Indiana County Resources
This entry was originally written by Carol L. Maki and Michael John Neill for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
During the Great Depression, Indiana pioneered the microfilming of records. A WPA project filmed vital records, court records, naturalizations, wills, slave registers, some Revolutionary War pension files, etc., for at least sixteen counties in the state.
In the 1950s and 1960s the Indiana State Library microfilmed many vital and court records. They receive positive microfilm copies of Indiana county records via a joint effort with the Commission on Public Records, Indiana Historical Bureau, Indiana Historical Society, and the Genealogical Society of Utah. Twenty-eight of the ninety-two Indiana courthouses suffered courthouse fires; many of them were rebuilt only to be destroyed again by fire or natural disaster. The original county of Knox lost all records in a fire of 1814. Hoosier Genealogist 4 (1964) includes a listing of courthouse fires in Indiana.
Land records are located at the county recorder's office; probates are 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.
For some of the following counties two years are listed for 'Date Formed.' The first is the year the county was created, the second is the year it was fully organized if it differs from the creation year. Under the heading 'Parent County/ies,' the name(s) listed may be the county or counties from which the respective county was formed, or they may be names by which the county was originally known. 'Unorganized' denotes that it was formed from non-county lands. A county name in parentheses is the county to which the unorganized land may have been attached at that time. Counties listed with an asterisk (*) are those in which records may exist for the county in question. It may have been 'attached' to that county for some period of time.
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.
Information for this section was obtained from Carolynne L. Miller's Indiana Sources for Genealogical Research in the Indiana State Library (cited under Indiana State Library's listing); Willard Heiss, 'Indiana,' in Kenn Stryker-Rodda, ed., Genealogical Research: Methods and Sources, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.: American Society of Genealogists, 1983); and from those materials available through the County Records of Indiana Microfilm Project (CRIMP) at the Indiana State Library.
Addresses in the following county list were taken from the Family History'Clerks of the Circuit Court address list on the Indiana State Archives website at www.in.gov/icpr/archives/family/maillist.html.
| Map | County | County Address | Date Formed | Parent County(ies) | Birth | Marriage | Death | Land | Probate | Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams New Purchase | 1827 (eliminated 1844) | Delaware New Purchase | ||||||||
| C7 | Adams | 313 S. Jefferson, Decatur 46733 | 1835 (1836) | Adams New Purchase (Allen/Delaware/Randolph) | 1882 | 1836 | 1882 | 1837 | 1838 | |
| B7 | Allen | 715 S. Calhoun St., Fort Wayne 46802 | 1824 | Delaware New Purchase/unorganized | 1882 | 1824 | 1870 | 1824 | 1825 | 1824 |
| G5 | Bartholomew | P.O. Box 924, Columbus 47202 | 1821 | Delaware New Purchase | 1883 | 1821 | 1882 | 1822 | 1821 | 1821 |
| D2 | Benton | 706 E. 5th Ste. 23, Fowler 47944 | 1840 | Jasper | 1882 | 1840 | 1882 | 1840 | 1840 | 1840 |
