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Franklin County History and Information
County History | Court Records | Vital Records | CENSUS Records | TAX Records | Military Records |
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Franklin County Facts

Franklin County was created on November 27, 1810 and was formed from Clark and Dearborn Counties. The County was named for Benjamin Franklin, American Statesman, Scientist, and Writer.

The County Seat is Brookville and was first settled in 1804 by Lismund Bayse, James Knight, Robert Breckenridge, John Test and Amos Butler. By 1849 it had a population of about 1,200. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Franklin County are Fayette County (north), Union County (north), Butler County, Ohio (east), Hamilton County, Ohio (southeast), Dearborn County (south), Ripley County (south), Decatur County (west), Rush County (northwest).

Franklin County is divided into 13 Civil Townships as follows: Bath, Blooming Grove, Brookville, Butler, Fairfield, Highland, Laurel, Metamora, Posey, Ray, Salt Creek, Springfield and Whitewater

Cities, Towns and Communities include Ashy, Bath, Blooming Grove, Brookville, Buena Vista, Cedar Grove, Drewersburg, Hamburg, Highland Center, Klemmes Corner, Laurel, Metamora, Mixerville, Mound Haven, Mount Carmel, New Fairfield, New Trenton, Oak Forest, Old Bath, Oldenburg, Palestine, Peoria, Peppertown, Raymond, Rockdale, Saint Marys, Saint Peter, Scipio, Sharptown, South Gate, Stavetown, Yellow Bank, and Youngs Corner.

 

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

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Records at the Franklin County Courthouse

See Also Indiana Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. Courthouse destroyed by Fire in Feb. 1852, No records lost

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 Franklin County Courthouse History

   Franklin County Clerk has Marriage Records from 1811 , Probate Records from 1811 and Court Records from 1811 and is located at 634 Main Street, Brookville, IN 47012; (765)647-3322
   The Clerk of the Circuit Court is a ministerial officer who is the custodian of the Clerk's record and seal, issues process, accepts filings of commencement of actions in litigation, enters judgments and orders of the court, receives money in his official capacity, makes certified copies of record, issues many miscellaneous licenses, and keeps a record of all wills and matters of trust in probate proceedings.

   Franklin County Recorder has Land Records from 1811 and is located at 459 Main Street, Brookville, IN 47012; (765)647-5131.
   The county recorder's function is to maintain permanent public records involving a wide variety of instruments. These documents detail transactions involving real estate, mining, personal property, mortgages, liens, leases, subdivision plats, military discharges, personal bonds, etc. Generally, all of these instruments are recorded either for giving legal public notice of their existence or for safekeeping and future reference. The recorder maintains and preserves all legal documents affecting title to real property.

Search Online Click Here to Search Indiana Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

   Franklin County Health Department has Birth / Death Records from 1882 and is located at 459 Main Street, Courthouse Annex, Brookville, IN 47012; (765) 647-4322.

Below is a list of online resources for Franklin County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Court Records by clicking the link below:

  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
  • Indianapolis Newspaper Index, 1848-1991: Select articles from 1848-1888 Indianapolis daily newspapers; heavily focused on deaths and marriages. Select articles from 1898-1991 about people, places, events, and topics in Indianapolis and the state of Indiana. Extremely limited for deaths; no coverage of marriages.  Card file also available in the Microforms Area, second floor.
  • Reference & Government Services CD Collection: Database to allow searching of the hundreds of CDs from the federal government and other sources, part of the collections of the Reference & Government Services Division.
  • Franklin County, Indiana Court Books at Amazon.com
  • Indiana Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.

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Franklin County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Indiana

Search Online Click Here to Search Indiana Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.

Some documents are just too important to wait 6 weeks for. With VitalChek Express Certificate Service you won’t have to. Birth, Marriage, Divorce & Death Certificates Signed. Sealed. Delivered. Often in as few as three business days!

