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Bartholomew County History and Information |
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County History |
Court Records |
Vital Records |
CENSUS Records |
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Bartholomew County was created on January 8, 1821 and was formed from Delaware New Purchase and Jackson County. The Delaware New Purchase: Set up in 1820, portions were set apart as the entire counties of Allen, Bartholomew, Hamilton, Henry, Johnson, Marion, Rush, and Shelby. Parts of the counties of Delaware, Hendricks, Madison, and Morgan also were located in the Delaware Purchase. In 1827, the name of the tract was changed to the Adams New Purchase. The County was named for Lt. Col. Joseph Bartholomew, wounded at the Battle of Tippecanoe. The County Seat is Columbus . John Tipton, later United States Senator from Indiana, was connected in an interesting way with the founding of the County Seat at Columbus. He donated thirty acres for the site, and the commissioners, grateful for the donation, named the County Seat Tiptona, in honor of General Tipton. This was done February 15, 1821, however, on March 20, the commissioners rescinded their action, on account of Tipton's political views, it is supposed, and changed the name of the County Seat to Columbus. See also County History for more historical details. Counties adjacent to Bartholomew County are Shelby County (northeast), Decatur County (east), Jennings County (southeast), Jackson County (south), Brown County (west), Johnson County (northwest). Bartholomew County is divided into 12 Civil Townships as follows: Clay, Clifty, Columbus, Flat Rock, German, Harrison, Haw Creek, Jackson, Ohio, Rock Creek, Sand Creek and Wayne. Cities, Towns and Communities include Azalia, Bethel Village, Burnsville, Clifford, Columbus, Corn Brook, Elizabethtown, Flat Rock Park, Garden City, Grammer, Grandview Lake, Hartsville, Hope, Jewell Village, Jonesville, Kansas (historical), Lowell, Moriah (historical), Mount Healthy, Newbern, North Columbus, North Gate, North Ogilville, Northcliff, Nortonburg, Ogilville, Old Saint Louis, Parkside, Petersville, Pleasant View Village, Rosstown, Rugby, Saint Louis Crossing, South Bethany, Stony Lonesome, Taylorsville, Walesboro, Waynesville and Waymansville .
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NOTE: The date listed for each category of record is the earliest record known to exist in that county. It does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and certainly does not indicate that all such events that year were actually registered. See also the Bartholomew County Courthouse History Bartholomew County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1821 , Probate Records from 1821 and Court Records from 1821 and is located at 234 Washington Street, P.O. Box 924, Columbus, IN 47201; Phone 812 379-1600, Fax 812 379-1675 Bartholomew County Recorder has Land Records from 1822 and is located at 440 Third Street, Suite 203, Columbus, IN 47202-1121; Phone 812-379-1520.
Bartholomew County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at 440 Third Street, Columbus, IN 4720; (812) 379-1550, Fax: (812) 379-1040 Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Court Records by clicking the link below:
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Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Bartholomew County, Indiana are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Bartholomew County, Indiana are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms. See Also Statewide Records that exist for Indiana Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states. You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Maps. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Maps by clicking the link below: |
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The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Military Records by clicking the link below:
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Records of county taxes were kept as early at 1842, although most were discarded. Remaining ones would be at the county courthouse. National Archives-Great Lakes Region has records of the Internal Revenue Service for Indiana for 1867 to 1873. These are tax assessment records, arranged by district and then chronologically. Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Tax Records by clicking the link below: |
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The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over. Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
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There are many churches and cemeteries in Bartholomew County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Bartholomew County Tombstone Transcription Project. Baptist records are found at Franklin College (in Franklin); Methodist at DePauw University (in Greencastle); Mennonite at Goshen College (in Goshen); Presbyterian at Hanover College (in Hanover); Disciples of Christ at their historical society in Nashville, Tennessee; and French Catholic at Vincennes University in the Byron R. Lewis Collection. There are also Catholic church histories and records at the Catholic Archives, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Quaker records are at Earlham College (at Richmond). The commissioner's office of each Indiana county may have burial records for soldiers, sailors, and marines. If available, the records should include name, age, date of enlistment, discharge date, and death date. Records begin about 1862. The Indiana State Library holds records of inscriptions from some Indiana cemeteries. The "Indiana Cemetery Locator File," compiled by the Genealogy Division, is an alphabetical listing of cemeteries, indicating the location in the state and the designation in the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library where inscriptions may be found. Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Bartholomew County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Bartholomew County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
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1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain Bartholomew County is bounded north by the township line which separates townships ten and eleven, dividing it from Shelby and Johnson counties, east by Decatur and Jennings counties, south by Jennings and Jackson, and west by Brown County. The county contains 405 square miles. Its name was derived from General Joseph Bartholomew, long a distinguished citizen of Clark County, and a Senator in the State Legislature form 1821 to 1824. The name was given at the instance of General Tipton. General Bartholomew was a Lt. Colonel, commanding a battalion of infantry at the Battle of Tippecanoe, where he was severely wounded, for which he received a pension until his death, which took place exactly twenty-nine years afterward, on the day of the Presidential election, 1840. General Bartholomew was a self-taught, modest, brave and honest man, who rose from obscurity and obtained distinction solely by his merits as a man and a soldier. In all the difficulties with the Indians along the frontier, he was always foremost in times of danger. The voters of