Lake Co. OH- Birth records

Birth records are valuable document in our family searches. The primary location to locate these records is at the county courthouse in Painsville. It did not become the responsibility of the county to start recording birth records until 1867. Prior to this time they are non existent unless found in other sources.

Birth records start in 1867 and run until present. Be sure to have at least a decade narrowed down when you begin your search. Birth records tend to be indexed so you will be able to not only get the name of the person you are looking for, but also people with the same last name. This is helpful is rural counties where the population was not so high. Sure there are exceptions to this search, but they are few. Common surnames in a particular area translate into common relationships.

Be patient with the courthouse folks and realize they get many requests for searches. If you plan to go in person it is always a good idea to call ahead and make sure that they will be open when you wish to go.

Warren, Ohio Library Closed for Renovations

The Local History & Genealogy Center at Warren-Trumbull County Public Library is closed until June 1 for renovations.

The center contains thousands of books, maps, microfilm records and online resources specializing in genealogy and local history. The collection includes U.S. and Ohio sources, extensive Ohio county histories and genealogical data from many Northeast states, including Census records, death certificates (Ohio 1908-1953) and local city directories.

You can begin planning your trip after June 1 at http://www.wtcpl.org/site/c.iqLSI0OyGnF/b.3443837/k.AD25/WTCPL_Local_History__Genealogy_Center.htm.

Youngstown and Mahoning County Libaray

When research your ancestors in Mahoning County a place to start is the main library in Youngstown. The following resources are available.

• Henry R. Baldwin Records, an index of Northeastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania cemetery inscriptions dated 1867-1918. (We will check the name indexes.)
• Indexes of local history books.
• Youngstown City Directories from 1869 to the present. (We will check three volumes per request.)
• Youngstown Telephone Directories from 1915 to the present. (We will check three volumes per request.)
• Youngstown Vindicator indexes: 1869-1919 (incomplete); 1921-1930; 1933-1938; 2001-present.

Obituary and birth announcement research is limited to post-1920 newspapers. Searching the papers for these items before 1920 involves time-consuming research outside the parameters of our service policy. We set a limit of five obituaries, death notices or birth announcements per request and we will check no more than five days from a known birth or death date.

So plan your research ahead of time and go with a plan. The librarians are anxious to help you in your research.

I will be away from my computer for the next three days. Back posting on Tuesday.

Lake County OH- History

Lake County was created out of the counties of Cuyahoga and Geauga on March 6, 1840. The county was named for Lake Erie that runs along it's northern boundary. This county is located in the area known as the Connecticut Western Reserve. The area of the county is only about 228 square miles and is the smallest county in Ohio.

Genalogical research

What was it that first got you doing your genealogical research? In my case it started over thirty years ago. Was in my teens at the time and was very curious about where my family came from. My interest in history grew out of this and my eventually getting into speaking, researching for others and blogging on the topic. Please send me your stories.

I'm Back

Don't think to many folks check this blog out much, but I guess I will just write for myself and hope that people are able to come back to the site. I will resume covering the various records that are available for the various counties. If you have ideas on topics that you would like to see covered please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ashtabula County OH Resource- Correction.

Please be aware of this correction for my coverage of the Ashtabula County Genealogical

resources.

Your article profiling Ashtabula County DISTRICT Public Library SYSTEM
(the proper name)was brought to my attention. That library does not hold
the genealogy collection you mention. It is housed at their branch
library, Geneva Public Library, Geneva, Ohio. Would you please make a
correction to that effect? The two towns are about 15 minute drive apart
and it would be wasting a traveling genealogist's time to go to Ashtabula
Library first, rather than coming here in the beginning. We do get a lot
of travelers and despite the fact they have been to many much bigger
libraries with larger collections, many are awed when they enter our
genealogy room. Some years back one woman even wrote a beautiful poem
about it, ending with, "I thought I'd died and gone to heaven" (when she
was here).

Your other facts were correct,evidently picked off of our "It's a Keeper"
or "Your Place of First Resort" which are on links on the Geneva website.
It would be ok if you had quoted us more from that fact sheet. I assume
you got to the GPL web site through our ACDL System site, thus the wrong
attributing of where the collection is.

It would be kindly of you to make this correction and to amplify on the
holdings here. We have a large collection of material from other states
(mostly on the migratory path from New England to the Western Reserve as
well as a good collection of western PA and on the Virginias). The
Ashtabula County collection is the most complete and thorough collection
for our area found anywhere (including more than at Ft. Wayne or even Salt
Lake). There is a huge collection of microfilm mostly from the court house
in this county as well as something called "Archives Days" which was
filmed by the Ashtabula County Genealogical Society with their own
microfilming camera and contains Bibles, diaries, photos, cemetery
records, township and church records and much more. Also available are
online databases subscribed to by the library for the patrons use, and an
in-house staff created obit index that lets those from afar order xerox
copies of the actual obits.

The library has a partnership agreement with ACGS to house their
collection and the library itself has purchased or been responsible for
acquiring over half of the collection. The room and its nearby Archives is
dedicated to and named "The Platt R. Spencer Memorial Archives and Special
Collections Area," with genealogy being part of the special collections.
The library provides a paid staff of three and ACGS provides a Mature
Services volunteer as well as ACGS member volunteers when needed.

Two of the paid staff and one of the ACGS volunteers devote all their
time, when not servicing our walk-in patrons, to indexing and other chores
that make researching at this facility very productive. We are very
friendly and eager to assist researchers, pointing them to the materials
of most value to them based on asking them the surnames they are working
on here in the county and where their family resided. We also sometimes
put them in contact with others working on the same lines.

You may quote me (except for the first paragraph)


Louise Legeza, Archivist, Staff Genealogist
Platt R. Spencer Memorial Archives and Special Collections Area
Geneva Public Library
860 Sherman Street
Geneva OH 44041-9101