| D6 | Blackford | 110 W. Washington St., Hartford City 47348 | 1838 (1839) | Jay | 1882 | 1839 | 1882 | 1836 | 1839 | 1839 |
| E4 | Boone | 1 Courthouse Sq., Room 212, Lebanon 46052 | 1830 | Wabash New Purchase(Hendricks)/Adams New Purchase(Hendricks/Marion) | 1882 | 1831 | 1882 | 1856 | 1846 | 1846 |
| G4 | Brown | Courthouse Annex, Nashville 47448 | 1836 | Bartholomew/Jackson/Monroe | 1882 | 1836 | 1882 | 1873 | 1837 | 1837 |
| Record loss 1873. | ||||||||||
| D3 | Carroll | Courthouse, 101 W. Main St., Delphi 46923 | 1828 | Adams New Purchase/(Hamilton)Wabash New Purchase (Fountain)/unorganized | 1882 | 1828 | 1882 | 1829 | 1829 | 1829 |
| C4 | Cass | 200 Court Park, Rm. 203, Logansport 46947 | 1829 | unorganized (Carroll) | 1882 | 1829 | 1882 | 1830 | 1829 | 1829 |
| J5 | Clark | City-County Bldg., Rm. 137, Rm. 203, Jeffersonville 47130 | 1801 | Knox | 1882 | 1807 | 1882 | 1801 | 1801 | 1801 |
| G2 | Clay | 609 E. National Ave., Rm. 137, Brazil 47834 | 1825 | Owen/Putnam/Vigo/Sullivan | 1881 | 1851 | 1882 | 1825 | 1873 | |
| Record loss 1851. | ||||||||||
| D4 | Clinton | 265 Courthouse Sq., Rm. 137, Frankfort 46041 | 1830 | Adams New Purchase(Tippecanoe) | 1882 | 1830 | 1882 | 1829 | 1830 | 1832 |
| K4 | Crawford | P.O. Box 375, Rm. 137, English 47118 | 1818 | Harrison/Orange/Perry) | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1818 | 1818 | 1818 |
| H3 | Daviess | 200 E. Walnut, Washington 47501 | 1817 | Knox | 1882 | 1817 | 1882 | 1817 | 1817 | 1817 |
| A7 | De Kalb | P.O. Box 230, Auburn 46706 | 1835 (1837) | unorganized(Allen/LaGrange) | 1882 | 1837 | 1882 | 1837 | 1847 | 1839 |
| G7 | Dearborn | 215-B W. High St., Lawrenceburg 47025 | 1803 | Clark | 1882 | 1806 | 1882 | 1821 | 1824 | 1824 |
| Record loss 1826. | ||||||||||
| G6 | Decatur | 150 Courthouse St., Ste 1, Greensburg 47240 | 1822 | unorganized | 1882 | 1822 | 1882 | 1822 | 1822 | 1822 |
| Delaware New Purchase | 1820 (name changed to Adams New Purchase, 1827)unorganized/ *Fayette/ *Franklin/ *Jackson/ *Jennings/ *Randolph/ *Ripley/ *Wayne/ *Bartholomew | |||||||||
| E6 | Delaware | 100 W. Main, Muncie 47305 | 1827 | Delaware New Purchase/*Randolph | 1882 | 1827 | 1882 | 1829 | 1830 | 1828 |
| J3 | Dubois | 1 Courthouse Sq., Jasper 47546 | 1818 | Pike | 1882 | 1839 | 1882 | 1839 | 1840 | 1840 |
| Record loss 1839. | ||||||||||
| A5 | Elkhart | 101 N. Main St., Rm. 204, Goshen 46526 | 1830 | unorganized (Cass/Allen) | 1882 | 1830 | 1882 | 1831 | 1830 | 1830 |
| F6 | Fayette | 401 Central Ave., Connersville 47331 | 1819 | Franklin/Wayne/unorganized | 1883 | 1819 | 1829 | 1816 | 1819 | 1819 |
| J5 | Floyd | 311 W. 1st St., Rm. 235, New Albany 47150 | 1819 | Clark/Harrison | 1882 | 1819 | 1882 | 1818 | 1819 | |
| E2 | Fountain | P.O. Box 183, Covington 47932 | 1826 | Montgomery/Wabash New Purchase/*Parke | 1887 | 1826 | 1882 | 1827 | 1827 | |
| G7 | Franklin | 459 Main St., Brookville 47012 | 1811 | Clark/Dearborn | 1882 | 1811 | 1882 | 1811 | 1811 | 1811 |
| B4 | Fulton | P.O. Box 524, Rochester 46975 | 1835 (1836) | unorganized (Cass/Elkhart/St. Joseph) | 1882 | 1836 | 1882 | 1836 | 1837 | 1836 |
| J1 | Gibson | Courthouse Sq./P.O. Box 630, Princeton 47670 | 1813 | Knox | 1882 | 1813 | 1880 | 1836 | 1813 | 1813 |
| D5 | Grant | 101 E. 4th St., Marion 46953 | 1831 | Adams New Purchase(Randolph/Delaware/Madison) unorganized (Cass) | 1831 | 1831 | 1831 | |||
| H3 | Greene | P.O. Box 229, Bloomfield 47424 | 1821 | Sullivan/unorganized (Daviess) | 1885 | 1821 | 1893 | 1822 | 1823 | 1831 |