Bartholomew in 1848 were 2,513, and the population a little over 15,000. In 1840 it was 10,042. The county is divided, for local government, into fourteen townships, viz: Nineveh, Union, Harrison, Ohio, Wayne, Sand Creek, Rock Creek, Clifty, Clay, Haw Creek, Flatrock, German, Columbus and Jackson. The east and central part of the county is generally level, and west mostly hilly, and particularly so near the Brown County line, where the hills resemble broken mountains of the spurs of the Alleghenies. They are commonly called the "Salt Creek Knobs." At least one-fourth of the county is bottomland, on Driftwood and East Fork of White River, Clifty and Flat Rock. There is not much poor land in the county, though along the extreme margins of the bottoms there are a few bogs which are unfit for cultivation. The soil in the bottoms and level lands is a rich alluvion, mixed with limestone-sand and gravel. That part of the country called the "Haw Patch," twelve miles long and six wide, is not surpassed for beauty and fertility by any part of the western country. Between Flatrock and Driftwood, there were originally native forests for miles, without any undergrowth, and where the tall and thinly scattered walnut, blue ash, and sugar trees no more interrupted travelers on horseback or in carriages, than would open parks, where the trees had been planted and trimmed for the purpose. The timber there is white and black oak, hickory, beech, sugar tree and poplar. In the balance and larger part of the county, walnut, sugar, ash, buckeye, haw, pawpaw, burr oak and poplar are the most common. Not exceeding one-fourth of the land is yet in cultivation. The surplus of agricultural products had increased rapidly every year since the completion of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad, and as there is now a good prospect of making a Railroad also to Jeffersonville, and extending another from Columbus in the direction of Bloomington, these improvements, in different parts of the county, will develop still more its agricultural capabilities, which, at no distant time, will yield a surplus of five times the present amount. There have been exported in a single year from Bartholomew County, 25,000 bushels of wheat, and oats, 6,000 barrels of flour, 20,000 bushels of wheat, and oats, hay, beans barley, rye, hoop-poles, horses, mules and beef cattle, in all to the value of at least $500,000; and when such articles are in demand, they may and will be all largely increased. There are in the county ten tanneries, with a capital of $17,000, which employ 45 hands and yield 4,800 sides of sole, and 6,300 of upper leather, annually. There is one large distillery, recently erected, nine flouring mills, moved by water power, six saw mills, five steam mills, four wool carding machines and three fulling mills. The mill streams in the county, Driftwood, Flatrock and Clifty, admit of a large and very valuable increase of waterpower, which will be used at no distant day. The taxable land amounts to 218,084 acres, 6,413 have been entered and are not yet taxable, and the Congress land still for sale amounts to 34,503 acres, lying almost entirely in the western part of the county. It is much to be regretted that education has been but little attended to, and that "no certain account can possibly be given of the management of the schools." Columbus, the County Seat of Bartholomew County, is situated on the east bank of the East Fork of the White River, just below the mouth of Flatrock, forty-one miles south south-east of Indianapolis, forty-five north-west of Madison,, forty east of Bloomington, and eighty west of Cincinnati. The situation is a very fine one, on high ground which overlooks the valleys of White River, Flatrock and Haw Creek which nealy surround the town, and each of them embraces a large and very fertile body of land. Columbus was first settled in 1819, by Luke Bonesteel and John Lindsey. For several years at first, it was usually visited, each autumn, by bilious and intermittent fevers, but a fair portion of health is now enjoyed here, and the opening of the railroad to Madison, which took place in 1844, the active commencement of the railroad from Jeffersonville, and the prospects of completing a railroad to Bloomington, have awakened such industry and enterprise as will make Columbus one of the most important points in Indiana. It has now a [1849] a population of over 1,000, and it is rapidly improving. It has an excellent Courthouse, good churches built by the Catholics, Christians, Presbyterians and Methodists, about twenty good stores, groceries and warehouses, and 250 other houses. 1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature Before Bartholomew County was formed as a separate unit it was part of Delaware New Purchase and included most of what is now Brown County. It has an area of 407 square miles, divided into fourteen townships, and is located south of the center of Indiana, bordered on the west by Brown County. The incorporated towns are: Clifford, 179; Elizabethtown, 294; Hartsville, 342; Hope, 1,085; and Jonesville, 162. Bartholomew County's population in 1890 was 23,867; 1900, 24,594; 1910, 24,813; 1920, 23,887; 1930, 24,864. Columbus, the only incorporated city and containing a population of 9,935, is forty-one miles southeast of Indianapolis and is served by two main railroads. Located in Columbus are industries including tanneries, lumber mills and factories for furniture, pulleys, agricultural implements, diesel engines, radios, automobile accessories and canning. One of the notable concerns is in the suburbs of Columbus. This company makes furniture of an artistic mold, adorned by old-fashioned hand carving, and embellished by intricate inlays. The very finest and most rare cabinet woods of the world are used, and among the designs interpreted are Chippendale, Adam, Hepplewhite and Sheraton. Columbus has a number of points of interest that are significant. There is the Bartholomew County Museum housing a collection of glass and china of note. Near the city's center is an Indian mound, relic of a bygone day. At the entrance of the city is a bronze tablet marking the "Guthrie Trial." Columbus High School is distinguished by its collection of paintings and "The Bird Boy" fountain erected by the Nature Study Club. One estate in the city is known extensively for its objects of art. It was formerly the Irwin residence and among the treasures are a sundial dated 1599 and vases bearing the De Medici coat of arms. At the town of Hartsville, a boulder with bronze tablets perpetuates the story of Hartsville College, which is now out of existence. Hope is the home of a Moravian Church organized in 1833. Situated in the Moravian Cemetery is a granite shaft erected to the First World War heroes. In Clifford, a stone monument marks a church built in 1822. Federal census figures of 1935 showed Bartholomew County to have 3,084 farms averaging 110.2 acres each, their total value being $12,993,310. The total number of livestock reported was 45,943 head. The county had fifty-two manufacturing establishments, employing 2,684 wage earners on pay rolls of $2,265,611. The value of the industrial products was $12,858,646. Tax valuation of the count in 1936 was $28,315,800. ? |
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