

For more Indiana newspaper information see the wiki page Indiana Newspapers.

• Hoosier State Chronicles

Probate Records

In most counties in Indiana, probate records have been kept by the county clerk of the circuit court. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the Hancock County courthouse. For more information, see Indiana Probate Records.

• 1798–1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry $

School Records

• Graduates of Mount Comfort High School (1902-1929) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Graduates of Wilkinson High School (1898-1926) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)
• Directory of Teachers for Hancock County (1936) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

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

Indiana tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses 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. For more information see the wiki page Indiana Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Indiana law in 1882 required registration of births and deaths in counties. The Indiana Department of Health has birth records filed after October 1907 and death records filed after January 1900 for deaths. Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Marriage

• 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  
• 1800s-2007 Indiana, United States Marriages at FindMyPast $
• 1802-1892 Indiana Marriages, 1802-1892 at Ancestry $
  
• 1811-2007 Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1828-1836 Hancock County, Indiana Marriages Genealogy Trails

Death

• 1750-1993 - Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  
• 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  
• 1899-2011 Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry - ($)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Hancock County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

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.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Hancock County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.
<br. Hancock County Public Library - Sugar Creek
5087 West US 52
New Palestine, IN 46163
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Societies

Listed below are societies in Hancock County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Societies.

Hancock County Historical Society
PO Box 375
28 Apple St.
Greenfield, IN 46140
Phone: 317-462-7780
E-mail: hancockhistory@live.com
Website

Hancock County, Indiana, Genealogical Society
700 N. Broadway
PO Box 122
Greenfield, IN 46140
Email: hancockgensoc@insightbb.com
Website

Websites

• Indiana Digital Archives Search by name in all records or specific collections
• Indiana Historical Society Digital Collections Search by county or keyword
• Indiana Memory Click the map or select a statewide collection
• List of indexes and databases at Indiana State Library
• Indiana Genealogical Society Databases Free and Members-only. Select a county
• EveryNameIndex.com for Indiana Free online genealogy indexes for county histories. Select a county.
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Hancock County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• 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.