  • Birth Certificates: The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains birth records that occur in Indiana since Oct 1907 to the present. Prior to October 1907, records of birth are filed only with the local health department in the county where the birth actually occurred.
    • Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $10.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Make your check or money order payable to "Indiana State Department of Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
    • In Person: The ISDH Vital Records office is located at 6 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The office is open for walk-in requests from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., E.S.T., Monday through Friday (excluding official State Holidays). The cost for the first certificate is $10.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Average wait time is less than an hour.
    • Processing Time: 5 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
  • Death Certificates: The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains death records that occur in Indiana since 1900 to the present. Prior to 1900, records of death are filed only with the local health department in the county where the death actually occurred. For deaths occurring from 1900 to 1917, the city and/or county of death is required in order to locate the record.
    • Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $8.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Make your check or money order payable to "Indiana State Department of Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
    • In Person: The ISDH Vital Records office is located at 6 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204. The office is open for walk-in requests from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., E.S.T., Monday through Friday (excluding official State Holidays). The cost for the first certificate is $8.00 and $4.00 for each additional copy. Average wait Time is less than an hour.
    • Processing Time: 5 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
      • Click Here to Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE
  • Marriage Certificates: Certified copies of marriage certificates are not available from the State Health Department. They are available from the Clerks of the Circuit Court in the county where the marriage was granted. Fees vary.
  • Divorce Certificates: Certified copies of divorce certificates are not available from the State Health Department. They are available from the County Clerk in the county where the divorce was granted. Fees vary.

Below is a list of online resources for Franklin County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Vital Records by clicking the link below:

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Franklin County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records

Search Online Click Here to Search Indiana Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.

  Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Franklin County, Indiana are 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Franklin 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 Franklin County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Census Records by clicking the link below:

  • Indiana Census, 1790-1890: This collection contains the following indexes: 1790 (Northwest Territory) Federal Census Index; 1807 State Census Index; 1810 Wayne County Census Index; 1812 Census Index; 1820 Federal Census Index; 1830 Federal Census Index; 1840 Federal Census Index; 1840 Pensioners List; 1850 Federal Census Index; 1860 Federal Census Index; 1870 Federal Census Index; 1890 Veterans Schedule.
  • Franklin County, Indiana Census Books at Amazon.com

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Franklin County Maps & Atlases

   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
   You can view rotating animated maps for Indiana showing all the county boundary changes for each 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 County Maps

Below is a list of online resources for Franklin County Maps. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Maps by clicking the link below:

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Franklin County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Indiana

Search Online Click Here to Search Indiana Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.

   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 Franklin County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Military Records by clicking the link below:

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Franklin County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

   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 Franklin County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

  • Franklin County, Indiana Tax Books at Amazon.com

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Franklin County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Indiana Genealogical Addresses

   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 Franklin County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

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Franklin County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Indiana

Search Online Click Here to Search Indiana Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

   There are many churches and cemeteries in Franklin County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Franklin 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 Franklin County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

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Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Search Online Click Here to Search Indiana Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

   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 Franklin County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Franklin County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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County History

1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain

Franklin County, named in honor of Dr. Franklin, was organized in 1810, and is bounded east by the State of Ohio, south by Dearborn and Ripley, west by Decatur and Rush, and north by Fayette and Union counties. It is about twenty-seven miles in length from east to west, and fifteen in breadth, and contains 400 square miles. In 1830 the population was 10,199, in 1840, 13,349, and at this time [1849] about 18.000. It is divided into eleven civil townships, to wit: Springfield, Bath, Brookville, White, Water, Posey, Highland, Ray, Bloominggrove, Fairfield, Salt Creek and Laurel. The northeast part of the county is level, the central and western rolling, and in many places quite hilly. The timber is principally oak, sugar, beech, hickory and black walnut. The soil is generally good. About one-eighth of the county is bottomland, lying along Whitewater and its branches, with a very rich soil, well adapted to the growth of corn. The high lands are better for wheat and grass, and the state of the farming interest is creditable to the county.

There are twenty flouring mills, thirty-five sawmills, one paper mill, one fulling mill, two cotton factories, two printing offices, fourteen lawyers, twenty physicians, twenty-one ministers of the Gospel, a flourishing County Seminary, and common school districts are organized in every part of the county. There are numerous monuments of ancient population, such as mounds of earth structures of stone, embedded in the earth and prepared with apparent skill, so that the deposits of some very distant period are found in a remarkable state of preservation.

The abundant water power of Franklin County, the facilities for trade by the Whitewater Canal, its vicinity to Cincinnati and generally very fertile soil, are rapidly increasing its population and wealth. The taxable land, at this time [1849], amounts to 245,631 acres.

1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature

The Whitewater River flows from the northwest to the southeast through Franklin County, forming one of the principal sections of Indiana's famous Whitewater valley. For the most part, Franklin county's terrain is rolling, except at the extreme eastern part. In the river bottomlands, and level areas east and north of the valley, the soil is best adapted to agriculture. The valley, known to early-day settlers as "The Whitewater," extends from the Ohio River northward almost half the length of the state, ranging from twelve to twenty-five miles in width.

