RESEARCHING CEMETERY RECORDS IN NORTHWEST OHIO

If you are researching cemeteries located in counties in northwest Ohio, you have several resources to check with for the types of records that they have.  We'll be building a list of them here as we find them.  

One wonderful resource is Bowling Green State University Library's Center for Archival Collections.  You can search in person or by mail request.   

See links below for the most current information for such things as fees and hours of operation.:

"CAC" is an abbreviation for Center for Archival Collections"

"The CAC provides a variety of services, including photocopying, scanning, and research assistance. Upon completion of your request, our Budget Office will send you an invoice. We accept cash, check, money order, or credit card for payment. A 6.5% sales tax applies to patrons within the state of Ohio.

Mailed Orders:

Please allow an additional 8-10 business days to receive research requests by mail. Research requests shipped via USPS will be charged a flat rate of $5.00, and estimates will be provided to orders shipped via UPS.

Research Fees:

A fee of $25.00 per hour will be charged for research performed on your behalf by one of our archivists with a maximum of 2 hours. The first 30 minutes are free."

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Putnam County:

County Recorder

Cemetery Plot Maps, 1939-1940, 1r (#78)

Deed Records, 1830-1903, 51r (#45-50; 100-144)

Index to Cemetery Lots, 1885-1969, 1r (#54)

Index to Soldiers' Discharge Records, 1944-1997, 1r (#167)

Index to Soldiers' Grave Records, 1943-1992, 1r (#54)

Soldiers' Discharge Records, 1861-1997, 7r (#52-53; 168-172)

Soldiers' Grave Record, 1860s-1976, 2r (#54, 64)

Veteran's Grave Registration Plot Book, 1939-1940 1r (#78)

Truro Cemetery Burial Records, 1941-1998, 1r (#5)

Truro Cemetery Deed Records, 1922-1987, 1r (#3)

Truro Cemetery Interment Records, 1922-1985, 2r (#3-4)

Truro Cemetery Lot Record, 1941-1998, 1r (#5)

Truro Cemetery Accountants Records, 1921-1928, 1r (#19)

Cemetery Lot Sales Record, 1873-1939, 1r (#1)

Cemetery Reports, 1920-1949, 1r (#1)

Grave Digging Account Record, 1907, 1r (#1)

Leipsic Cemetery Lot Sales Record, 1873-1882; 1891-1902, 1r (#1)

Sugar Ridge Cemetery Lot Records, n.d., 1r (#1)

Sugar Ridge Cemetery Tombstones, 1872-1986, 1r (#1)

Sugar Ridge Cemetery Interment Records, 1909-1965, 1r (#1)

West Belmore Cemetery Lot Records, n.d., 1r (#1)

West Belmore Cemetery Tombstones, 1874-1977, 1r (#1)

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MS 999 mf - Catholic Cemeteries--Diocese of Toledo:

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The Defiance County, Ohio Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.

A fantastic blog!  

You can spend the day searching away on this wonderful blog! 

You'll find several posts offering a diverse and interesting collection of records; many relating to cemeteries!  

Check out the years 2016 - starting in May, 2016 where there are 6 posts; and also in 2017 and in 2018 for posts about the W.P.A. Historical Survey records for cemeteries.  These are are rather obscure records - perhaps even more difficult to locate than the W.P.A. Cemetery Plot Maps for all of Ohio's 88 counties.

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There is also a Facebook Group dedicate to Northwest Ohio.:

Northwest Ohio Genealogy Group

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Incorporating early burial records for Ohio cemeteries is essential to grasping a full understanding of them and their history as you move through time to today with your current research. 

Story from the "Lima News" about Deb Garver and her cemetery work in Allen, Hancock, Hardin, and Putnam Counties Ohio

Thanking "Save A Grave" for bringing my attention to this story written by ROSANNE BOWMAN - 
419-993-2084 that was published yesterday online by the "Lima News." Click on title to access it.

Quoting a point from this story:

"2. What do you do to research them? What is the process?"

"The order of events, I guess you'd say, is I go to the cemetery, and I take pictures of all the stones. If I can't read them, then I use shaving cream, which I wipe on the stone and it goes into the crevices and makes the stones easier to read. It doesn't hurt the stones at all; I teach chemistry by the way. I come home, and put it all on the computer. I look them up on ancestor.com to see if I can find any other information about them. Then I include that information along with the picture I took as a memorial on an online cemetery. This way, someone in California can see great-grandpa's actual gravestone."
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The only issue that most of us would have with this approach is the use of the shaving cream. It has been stated many times, including by "The Association for Gravestone Studies", that it is NOT good to use shaving cream on gravestones.

So, please click on "The Association for Gravestone Studies" link above in this paragraph to learn the reasons and recommendations for best practices and proper methods of cleaning gravestones.
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Overall, this is a wonderful story to read and is worth sharing. Deb is to be congratulated for her work in documentating gravesites in her area on "Find A Grave".