| E5 | Hamilton | 1 Hamilton County Sq., Ste. 106, Noblesville 46060 | 1823 | Delaware New Purchase | 1882 | 1833 | 1882 | 1825 | 1823 | |
| Hamilton County, NW Territory, was formed in 1798 from territorial Knox County and included parts of Ohio and Indiana. | ||||||||||
| F5 | Hancock | 9 E. Main St., Greenfield 46140 | 1827 (1828) | Madison | 1882 | 1828 | 1882 | 1827 | 1828 | |
| K5 | Harrison | 300 N. Capital Ave., Rm. 203, Corydon 47112 | 1808 | Clark/Knox | 1882 | 1809 | 1882 | 1807 | 1809 | 1809 |
| F4 | Hendricks | P.O. Box 599, Danville 46122 | 1824 | Delaware New Purchase/Wabash New Purchase | 1882 | 1824 | 1882 | 1823 | 1822 | 1824 |
| E6 | Henry | P.O. Box B, New Castle 47362 | 1822 | Delaware New Purchase | 1882 | 1823 | 1882 | 1824 | 1822 | 1825 |
| D4 | Howard | P.O. Box 9004, Kokomo 46901 | (see Richardville) | 1875 | 1844 | 1875 | 1846 | 1844 | ||
| C6 | Huntington | P.O. Box 228, Huntington 46750 | 1832 (1834)) | Adams New Purchase(Allen/Grant) | 1875 | 1837 | 1882 | 1834 | 1841 | |
| H5 | Jackson | P.O. Box 318, Brownstown 47220 | 1816 | Clark/Jefferson/Washington | 1882 | 1816 | 1882 | 1815 | 1817 | |
| B3 | Jasper | 115 W. Washington St., Rensselaer 47978 | 1835 (1838) | Wabash New Purchase/unorganized (Warren/White) | 1882 | 1850 | 1882 | 1838 | 1864 | |
| Record loss 1864. | ||||||||||
| D7 | Jay | County Courthouse, 120 Court St., Portland 47371 | 1835 (1836) | Adams New Purchase(Delaware/Randolph) | 1882 | 1837 | 1882 | 1836 | 1837 | 1837 |
| H6 | Jefferson | 300 E. Main St., Rm. 203, Madison 47250 | 1811 | Clark/Dearborn/Knox | 1882 | 1811 | 1882 | 1811 | 1811 | 1811 |
| H5 | Jennings | P.O. Box 385, Vernon 47282 | 1817 | Jackson/Jefferson | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1817 | 1818 | 1817 |
| F4 | Johnson | 5 W. Jefferson, Franklin 46131 | 1823 | Delaware New Purchase | 1882 | 1830 | 1882 | 1825 | 1821 | 1823 |
| Record loss 1849 and 1874. | ||||||||||
| H2 | Knox | 101 N. 7th, Vincennes 47591 | 1790 (Indiana county 1800) | unorganized | 1882 | 1806 | 1882 | 1783 | 1790 | 1801 |
| Knox County, NW Territory, was formed from non-county area in 1790. This included segments of present Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, plus all of Indiana. Knox County became an Indiana territory in 1800, although much of the original county had been formed into other counties by that time. It became an Indiana county in 1816. Record loss 1814. | ||||||||||
| B5 | Kosciusko | 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw 46580 | 1835 (1836) | unorganized (Cass/Elkhart/Grant) | 1882 | 1830 | 1882 | 1834 | 1836 | 1836 |
| A3 | La Porte | 813 Lincoln Way, La Porte 46350 | 1832 | St. Joseph/unorganized | 1882 | 1832 | 1882 | 1831 | 1832 | 1832 |
| A6 | Lagrange | 105 N. Detroit, Lagrange 46761 | 1832 | unorganized (Allen/Elkhart) | 1882 | 1832 | 1882 | 1832 | 1832 | 1832 |
| A2 | Lake | 2293 N. Main St., Crown Point 46307 | 1836 (1837) | Porter/Newton | 1882 | 1837 | 1882 | |||
| H4 | Lawrence | 1916 15th St., Bedford 47421 | 1818 | Orange | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1819 | 1818 | |
| E5 | Madison | P.O. Box 1277, Anderson 46016 | 1823 | Delaware New Purchase/*Marion | 1882 | 1853 | 1882 | 1822 | 1879 | |
| Record loss 1880. | ||||||||||
| F4 | Marion | City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., Rm. W-122, Indianapolis 46204 | 1822 | Delaware New Purchase | 1882 | 1822 | 1882 | 1822 | 1822 | 1822 |
