Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society
Welcome to the Warren County Genealogical Society
This site was created to aid researchers in finding their ancestors in Warren County, Ohio. We invite you to become a member of our society.
The WCGS Resource Library will be closed Monday, July 4, 2022, for Independence Day.
Save the Date: Cemetery Restoration Workshop with Ta Mara Conde at Fort Ancient Cemetery (aka Bethel Baptist Cemetery) will be OCTOBER 14, 2022. Details coming soon!
Upcoming Talks by Todd Stephenson at Fort Ancient - more info is HERE.
Announcements
Society Members and Volunteers
Newsletters, Publications, and Videos
Todd Stephenson Talks at Fort Ancient
Todd Stephenson will be giving three talks this summer at Front Ancient covering how ancient Native Americans in Ohio were incredible “earth scientists and engineers.” (In Todd’s words, they were keen on STEM before STEM was cool!) These talks are FREE to the public and will include information on the minerals, rocks, fossils, shells, pearls, and teeth that were the geologic origins of the Ohio Hopewell Artifacts. Fort Ancient is part of the Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks.
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Saturday, June 11, 2022, 10:30 AM
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Saturday, July 16, 2022, 10:30 AM
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Saturday, August 13, 2022, 10:30 AM
Todd Stephenson is a retired petroleum geologist and seasonal volunteer geological advisor for the Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve. He grew up in Kings Mills and graduated from Kings High School in 1973, Ohio University 1977 and University of Cincinnati 1979. However, his Stephenson Family ancestors were early natives of Warren County (First Families of Warren County) who lived on a 70-acre farm, three miles west of Fort Ancient in Turtlecreek Township. Todd is a member of both the Warren County Genealogical and the Warren County Historical Societies. He is also a member of the Ambassadors Group which is a group of people selected by the leadership of the Ohio History Connection to help coordinate and communicate the status of the UNESCO World Heritage nomination for the Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. Todd is married to Becky who is an avid genealogist, and they have two adult children Joel and Heather that live in Texas.
For more Ohio History Connection Events & Experiences, please visit:
https://www.ohiohistory.org/events-experiences/
Upcoming Events
In the interest of keeping everyone safe and healthy, upcoming events will be held using Zoom until further notice.
Zoom invitations to Virtual Events are sent via Mailchimp email. To receive this email, you can sign up using the e-News subscription form at the lower right-hand side of this page or you can use the Register button.
If you are new to Zoom, the first 1:22 minutes of this YouTube video may be helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAMDxH_H_Cs
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We are seeking speakers who are willing to present virtually or share a recorded program we can post on our website for members. In addition, we are currently seeking a volunteer to assist with Programs and Events. Please contact Linda Eckert if you are interested.
An easy way to support WCGS as you do your shopping this year is to use the link to the right and shop at AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is a program that donates 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charity of your choice! While it may not seem like much, those little bits add up!
You'll be able to tell if you are shopping from the correct page if you see the AmazonSmile logo in the corner of the page and "Supporting Warren County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society" below the search bar.
Using the link to the right takes you directly to our organization's page, so you don't have to hunt for it. Your help and support is greatly appreciated!
Every Little Bit Helps!
Since the fall of 2018, the Alleen Stephenson Digital Newspaper Project has provided free online public access to digital images of the Lebanon Western Star from 1807 through 1922 on the Ohio Memory Project. These digital images were created from original copies of the newspaper located at the Ohio History Center in Columbus.
The online collection can be found by clicking the blue button with the title "Western Star ONLINE!" at the top of this section. A smaller version of the same button is a permanent link located directly above the menu on all pages.
The Alleen Stephenson Digital Newspaper Project is sponsored and maintained by the Warren County Genealogical Society. Using digitization and OCR technology, it provides free public access to nearly 27,000 page of this historical newspaper. There are some issues missing, but the entire collection on hand is browsable and searchable by titles, names, or dates.
This project is dedicated to the remarkable Alleen Stephenson and was made possible through the generosity of Alleen's son and daughter-in-law, J. Todd and Rebecca Stephenson. For more than 60 years, Alleen wrote a much-loved column about the Kings Mills community that celebrated and preserved many aspects of the County's history.
The Western Star is Ohio's oldest weekly newspaper that started with the first issue on February 13, 1807, and ended with the last publication on January 17, 2013. This newspaper covered mainly Lebanon and southern Warren County. The first publisher was John McLean (March 11, 1785 - April 4, 1861), who was an American attorney, a political activist who served in the United States Congress, and a justice of the Ohio and the U.S. Supreme Courts. He started his legal career in Cincinnati and moved to Lebanon, Ohio, to open a law practice and dedicate his time to opening and running a weekly newspaper.
Recently, we were given a few complete issues of the Western Star publication. These are a GREAT addition to our collection of Warren County information. We would like to expand this collection. If anyone has some editions that have been saved and are no longer of use to you, please consider donating them to us. We are interested in issues from any time period. These can be dropped off or sent to us at the WCGS Resource Library, 406 Justice Drive, Lebanon, Ohio 45036.
We would also welcome donations of old Warren County telephone books or city directories.
Warren County Historical Society
Did you know that as a current member of the Warren County Genealogical Society you can enjoy FREE admission to the Research Library (located in Harmon Hall) of the Warren County Historical Society? We are so pleased to have this relationship with them and encourage you to check out their website and events. The Warren County Historical Society is located at 105 South Broadway, Lebanon, Ohio 45036.
Research Requests can be made here: https://www.wchsmuseum.org/research.html
About WCGS
The Warren County Genealogical Society (WCGS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to build and promote interest in collecting and preserving genealogical records. We are here to assist you in finding your ancestors and relatives and have many resources available to help you with your research. WCGS is a Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society.