Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

United States

Indiana

Allen County

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

This article is about a northeast Indiana county. For other uses, see Allen.

County Facts County seat: Fort Wayne Organized: December 17, 1823 Parent County(s): Delaware New Purchase and unorganized territory Neighboring Counties DeKalb  • Noble  • Whitley  • Huntington  • Wells  • Adams  • Van Wert (OH)  • Paulding (OH)  • Defiance (OH) 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

Allen County was named for John Allen. It is located in the northeastern area of the state.

County Courthouse

Allen County Courthouse
715 S Calhoun Street #200
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-449-7245
County Website

Allen County Health Department
200 E Berry St, Suite 360
Fort Wayne, IN, 46802
Health Officer: Deborah McMahan, MD
Phone Number: 260-449-7561
Fax: 260-427-1391
Email: mindy.waldron@co.allen.in.us
Health Department

Clerk Circuit Court has marriage records records from 1824, divorce, probate and court records from 1823.
County Recorder has land records.
County Board of Health has birth, death and burial records.
Health Department has birth records filed and death records filed for deaths.
Copies may be obtained from the county health department or the Indiana State Division of Vital Records.

Allen 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	1824	1870	1823	1824	1823	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: Organized December 17, 1823 from Delaware New Purchase and unorganized territory, and formed April 1, 1824. County Seat: Fort Wayne 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 Allen County Development Map, 1823-1835, Platt map pdf.

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
Fort Wayne	New Haven	Woodburn
Towns
Grabill Huntertown	Leo-Cedarville Monroeville	Zanesville
Unincorporated communities
Aboite Arcola Ari Boston Corner Cuba Dunn Mill	East Liberty Edgerton Four Presidents Corners Halls Corners Hessen Cassel Maples	Milan Center Poe Tillman Townley Yoder Zulu
Census-designated places
Harlan	Hoagland
Townships
Aboite Adams Cedar Creek Eel River Jackson Jefferson Lafayette	Lake Madison Marion Maumee Milan Monroe Perry	Pleasant Scipio Springfield St. Joseph Washington Wayne
Ghost towns
Academie Centreville East Liberty Fairport	Lewisburg Massillon Middletown	Thurman Wallen Waynedale

Resources

Biographies

• Indiana Biography Index at Indiana State Library

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI) - The Business database is useful, some information is free while other information requires a paid membership. Website

• 1894-1896 - Fort Wayne Electric Corporation payroll ledger, 1894-1896
• 1914-2012 - General Electric Quarter Century Club, 1914-2012
• 1950-1970 - Magnavox Co. employee newsletters, 1950s-1970s ($)
• 1918-1961 - S. F. Bowser & Co. employee newsletters, 1918-1961 ($)
• 1940's - Tokheim Oil Tank & Pump Co. employee newsletters, 1940s($)
• 1940's - Zollner Machine Works employee newsletters, 1940s($)

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Allen 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.

The following may also have record to help in research:

• Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana, Cemetery Index Website
• Allen County Public Library Genealogical Center, Allen County Cemetery Index. Website

Census Records

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

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	996	—
1840	5,942	496.6%
1850	16,919	184.7%
1860	29,328	73.3%
1870	43,494	48.3%
1880	54,763	25.9%
1890	66,689	21.8%
1900	77,270	15.9%
1910	93,386	20.9%
1920	114,303	22.4%
1930	146,743	28.4%
1940	155,084	5.7%
1950	183,722	18.5%
1960	232,196	26.4%
1970	280,455	20.8%
1980	294,335	4.9%
1990	300,836	2.2%
2000	331,849	10.3%
2010	355,329	7.1%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

• 1840-1880, 1900-1910 - The Genealogy Center of Allen County Population Schedules, African American

Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana - the following information is available in their database:

• 1850 Agricultural Schedule
• 1850 Manufacturing Schedule
• 1850 Mortality Schedule
• 1850 Population Schedule, omission from microfilm
• 1860 Agricultural Schedule
• 1860 Manufacturing Schedule
• 1860 Mortality Schedule
• 1864 Monroeville Local Census
• 1866 New Haven Local Census
• 1870 Agricultural Schedule
• 1870 Manufacturing Schedule
• 1870 Mortality Schedule
• 1880 Agricultural Schedule
• 1880 D-D-D Schedule
• 1880 Manufacturing Schedule
• 1880 Mortality Schedule
• 1910 Population Schedule
• 1940 Population Schedule
  

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.