| B4 | Marshall | 211 W. Madison St., Plymouth 46563 | 1835 | unorganized (Cass/Elkhart/St. Joseph) | 1836 | 1834 | 1834 | 1837 | ||
| H3 | Martin | P.O. Box 120, Shoals 47581 | 1820 | Daviess/Dubois | 1882 | 1820 | 1882 | 1820 | 1821 | |
| C5 | Miami | 25 N. Broadway, Peru 46970 | 1832 | Cass/unorganized | 1882 | 1843 | 1882 | 1836 | 1843 | |
| Record loss 1843. | ||||||||||
| G4 | Monroe | P.O. Box 547, Bloomington 47402 | 1818 | Orange | 1882 | 1818 | 1886 | 1817 | 1818 | 1854 |
| E3 | Montgomery | P.O. Box 768, Crawfordsville 47933 | 1823 | Wabash New Purchase/*Parke/*Putnam | 1882 | 1823 | 1882 | 1821 | 1822 | |
| F4 | Morgan | P.O. Box 1556, Martinsville 46151 | 1822 | Delaware New Purchase/Wabash New Purchase | 1882 | 1822 | 1899 | 1822 | 1822 | |
| Record loss 1876. | ||||||||||
| Newton (old) | (eliminated 1839) | 1835 | unorganized (St. Joseph/Warren/White) | |||||||
| C2 | Newton (present) | P.O. Box 49, Kentland 47951 | 1859 | Jasper | 1882 | 1860 | 1882 | 1838 | 1860 | 1860 |
| A6 | Noble | 101 N. Orange St., Albion 46701 | 1835 (1836) | unorganized (Allen/Elkhart/La Grange) | 1882 | 1859 | 1882 | 1834 | 1854 | |
| Record loss 1859. | ||||||||||
| H7 | Ohio | P.O. Box 185, Rising Sun 47040 | 1844 (1844) | Dearborn | 1882 | 1844 | 1882 | 1844 | 1844 | |
| J4 | Orange | Court Street, Paoli 47454 | 1816 | Gibson/Knox/Washington | 1882 | 1816 | 1882 | 1816 | 1816 | |
| G3 | Owen | P.O. Box 146, Spencer 47460 | 1819 | Daviess/Sullivan | 1882 | 1819 | 1882 | 1819 | 1819 | |
| F2 | Parke | 116 W. High St., Rm. 204, Rockville 47872 | 1821 | Vigo/unorganized/Wabash New Purchase | 1882 | 1829 | 1882 | 1816 | 1833 | 1833 |
| Record loss 1833. | ||||||||||
| K3 | Perry | 2219 Payne St., Tell City 47586 | 1814 | Gibson/Warrick | 1882 | 1814 | 1882 | 1815 | 1813 | 1815 |
| J2 | Pike | Courthouse, 801 Main St., Petersburg 47567 | 1817 | Gibson/Knox/Perry | 1882 | 1817 | 1887 | 1817 | 1817 | 1817 |
| A3 | Porter | 16 E. Lincoln Way, Valparaiso 46383 | 1835 (1836) | unorganized (St. Joseph) | 1884 | 1836 | 1884 | 1833 | 1839 | |
| K1 | Posey | P.O. Box 606, Mount Vernon 47620 | 1814 | Warrick/Knox/Gibson | 1882 | 1814 | 1882 | 1812 | 1815 | 1815 |
| B3 | Pulaski | 112 E. Main, Rm. 230, Winamac 46996 | 1835 (1839) | unorganized (Cass/White) | 1882 | 1839 | 1882 | 1840 | 1839 | 1839 |
| F3 | Putnam | P.O. Box 546, Greencastle 46135 | 1822 | Owen/Vigo/Wabash New Purchase | 1882 | 1820 | 1882 | 1824 | 1825 | |
| Randolph (old) | Ill. Territory, 1809 | 1790 (Indiana county, 1800) | St. Clair'NW Territory | |||||||
| Randolph County, NW Territory, was formed in 1795, from territorial St. Clair County. In 1800 Randolph became an Indiana territorial county. The present Randolph County was created in 1818. See below. | ||||||||||
| E7 | Randolph (present) | Courthouse, 100 S. Main St., Winchester 47394 | 1818 | Wayne | 1882 | 1819 | 1882 | 1820 | 1819 | |
| Note also Randolph, Illinois Territory, above. | ||||||||||
| Richardville | 1844 (1844; changed to Howard, 1846) | unorganized (Carroll/Cass/Miami) | ||||||||
| G6 | Ripley | P.O. Box 177, Versailles 47042 | 1816 (1818) | Dearborn/Jefferson/*Jennings | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1818 | 1818 | 1818 |
| F6 | Rush | P.O. Box 429, Rushville 46173 | 1822 | Delaware New Purchase | 1822 | 1823 | 1822 | 1822 | 1822 | |
| St. Clair | Illinois Territory, 1809 | 1790 (Indiana county, 1800) | Illinois Territory, 1809 | |||||||
