Martin County, Indiana Genealogy

Historical populations
	Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Guide to Martin 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:

Shoals

Organized:

January 17, 1820

Parent County(s):

Dubois, Daviess

Neighboring Counties

Greene • Lawrence • Orange • Dubois • Daviess
See County Maps

Courthouse

Location Map

Adoption

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County Information[edit | edit source]

Description[edit | edit source]

Martin County was named for Maj. John T. Martin of Newport, Kentucky.^[1] It is located in the south-central area of the state.^[2]

County Courthouse[edit | edit source]

Martin County Courthouse
111 South Main Street
Shoals, IN 47581
Phone: 812-247-3651
County Website

Martin County Health Department
127 Water St.
Shoals, IN, 47581
Health Officer: Larry Sutton, DO
Phone Number: 812-849-4447
Fax: 812-849-6785
Health Department

County Health Department has birth and death records. County Clerk has marriage and probate records from 1820, divorce and court records from 1842. County Recorder has land records. ^[3]
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.

Martin County, Indiana Record Dates[edit | edit source]

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^[4]
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1882	1820	1882	1842	1820	1820	1807
*Statewide registration for births in 1907 and deaths in Oct 1899. General compliance by 1917.

Record Loss[edit | edit source]

April 1876 The Martin County courthouse was destroyed by fire. All records of genealogical interest were saved.

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[edit | edit source]

Parent Counties: Martin County was created 17 January 1820 from Daviess and Dubois Counties.
County Seat: Shoals ^[5]
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[edit | edit source]

Cities
Loogootee
Towns
Crane	Shoals
Unincorporated communities
Bramble Cale Hindostan Falls Indian Springs Ironton Lacy Mount Olive	Mount Pleasant Natchez Padanaram Pleasant Valley Rusk [Scenic Hill [Shoals Overlook	South Martin Trinity Springs Whitfield Willow Valley Windom Yenne
Census-designated places
Burns City	Dover Hill
Townships
Center Halbert	Lost River Mitcheltree	Perry Rutherford

History Timeline[edit | edit source]

Resources[edit | edit source]

Bible Records[edit | edit source]

Biographies[edit | edit source]

Indiana Biography Index at Indiana State Library
Living Leaders, an Encyclopedia of Biography: Special Edition for Daviess and Martin Counties, Indiana. ([New York?]: American Pub. Co, 1897.) Online at: FamilySearch Library; Internet Archive

Business, Commerce, and Occupations[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

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

Census Records[edit | edit source]

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

Index to Defective, Dependent & Delinquent Census for Martin County, Indiana (1880) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Church Records[edit | edit source]

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.

Court Records[edit | edit source]

Directories[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups[edit | edit source]

African American

28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops
African American Veterans in Martin County, Indiana (1890) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Funeral Homes[edit | edit source]

Genealogies[edit | edit source]

Guardianship[edit | edit source]

Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]

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 Martin County courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Local Histories[edit | edit source]

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

Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Migration[edit | edit source]

Military Records[edit | edit source]

Civil War
Civil War service men from Martin 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 Martin County.

1st Regiment, Indiana Heavy Artillery, Company F
2nd Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company H
13th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company F
14th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
18th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
24th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company I
52nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, and D
57th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
65th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company F
80th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, and K
120th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company G
136th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company H
137th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company G
143rd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
146th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
28th US Colored Troops, Addition Recruits for Colored Troops

World War I

1919 Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]

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

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

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

Obituaries[edit | edit source]

Other Records[edit | edit source]

Periodicals[edit | edit source]

Probate Records[edit | edit source]

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 Martin County courthouse. For more information, see Indiana Probate Records.

1798-1999 Indiana Wills and Probate Records 1798-1999 at Ancestry
Martin County Genealogical Society (Ind.). Martin County, Indiana Will Book "C.". Shoals, Ind.?:(Martin County Genealogical Society?, 2000.) Internet Archive

School Records[edit | edit source]

Directory of Teachers for Martin County (1936) at Indiana Genealogical Society ($)

Social Security Records[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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.

Birth[edit | edit source]

Baker, Natalie Montgomery. Martin County, Indiana, Birth Records. Indiana(?: s.n, 1900.) Online at: FamlySearch Digital Library Vol 1-2;FamilySearch Digital Library Vol 3-4; Vol. 1-2 Internet Archive; Vol.3-4 Internet Archive

Marriage[edit | edit source]

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

Death[edit | edit source]

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

Divorce[edit | edit source]

Research Facilities[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]

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

Family History Centers[edit | edit source]

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

Bedford Indiana Family History Center
1010 22nd St
Bedford Indiana 47421
Phone: 812-275-6672
Email: IN_Bedford@familyhistorymail.org
Website

Libraries[edit | edit source]

Listed below are libraries in Martin County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Indiana Archives and Libraries.

Museums[edit | edit source]

Martin County Historical Society and Museum
220 Capital Street
Shoals, IN 47581
Phone: 812-247-1133
Website

Societies[edit | edit source]

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