General

• Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center - Allen County Church Burial Records. Years of coverage vary by church.
• Prior to 1920 Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana - ACGSI - Histories of 185 Churches prior to 1920
  

Catholic

• 1831-1908 Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana - ACGSI Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception records, 1831-1908 ($)
  
• 1872-1929 Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana - ACGSI St. Peters Catholic Church baptisms, 1872-1929($)
  

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

• 1896-1998 - West Creighton Ave. Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) membership record index, 1896-1998
  

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

• Fort Wayne

Presbyterian

• 1845-1876 - First Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne, Baptism Index 1845-1876 at FamilySearch. Batch C524401
• 1868-1873 - First Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne, Marriage Index 1868-1873 at FamilySearch. Batch M524401.

Directories

• 1861-1923 - Fort Wayne City Directories Fold3.com($)

Emigration and Immigration

• 1844-1906 - Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, Applications for Naturalization. Information includes name, date of application, native country. Later ones also include age, port of embarkation, and date and place of arrival.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

• 1840-1880, 1900-1910 - The Genealogy Center of Allen County Population Schedules, African American
  

Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center has the following information in their database:

• African-American Births, 1887-1920
• African-American Marriage Records, 1824-1920
• African-American Deaths, 1887-1920
• Genealogical Records of German Families in Allen County, Indiana, 1918. This index was taken from the "Enemy Alien Registration Files." German- or Austrian-born people who were not American citizens were required to file.

Funeral Homes

• Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI) has databases for Allen County Funeral Card Collection, Funeral Home Records, and Mortuaries Records. ACGSI

• Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center McComb and Sons Funeral Home Records, 1926-1950

Guardianship

• 1829-1905 - Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Guardianship Records. Index gives the name of the ward and usually the name of the guardian, date of appointment, heir of, and volume/page of the original record.

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 Allen County courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Allen 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 Allen County, Indiana. 1880. By Thomas B. Helm, L. H. Newton. 1880. Chicago, Illinois : Kingman Brothers. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat).
• History of the Maumee River Basin. 3 Vols. [c1905]. By Charles Elihu Slocum, Robert S. Robertson. Indianapolis ; Toledo : Bowen & Slocum. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 3 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Internet Archive, Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat).
• History of the Maumee Valley. 1872. By Horace S. Knapp. Toledo, Ohio : Blade Pub. House. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust, Google Books, Ancestry ($); At various libraries (WorldCat).
• The Pictorial History of Fort Wayne, Indiana. 2 Vols. 1917. By Bert Joseph Griswold, Mrs. Samuel R. Taylor. Chicago, Illinois : Robert O. Law Co. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Hathitrust; Internet Archive, Google Books, At various libraries (WorldCat).
• The Valley of the Upper Maumee River, with Historical Account of Allen County. 2 Vols. 1889. Madison, Indiana : Brant & Fuller. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 1 - Internet Archive, Vol. 1 - Internet Archive, Vol. 1 - Google Books, Vol. 2 - Google Books, Vols. 1 & 2 - Ancestry ($); At various libraries (WorldCat).

Maps and Gazetteers

• Historic Indiana Maps at IUPUI University Library

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Indiana - Map of US.org
• Allen County development, 1823-1835 - Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana Plat Maps
• Allen County, 1860 - Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Center, Fort Wayne, IN
• Allen County, 1880 - Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana Plat Maps
• Cemetery Plat Maps - Catholic Cemetery, Fort Wayne and Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne; Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana
• Fort Wayne, panorama, 1857 - Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Center, Fort Wayne, IN
• Fort Wayne Central Business District, 1929 - Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Center, Fort Wayne, IN
• Kekionga, 1697-1824 - Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana
• Suburban and Rural Additions, 1960 - Allen County Public Library, Genealogy Center, Fort Wayne, IN
• Township Layout - Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana

Military Records

• Military Record Series Index at Indiana Digital Archives

Civil War
Civil War service men from Allen County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment)that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Allen County.

• 5th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry (90th Regiment, Indiana Volunteers), Company D
• 8th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company G
• 9th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 11th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company C
• 11th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Company H
• 12th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company I
• 12th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies F, G, and Reorganized Companies B, G, and K
• 13th Regiment, Indiana Cavalry, Company G
• 13th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Reorganized Companies D, and K
• 14th Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 15th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
• 23rd Battery, Indiana Light Artillery
• 30th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies A, D, and Reorganized Companies A, and E
• 35th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
• 38th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies H, and K
• 44th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies C, D, G, and K
• 47th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company E
• 74th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company C
• 88th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies C, D, E, and F
• 91st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies H, and K
• 100th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company K
• 129th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies B, C, and I
• 137th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company E
• 139th Regiment, Indiana Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company H
• 142nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies D, E, F, G, and H
• 152nd Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Companies G, and H
• 155th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, Company D
  
• Persons Exempt from Military Service, Sept. 1862
• Allen County Pensioners, Oct. 1883
• Allen County Area Servicemen & Servicewomen, 20th Century

World War I

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

Naturalization and Citizenship

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

• 1844-1906 - Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Applications for Naturalization. Information includes name, date of application, native country. Later ones also include age, port of embarkation, and date and place of arrival.

