Indiana Genealogy

Indiana Genealogy Facts

First explored for France by Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, in 1679–1680, the region figured importantly in the Franco-British struggle for North America that culminated with British victory in 1763. George Rogers Clark led American forces against the British in the area during the Revolutionary War and, prior to becoming a state, Indiana was the scene of frequent Indian uprisings until the victories of Gen. Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1794 and Gen. William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe in 1811.

• Indiana was organized as territory on May 7, 1800
• Indiana entered the union as the 19th state on Dec. 11, 1816.
• Indiana has 92 Counties.
• Indiana’s capital is Indianapolis.
• Indiana is bordered by Michigan (north), Kentucky (south), Illinois (west), Ohio (east) and Kentucky (south).
• Indiana has a land area of 36,420 square miles making it the 38th largest state.
• Indiana’s 2010 population was 6,483,802.
• Indiana  largest cities are Indianapolis, 820,445; Fort Wayne, 253,691; Evansville, 117,429; South Bend, 101,168; Hammond, 80,830; Bloomington, 80,405; Gary, 80,294; Carmel, 79,191; Fishers, 76,794; Muncie, 70,085.
• Indiana is probably derived from a word that refers to the local Indians
• Indiana State Nickname is " Hoosier State ".
• Indiana State Motto is " The Crossroads of America ".

Indiana County Genealogy

Land records are located at the county recorder’s office; probates at the clerk of the circuit court, along with other court records. County commissioner’s records in Indiana courthouses are quite frequently the earliest official records of the organized governments in counties formed directly from Native American purchases. Records may include the names of road supervisors, payments made to individuals, appointments for tax collectors, business licenses, naturalization applications, and early justice of the peace dockets.

Twenty-eight of the ninety-two Indiana courthouses suffered courthouse fires, many of them rebuilt only to be destroyed again by fire or natural disaster. The original county of Knox lost all records in a fire of 1814.

Select a County Below

COUNTY PAGES UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Indiana has counties that no longer exist. They were established by the state, provincial, or territorial government. Most of these counties were created and disbanded in the 19th century; county boundaries have changed little since 1900 in the vast majority of states. These counties need to be looked at when doing genealogy research. Pay close attention where the courthouse records went to if the county was abolished or combined with another county.

• Adams New Purchase: Formed in 1820 as Delaware New Purchase, renamed in 1827 and abolished in 1844)
• Delaware New Purchase: Formed in 1820 from Unorganized Land, renamed Adams New Purchase in 1827. Some of the records may exist in Fayette, Franklin, Jackson, Jennings, Randolph, Ripley, Wayne and Bartholomew Counties)
• Randolph (Old) County: Formed in 1790 from territorial St. Clair County in the Northwest Territory, became part of the Indiana Territory in 1800, absorbed by the Illinois Territory in 1809)
• Richardville County: Formed in 1844 from Unorganized Land, renamed Howard Co in 1846
• St Clair County: Formed in 1790 from Unorganized Land in the Northwest Territory, became part of the Indiana Territory in 1800, absorbed by the Illinois Territory in 1809
• Wabash New Purchase: Formed in 1820 from territorial Knox County and Unorganized Land and abolished in 1835. Some early records may be found in Monroe, Owen, Vigo and Parke Counties
• Wayne (Old) County: Formed in 1796 from Unorganized Land in the Northwest Territory which included parts of modern Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Wayne Co outside of the Northwest Territory was eliminated in 1800. In 1803 Wayne County, Indiana Territory was created from territorial Knox and St.Clair Counties as well as Unorganized Land which included parts of modern Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and most of Michigan.It was eliminated in 1805. In 1811 Wayne County was formed and becae a Indiana State County in 1816) 
• Newton (Old) County: Formed in 1835 from Unorganized Land and abolished in 1839

Indiana Genealogy Links

See Indiana County Genealogy for County Links. These genealogy links fall into 3 categories: Commercial Sites, Personal Sites or Organization Sites. Some are have free access some require a payment. This is just a list that has been collected or submitted. I do not endorse or promote one genealogy site above another. Feel free to submit your own favorite genealogy or family history related sites.

• Indiana General Website Links
  • Family History Library (familysearch.org) – The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
  • Indiana Historical Records (ancestry.com) – Databases include Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records; Birth, Marriage & Death Records; Voter Lists & Census Records; Immigration & Emigration Records; Obituary Records; Military Records; Family Tree Records; Pictures; Stories, Memories & Histories; Directories & Member Lists.
  • Search 60 Years Of Everton Data (familylink.com) – For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons.
  • Indiana Genealogy Network (facebook.com)
  • Encyclopedia of Indiana (indianapedia.com) – free, online resource on Indiana history, culture, geography, and natural environment.
  • The Indiana Family Group Sheet Project (fgs-project.com)
  • USGenweb – Indiana Genealogy (ingenweb.com)
  • Free GenForum Message Boards – Indiana (genforum.genealogy.com)
  • Free Rootsweb Message Boards – Indiana (boards.ancestry.com)
  • Cyndis List Indiana Links (cyndislist.com)
  • Indiana Mailing List (rootsweb.ancestry.com)
  • Indiana American History and Genealogy Project (usgennet.org)
  • Indiana Migrations Project (usgennet.org)
  • Indiana (wikipedia.org)
  • Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) – Indiana (raogk.org)
  • Indiana Genealogy Look Ups (geneasearch.com)
  • USGenWeb Archives Project for Indiana (usgwarchives.org)
  • Background Sources for Indiana (ancestry.com) from Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
• Indiana History Links Website Links
• History of Indiana Genealogy (ancestry.com) from Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
• Indiana US Genweb County Site Links
  

  Adams Allen Bartholomew Benton Blackford Boone Brown Carroll Cass Clark Clay Clinton Crawford Daviess Dearborn Decatur DeKalb Delaware Dubois

  Elkhart Fayette Floyd Fountain Franklin Fulton Gibson Grant Greene Hamilton Hancock Harrison Hendricks Henry Howard Huntington Jackson Jasper

  Jay Jefferson Jennings Johnson Knox Kosciusko LaPorte LaGrange Lake Lawrence Madison Marion Marshall Martin Miami Monroe Montgomery Morgan Newton

  Noble Ohio Orange Owen Parke Perry Pike Porter Posey Pulaski Putnam Randolph Ripley Rush St. Joseph Scott Shelby Spencer

  Starke Steuben Sullivan Switzerland Tippecanoe Tipton Union Vanderburgh Vermillion Vigo Wabash Warren Warrick Washington Wayne Wells White Whitley

Indiana State History