Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society
Researching Warren County and beyond! We are a FamilySearch Affiliate Library!
Land Records
Land records can provide familial relationships through legal documents such as deeds. Sometimes these are the only records in existence to prove such relationships. The Warren County Recorder’s Office has property records that can be searched many different ways. Records are available from 1799 before Ohio was a state to the current date.
Grantor (Seller) and Grantee (Buyer) Indexes exist for Warren County deeds. WCGS has indexed these records from 1799-1832 for both the grantor/ grantee and grantee / grantor indexes. Copies of these indexes are available in our Resource Library.
In addition, the Warren County Records Center & Archives has an online index of the Recorder's Office records. This index and others they provide are invaluable when researching in Warren County.
Warren County Records Center & Archives
The Warren County Records Center & Archives has online indexes to several types of records. When searching for Land Records, you will want to start with their Searchable Indexes and Records for the Recorder's Office. Visit the page using the link below and under Select Department, use the drop-down menu and select Recorder's Office.
From there, you have three choices under Select Index:
Deed Index Inventory
Miscellaneous Maps Inventory
Veteran's Gravesite Index
Select the Deed Index Inventory from the drop-down menu. It will populate the fields, giving you a Search box. Enter the name you are searching in the Search box and hit Enter. Be sure to search any alternate spellings to increase the odds of finding all available records.
Once you get your results, you will be using the Volume and Page Number to search on the Warren County Recorder's Office site (see below).
WCRC&A has a page dedicated to the Description of Department Records Indexes that is very helpful. Please contact or visit them for help with records that are not online. They are a great resource when researching in Warren County!
Warren County Recorder's Office
The Warren County Recorder's Office has access to online searches for Property Records using their "Ava" system. Similar to the "Laredo" system used by the county and available in our library, “AVA” can be accessed by the general public.
Start by reading and clicking "Accept" on the Welcome page of the Public Records Search. From there, you can enter a variety of things to start your search.
If you are having trouble finding records, try just using the Book and Page numbers, as spelling can throw off some searches. You may be able to find the Book and Page numbers by checking the Indexes available on our old website (one example: http://www.wcgsoh.org/Will-Estate-EName-OCP.htm) or using online indexes at the Warren County Records Center and Archives.
Once you get the results of your search, click the line with the results to get to the document icon.
Then click the document icon to see the image of the document.
Warren County Range, Township, Section Map
If you who have seen the large maps hanging in our Resource Library, you know how helpful they are when doing Land or Cemetery Research. Our many thanks to the wonderful people in our GIS office who provided us these files to share with you. These are large files and may take some time to load, so please be patient.
FamilySearch Full Text Experiment
At RootsTech 2024, FamilySearch unveiled an extremely powerful experimental AI tool they call Full Text. They have harnessed the power of AI to search through millions of images to find and transcribe documents for you – in microseconds! Simply type in your ancestor’s name and location and see 50-70 million results appear! Fear not, because FamilySearch provides Search Tips to refine your search and bring your results down to a more manageable number, as well as wildcards to help locate the inevitable name variations.
In their initial roll-out, FamilySearch is providing access only to U.S. land and probate records and Mexican notary records, but what a treasure! Expect to find your ancestor mentioned in many land and court documents that you would not have found by using indexes. Read the AI-transcribed documents alongside the originals and then download the original document and the transcribed text. Select “Group Data” in the upper right corner of the page to copy the source citation.
Remember that this is the initial offering of an experimental, or “beta” capability and don’t be surprised if you find parts of it to be a little quirky. You must opt in to use this feature. To do so, use the button below to go to FamilySearch Labs, sign in, and select the experiment "Expand your search with Full Text" and have fun exploring!
For more information, please visit:
Many thanks to Jim Brokaw for sharing this with our researchers.
More Help with Land Records
Our old website still has extensive information available. You can reach these pages by using the green buttons below. If you find your ancestor(s) listed on one of our pages and would like more information, please visit our Resource Library or contact our Research Committee.
Green buttons link to our old website (http://www.wcgsoh-old.org). Please understand that we can no longer update the old site and those pages may have outdated information and various "404 Page Not Found" errors.
Terms
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Bounty Land: Land given as a bonus for service in the military
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Conveyance: means deed
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Deed: A legal document that transfers ownership, title and interest in a piece of property
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Dower Right: the widow’s right to 1/3 of the husband’s estate granted to her during her lifetime
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Freeholder: A person who owns his / her own property
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Grantee: The purchaser of a piece of property
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Grantor: The seller of a piece of property
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Legacy: Property or money left to an individual in a will
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Legatee: A person who inherits money or property through a will
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Lessee: A person who lives on or works property but doesn’t own the land, much like a renter.
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Lessor: An owner of a property who allows the property to be worked or lived on for money.
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Moiety: Means half or an equal share of something usually referenced in a deed or will.
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Patent: A grant of land given to an individual from the government
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Public Domain: Land owned by the government
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Quitclaim deed: Transfer of a title or claim without the guarantee the title is valid or clear.
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Surety: An individual who guarantees the truth of something such as an appearance at court, through paying money or other item of value
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Warranty Deed: A deed guaranteed by the seller that the property has a clear and valid title.
Maps and Land
There are two versions of "A map of the Indian towns, villages, camps and trails in the Virginia Military District and south-western Ohio" that can be accessed online. The first (dark background with light printing) was found in the Digital Collection at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library and the second (light background with dark printing) was found at the Ohio History Connection. We found these to be very interesting and hope you will, too. Many thanks to Candy Jo Tucker Hartman and Jim Brokaw for submitting these links to help our researchers.
Original Ohio Land Subdivisions is a fascinating little book that was published in 1925 and reprinted in 2014. You can still purchase this book from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources:
https://store.ohiodnr.gov/products/original-land-subdivisions-ots3
From their website: "This book comprises the final report by C. E. Sherman as part of the Ohio Cooperative Topographic Survey. It details the various systems of surveying employed in Ohio to define land boundaries. The book is of use to professional surveyors and surveying students, as well as those interested in learning more about the history of Ohio as a state, and accompanies Original Land Subdivisions of Ohio Map to offer a detailed look at Ohio's land subdivisions and their origins."
The 1922 Sherman map that accompanied this book is available online in the Digital Collection of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Click the expand arrows to view this map full-screen and zoom to the location you wish to see. Many thanks to Jim Brokaw for submitting this link to help our researchers.