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.
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!
What's New
New Website Page on DNA!
Using DNA in genealogy is becoming more and more common. Genealogists have long recognized that there are sometimes two family trees to research - the family connected on paper and the family connected by biology. To help you understand as much as possible about this subject, we have added a page to our website with information, links to webinars and videos, and profile pages you can download about key figures in this field.
UPDATE ABOUT OUR VIRTUAL CEMETERY: We have encountered a small glitch with the Virtual Cemetery hosted by Dale Grimm / OHGenWeb. It appears that certain pages did NOT transfer over. If you are searching, you may encounter the dreaded 404 - Page Not Found message.
One example would be:
https://warren.ohgenweb.org/Cemetery/DicksCreek/DicksCreek4.html#GeorgeMell
The same page CAN be found on the site hosted by RootsWeb / Ancestry:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/Cemetery/DicksCreek/DicksCreek4.htm#GeorgeMell
One fix is to replace the beginning of the URL by replacing:
https://warren.ohgenweb.org/ with http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/
The rest of the address will be the same on both sites. OR you may want to use the RootsWeb site until we get this fixed. Thank you for your patience!
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~ohwarren/Cemetery/burial.htm
We were excited when Rootsweb.com brought our Virtual Cemetery back online, but through the efforts of Arne Trelvik and Dale Grimm, THE ENTIRE OHGENWEB SITE IS BACK, INCLUDING THE VIRTUAL CEMETERY!
Keep your fingers crossed, because we are hopeful that this can now be accessed and the pages updated. This will take some time and a good deal of work since the last update looks to have been in 2017. But what a wonderful thing to have back (and not just temporarily)! Yippee!
Our Virtual Cemetery that was hosted by Rootsweb.com is still online, as well, although we have been advised that this is temporary and we will never be able to access or update the pages.
Our New Website!
We are thrilled to present our NEW website! Our old website served us well for a good number of years and we are appreciative and thankful to the many people who put so much of their time and energy into making it such a great site. But with the rapid advancement in the world of technology also comes the need for a website that is more responsive to the users, easier to update for those of us working on this end, and lastly, more stable and secure for our content.
At the bottom of the page is the "Search this site..." box. This will allow you to search the entire new website and associated searchable documents. It appears on all pages for easy access.
For those who would like to access our online databases and indices, please visit our EasyNav page. The buttons on that page will connect you to information on our new site once that page has been added or if not, to our old site so you can still access the information there. The old site is also searchable by using the "Search this site powered by FreeFind" box at the bottom lower left of the Home page.
Let us know how we are doing! The "Contact Us" button at the top of the page will give you a variety of ways to reach us. We encourage and welcome your feedback and questions while we undertake the monumental task of moving all the information from the old website to the new.
For more website updates, please visit What's New with the Website, a page that will keep you posted on additions, corrections, and more!
House Histories / Historic Houses
We have a new website page featuring information on House Histories! In between research requests, the group will focus on identifying and documenting the past ownership and history of old historic houses in Warren County. Their first project is the Green Tree Tavern and Inn and they are seeking any information, images, stories, or whatever you may have or know about the property. Please visit our NEW website page for more information!
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
Upcoming Events
In the interest of keeping everyone safe and healthy, we will be postponing in-person events until after the end of the year. Upcoming events will be held using Zoom until further notice.
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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.
Quaker Heritage Scenic Byway
Many of us have Quaker roots. Have you checked out the Quaker Heritage Scenic Byway yet? Visit their website to find out more and be sure to check out the link on that page to the map (it is in the Related Links box). Twenty-five pages of maps and details of what you will see along the way. Incredible!
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.
About WCGS
The Warren County Genealogical Society (WCGS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit 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.