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

Obituaries

• 1841-2015 - Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Obituary Index Web site shows name, date of obituary and name of newspaper and page for the Fort Wayne and Allen County areas. There are more than 542,000 records in the database.

Other Records

Historical Photos

• Allen County Communty Album
• Facebook Who Am I - Can You Identify People, Events, or Locations or donate digital copies of photos for future possible identification.

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

Online Probate Records

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

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.

Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI) has the following records in their database:

• 1906-1937 Monroeville Vital Records (1906-1937)
• 1907-1937 New Haven Vital Records (1907-1937)
• 1907-1937 Woodburn Vital Records (1907-1937)
• 1916-1937 Grabill Vital Records (1916-1937)

Birth

• 1877-1920 - African-American Births, 1877-1920 Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

Marriage

• 1780-1992 Indiana Marriages, 1780-1992 - FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
  
• 1800s-2007 Indiana, United States Marriages at FindMyPast $
• 1802-1892 Indiana, Marriage Index, 1802-1892 at Ancestry $
• 1811-2007 Indiana Marriages, 1811-2007 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
• 1824-1920 - African-American Marriage Records Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

Death

• 1750-1993 Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
• 1870s-1920s - Allen County Death Index, 1870s-1920s Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
• 1882-1920 Indiana, Death Index, 1882-1920 at FamilySearch- How to Use this Collection
• 1887-1920 - African-American Deaths, 1887-1920 Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
• 1899-2011 - Indiana, Death Certificates, 1899-2011 at Ancestry - ($)
• 1909-1937 - Allen Co. Deaths (1909-1937)(sel.) Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI)
• 1918-1920 - Influenza Deaths (1918-1920) Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI)
• 1937-1948 - Infirmary deaths (1937-1948) Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana (ACGSI)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Allen 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 Libraries

• Fort Wayne Indiana Family History Center

Libraries

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

Allen County Public Library
900 Library Plaza
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-421-1200
Website

Houses one of the largest genealogical record collections in the world.

Museums

African/African-American Historical Museum
436 E. Douglas Ave
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-348-4465
Email: wbr@scrameggs.net
Facebook
Website

Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum
226 W Washington Blvd
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-426-0051
Email: fwfmuseum@netscape.net
Website

The History Center /
Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society
302 East Berry Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-426-2882
Website

Societies

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

Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society
302 East Berry Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-426-2882
Fax: 260-424-4419
Email: histsociety@fwhistorycenter.com
Website

Allen County Genealogical Society
PO Box 12003
Fort Wayne, IN 46862
Email: info@acgsi.org
Facebook
Website

Besancon Historical Society
15535 Lincoln Highway East
New Haven, IN 46774
Website

Grabill Historical Society
PO Box 346
Grabill, IN 46741-0346
Phone: 260-627-5227
Fax: 260-627-2465

Huntertown Historical Society
PO Box 662
Huntertown, IN 46748-0662
Phone: 260-637-3530
Fax: 260-637-8598
Email: shirleyu@comcast.net
Website

Monroeville Historical Society
407 Elm Street
Monroeville, IN 46773-9340
Contact: Blain Ryan

Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society
15808 Edgerton Road
New Haven, IN 46774
Phone: 260-493-0765
Email: contact@fwrhs.org
Website

Settlers, Inc.
1424 West Jefferson Blvd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
Phone: 260-424-7212
Email: barrone@softhome.net
Website

Four Presidents Corners Historical Society
P.O. Box 13
123 Meyer Dr
Monroeville IN 46773
Phone: 260-623-3027 or 260-446-7240
Website

Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter NSDAR
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.
• Allen INGenWeb Project is part of the USGenWeb Project containing links to various county resources, Biographies, Cemetery information including names, map location, and tombstone photographs, Church names and locations, Historical Photos, Obituary information, Look Up requests, Queries, and more.
  
• Allen County, Indiana Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
• Allen County Genealogy (Indiana Genealogy)
• 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.

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