Mercer County, Ohio Genealogy

United States Genealogy

Ohio

Mercer County

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

Ohio Online Genealogy Records

Mercer County, Ohio
Map
Location of Ohio in the U.S.
Courthouse
Address	Mercer County Courthouse 101 N. Main St. Celina, Ohio 45822 Mercer County Website

Mercer County, Ohio Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1867	1830	1867	1824	1823	1829	1820
Statewide registration for births and deaths started in 1908. General compliance year is unknown.

• Parent Counties: Formed from Darke County 12 February 1820.
• County Seat: Celina

Description

The county was named Hugh Mercer, an officer in the American Revolutionary War. It's county seat is Celina and was founded April 1, 1820. It is located in the West-Central area of the state.

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
Celina (county seat)
Villages
Burkettsville Chickasaw Coldwater	Fort Recovery Mendon Montezuma	Rockford St. Henry
Unincorporated communities
Carthagena Cassella Chattanooga Cranberry Prairie Erastus Macedon	Maria Stein Mercer Monterey Neptune Padua Philothea	Saint Joseph St. Rose Sebastian Sharpsburg Wabash Wendelin
Townships
Black Creek Butler Center Dublin Franklin	Gibson Granville Hopewell Jefferson Liberty	Marion Recovery Union Washington

Neighboring Counties

Van Wert County  • Auglaize County  • Shelby County  • Darke County  • Randolph County, Indiana  • Jay County, Indiana  • Adams County, Indiana

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Ohio county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Ohio County Boundary Maps" (1788-1940) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

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

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemetery records often reveal birth, marriage, death, relationship, military, and religious information.

Online Grave Transcripts	Published Grave Transcripts	County Cemetery Directories
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
Interment.net	WorldCat	Names in Stone
USGW Tombstones		Billion Graves
Billion Graves
OHGenWeb Tombstone Photos
Ohio Gravestones
See Ohio Cemeteries for more information.

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1820	95	—
1830	1,110	1068.4%
1840	8,277	645.7%
1850	7,712	−6.8%
1860	14,104	82.9%
1870	17,254	22.3%
1880	21,808	26.4%
1890	27,220	24.8%
1900	28,021	2.9%
1910	27,536	−1.7%
1920	26,872	−2.4%
1930	25,096	−6.6%
1940	26,256	4.6%
1950	28,311	7.8%
1960	32,559	15.0%
1970	35,265	8.3%
1980	38,334	8.7%
1990	39,443	2.9%
2000	40,924	3.8%
2010	40,814	−0.3%
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.

Finding Church Records at Other Repositories

Additional church records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Mercer County, Ohio Church Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).

Ethnic, Political, or Religious Groups

Archives, Libraries, and Museums
Biographies
Church Records
Cemetery Records
Court Records
Histories
Immigration/emigration/migration
Maps
Newspapers
Societies

Genealogy

Miami Valley Genealogy Index is an Index to more than a half million pointers to records all over Miami Valley including Mercer County.

History

Local histories are available for Mercer County, Ohio Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Ohio Local Histories.

Local Histories

• Scranton, S.S., History of Mercer County, Ohio and Representative Citizens, (Chicago, Illinois: Biographical Pub. Co., 1907). Digital copy at Google Books FHL film 1000331 Item 3; book 977.1415 H2s

• Gilberg, Bronsart H., History of Mercer County, Ohio, (Fort Wayne, Indiana: Allen County Public Library, 1989). FHL film 1320898 Item 15; book 977.1415 H2g

Alig, Jocye L., Mercer County, Ohio, History (Celina, Ohio: Mercer County Historical Society, 1980). FHL book 977.1415 H2m

Land and Property

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.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Ohio (1788-1940)
• Township and Plat Maps
• Surrounding County Map (1868-1872)

Military

• 1888-1919 - Ohio Soldier Home Records, 1888-1919 at FamilySearch — index and images

World War I

• 1914-1919 - Ohio, World War I Statement of Service Cards, 1914-1919 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1914-1918 - Ohio, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1914-1918 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1916-1920 - Ohio, WWI Index and Return Cards, 1916-1920 at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1800-1977 - Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800-1977 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

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

To access newspapers, contact public libraries, Ohio Genealogical Society chapters, college or university libraries, the Library of Congress, Google News, or the Ohio Memory. The Ohio Genealogical Society Obituary Database is another source of newspaper information.

