OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - ARTICLE: Visitiing Courthouses [Part I]
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Donna Wolf
wolfgen@gateway.net
December 26, 1998  
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If you need the address of a courthouse in Ohio, or any other state try
http://www.tstis.com.    

For Ohio courthouses:  tstis.com/USMap/Ohio.html

About Courthouses

It seems that some folks who are new to genealogy are somewhat afraid of
visits to courthouses.  As a result they may miss out on some of the most
important primary source information on their ancestors.
If you have the date of a document, you may, of course, write to the
courthouse and hopefully obtain the document you are looking for.

If you plan to visit a courthouse do your homework ahead of time.  Find out
when they are open, and plan a visit at the same time the local genealogy
society library is open.   Find out if all records are in the samebuilding.
In some cases, the Recorder of Deeds office is in one building and the
Probate Court documents in another.  Also, the oldest documents may have
been moved to an "archives" site, which may be at a distance from theactual
courthouse.  Some of the oldest documents may have been donated to thelocal
historical or genealogical society, and may be viewed in their library.

Finally, there may have been a fire in the courthouse and the years whowish
to investigate may not even be there!  The value of finding out as much as
possible ahead of time cannot be overestimated.  Allow yourself extra time
for the unexpected.   Find out what names are given to the various areas in
the courthouse you may wish to visit.  The Court of Common Pleas may be
called something else in another state.  Don't overlook the Common Pleas
documents.  The civil suits, especially in the first half of the 19th
century may provide valuable information.

If the courthouse is in a large city, it is even more important that you do
your homework.    It is all worthwhile when you find an estate packet for
your ancestor, and untie and read the yellowed pages, knowing that you may
be the first one to look at the material for over a hundred years.

End of Part I

WolfGen@gateway.net