Franklin is one of the southeastern border counties, its eastern boundary forming part of the Ohio line. It has an area of 394 square miles, and is divided into thirteen townships. Franklin County was greatly reduced in size in 1819 and in 1821 when Fayette and Union counties were formed from it.

The incorporated towns are Brookville, 2,148, the county seat; Cedar Grove, 221; Laurel, 516; Mt. Carmel, 150, and Oldenburg, 575. Oldenburg is known as the of some world famous religious institutions. In the first census of the county in 1815, it had the second largest population in the state, 7,370. In 1890, 18,366; 1900, 16,388; 1910, 15,335; 1920, 14,806; 1930, 14,498.

Brookville was one of the state's earliest centers. Beginnings in 1820, Brookville had its greatest period of prosperity, for it was named as Land Office. This boom lasted for only about five years, however, after which the Land Office was moved to Indianapolis. There followed a period during which the town languished, unfed by the fortunes of the steady stream of land purchasers. It was not until the late thirties that prosperity again visited the town and county. Then, with the building of the canal in the Whitewater valley, a lively shipping business sprang up. This era of the canals was an important one in Indiana history. Unfortunately, in the case of the canal of the Whitewater, more trouble than benefits resulted eventually, causing many of the county's populace to leave. Frequent flooding of the river often blocked traffic, and swept away entire mills and other property. The canal was almost ruined in the flood of 1847, and subsequent misfortunes finally ruined it.

Today, Brookville is one of the art centers of the state. One of the points, which make it so, is the monument in the courthouse yard to the soldiers and sailors of the Civil War. Outstanding, perhaps, is the Hermitage, which was the studio home of the late J. Ottis Adams. This studio was used for many years by four of the artists of the Hoosier group- Adams, Stark, Steele, and Forsyth. It is still used by Winifred B. Adams. Across from the Hermitage is the site of the paper mill, the second dry roll paper mill west of the Alleghenies, built in 1835. It came into prominence as a model for "The Old Mill," by a number of renowned artists.

Though other cities are proud of claiming General Lew Wallace, Brookville was his birthplace. A stone marker shows the site. Several of the old churches of the town are distinguished for their beauty and history.

It is interesting to the note that a descendant of Betsy Ross, James Conwell, founded the town of Laurel. Near the town is Derbyshire Falls, at about the center of the famous Whitewater valley.

At the source of Eli's Creek near the county line of Franklin, Union and Fayette, is the site of the Cockefair Woolen Mills, built by Elisha Cockefair in 1827. It is of historical note because it was run day and night to supply clothing for the Union Army soldiers. It has been purchased and removed to a nationally famous museum.

Among the beautiful features of Franklin County are the clustering spires and belfries of the Monastery of the Franciscan Order, Convent of the Sisters of St. Francis, and the Academy of the Immaculate Conception, at Oldenburg.

In Metamora is the studio of J. Ottis Adams and T.C. Steele, outstanding Hoosier artists.

There have been a remarkable number of outstanding personages connected with the history of Brookville, the county, and the Whitewater district in general. There were Governors Noble, Ray, Wallace, and Hammond; John P. St. John, Governor of Kansas; Stephen S. Harding, Governor of Utah; J. Wallace, Governor of Wyoming; U. S. Senators Jesse B. Thomas from Illinois, John Henderson from Mississippi, James Noble and Robert Hanna; James B. Tyner, Postmaster General; Edwin Terrill, Minister to Belgium; George Hitt, vice-consul to London; L. T. Mitchener, Attorney-General of Indiana; Judges Blackford, McKinney, and Stephens. It is remarkable that these judges, all from Brookville, at one time made up the entire Supreme Court of Indiana.

A number of writers other than the previously mentioned Lew Wallace were born in the county. Among these were Maurice Thompson and Joaquin Miller. Hiram Powers, a sculptor, and William M. Chase, a painter, come from Franklin County. Also a number of military and naval officers, as well as one or two scientists of note are claimed as distinguished sons.

The 1935 federal census listed two industries in Franklin County. The county had 1,928 farms averaging 124.1 acres each. The value of these farms was $8,982,250. A total of 60,366 head of livestock was reported.

In 1936, the total tax valuation of the county was $12,890,936.

Courthouse History

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