For more Ohio newspaper information see the Newspaper Guides on the wiki page Ohio Newspapers and Obituaries.

Online Newspapers
Coldwater Public Library Community History Archive

• Celina Advocate (1905-1907)
  
• Coldwater Chronicle (1907-1936)
  
• St. Henry Advocate (1907-1909)
  
• Mercer County Chronicle (1936-2011)
  
• Mercer County Chronicle Journal (1958-1959)
  

Minster Historical Society Newspaper Archive

• Minster Homelight (1888-1890)
  
• Minster Volksfreund (1894-1895)
  
• The Minster Post (1896-1964)
  
• The Community Post (1964-present)
  

Online Newspaper Abstracts
 Newspaper Extracts and Abstracts in Book Form

Probate

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 {{{1}}} 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 Records

• 1786 - 1998 Ohio Wills and Probate Records 1786-1998 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1789 - 1996 Ohio Probate Records 1789-1996 at FamilySearch.org — images
• 1790–1967 - Ohio, Probate Records, 1790-1967 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This collection consists of probate records and estate files from county courthouses in Ohio. The content and time period varies by county, with more records being added as they become available. This Collection will include records from 1789 to 1996. Currently, (September 2012) the collection is only searchable by browsing the images. A list of Fires that have destroyed records in the courthouses of several counties are listed on the Record Description page.
  

Finding More Probate Records

Additional probate records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Mercer County, Ohio Genealogy Probate Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).

Repositories

Courthouse

Mercer County Courthouse
101 North Main Street
PO Box 28;
Celina, OH 45822
Phone: 419.586.6461

Probate Judge has birth and death records 1867-1908,
marriage records from 1830 and probate records from 1829;
Clerk Court has court records from 1824; County Recorder has land records)

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 Libraries

• St Marys Ohio Family History Center

For additional nearby Family History Centers, search online in the FHC directory. Put your town name in the top search box.

Societies

Online Genealogy Research Groups

• 
  
• U.S. Midwest Genealogy Research Community - FamilySearch Facebook Research Group
• Ohio Ancestors - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join
• U.S. and Canada Genealogy Research - FamilySearch Community group, must have a free FamilySearch account to join

Taxation

• 1800-1950 - Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1800-1850 Ohio Tax Records, 1800-1850 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Finding More Tax Records

Additional tax records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Mercer County, Ohio Genealogy Tax Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).

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

Online Birth Indexes and Records

• 1821–1962 - Ohio, Births and Christenings, 1821-1962 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. This is an incomplete index of extractions of original records and of patron-submitted records. This index is not complete for any particular place or region. Information may have been previously published in the International Genealogical Index or Vital Records Index collections.

• 1841-2003 - Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1908-1964 - Ohio, Birth Index, 1908-1964 at ancestry.com ($)
  

Original Birth Records on Microfilm

Marriage

Online Marriage Indexes and Records

• 1789-2013 - Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013 at FamilySearch — index and images. Name index and images of county marriage records acquired from local courthouses.
• 1800-1958 - Ohio, Marriages, 1800-1958 at FamilySearch — free; Index.
• 1800-1942 - Ohio, Marriages, 1800-1942 at FamilySearch — index
• 1970-2003 Ohio, Marriages, 1970 - 2003 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Original Marriage Records on Microfilm

Death

Online Death Indexes and Records

• 1840-2001 - Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001 at FamilySearch — index and images

• 1854–1997 - Ohio, Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free; Index. Name index to death and burial records from the state of Ohio. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers. This set contains 2,535,556 records. Due to privacy laws, recent records may not be displayed. The year range represents most of the records. A few records may be earlier or later.

• 1908–1953 - Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953 at FamilySearch Historical Records – free. Name index and images of Ohio statewide death certificates.
• 1908-1932, 1938-2018 Ohio, Death Records, 1908-1932, 1938-2018 at Ancestry.com ($) — index and images
• 1913-1944, 1954-1963 Ohio Death Index, 1913-1944, 1954-1963 at MyHeritage ($) — index

Original Death Records on Microfilm

Finding More Vital Records

Additional vital records can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Mercer County, Ohio Genealogy Vital Records in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).

Websites

• Mercer County, OH History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Ohio Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• Mercer County OH Genealogy
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• FamilySearch Catalog

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

Family History Library