| A4 | Saint Joseph | 101 S. Main St., South Bend 46601 | 1830 | unorganized(Carroll/Tippecanoe/Cass) | 1882 | 1830 | 1882 | 1830 | 1830 | |
| J5 | Scott | 1 E. McClain Ave. Ste. 120, Scottsburg 47170 | 1820 | Clark/Jackson/Jefferson/Jennings/Washington | 1882 | 1820 | 1819 | 1820 | ||
| F5 | Shelby | P.O. Box 198, Shelbyville 46176 | 1822 | Delaware New Purchase | 1882 | 1822 | 1882 | 1822 | 1822 | |
| K3 | Spencer | P.O. Box 12, Rockport 47635 | 1818 | Perry/Warrick | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1818 | 1818 | |
| B3 | Starke | 53 E. Washington St., Knox 46534 | 1835 (1850) | St. Joseph/unorganized (Starke/Cass/White) | 1894 | 1840 | 1894 | 1850 | 1850 | |
| A7 | Steuben | 55 S. Public Sq., Courthouse Annex Angola 46703 | 1835 (1837) | unorganized (LaGrange) | 1832 | 1836 | 1845 | |||
| G2 | Sullivan | P.O. Box 370, Sullivan 47882 | 1817 | Knox | 1882 | 1850 | 1880 | 1850 | 1844 | |
| Record loss 1850. | ||||||||||
| H7 | Switzerland | 212 W. Main, Vevay 47043 | 1814 | Dearborn/Jefferson | 1882 | 1814 | 1882 | 1814 | 1814 | |
| D3 | Tippecanoe | P.O. Box 1665, Lafayette 47901 | 1826 | Wabash New Purchase/unorganized | 1882 | 1826 | 1882 | 1826 | 1825 | 1827 |
| D4 | Tipton | 101 E. Jefferson, Tipton 46072 | 1844 (1844) | Adams New Purchase/unorganized | 1844 | 1882 | 1844 | 1844 | 1853 | |
| F7 | Union | 26 W. Union St., Liberty 47353 | 1821 | Fayette/Franklin/Wayne | 1821 | 1821 | 1821 | |||
| K2 | Vanderburgh | P.O. Box 3556, Evansville 47708 | 1818 | Gibson/Posey/Posey/Warrick | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1818 | 1821 | |
| E2 | Vermillion | 1 Courthouse Sq., Newport 47966 | 1824 | Parke/unorganized/Wabash New Purchase | 1882 | 1824 | 1882 | |||
| G2 | Vigo | P.O. Box 8449, Terre Haute 47807 | 1818 | Sullivan | 1882 | 1818 | 1882 | 1816 | 1818 | |
| Wabash | 1 W. Hill St. Wabash 46992 | 1832 (1835) | Adams New Purchase(Grant)/unorganized (Cass) | 1835 | 1899 | 1835 | 1847 | |||
| Record loss 1870. | ||||||||||
| C5 | Wabash New Purchase | Eliminated 1835 | 1820 | unorganized/*Monroe/*Owen/*Vigo/*Parke | ||||||
| D2 | Warren | 125 N. Monroe, Ste. 11, Williamsport 47993 | 1827 | Wabash New Purchase/ unorganized (Vermillion)*Fountain/ | 1882 | 1827 | 1882 | 1830 | 1829 | 1827 |
| K2 | Warrick | 1 County Sq., Rm. 200, Boonville 47601 | 1813 | Knox | 1882 | 1813 | 1882 | 1813 | 1814 | 1813 |
| J4 | Washington | 99 Public Sq., Salem 47167 | 1814 | Clark/Harrison | 1882 | 1815 | 1882 | 1814 | 1814 | 1814 |
| Wayne | 301 E. Main, Richmond 47375 | 1811 | Clark/Dearborn/Knox | 1882 | 1811 | 1882 | 1816 | 1812 | 1811 | |
| Note also Wayne County below. | ||||||||||
| E7 | Wayne'NW Territory | 1796 (eliminated 1800) | Knox/unorganized | |||||||
| Wayne County, NW Territory, was formed in 1796 from territorial Knox County and unorganized area. This included portions of modern Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Wayne County outside NW Territory was eliminated in 1800. In 1803 Wayne County, Indiana Territory, was created from territorial Knox and St. Clair County and unorganized area, including parts of today's Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and most of Michigan. In 1811 Wayne County, Indiana Territory, was created from Clark, Dearborn, and Knox counties. Thisbecame an Indiana state county in 1816. | ||||||||||
| C6 | Wells | 102 W. Market St., Ste. 201, Bluffton 46714 | 1835 (1837) | Adams New Purchase (Allen/Delaware/Randolph) | 1883 | 1837 | 1883 | 1838 | 1838 | |
| C3 | White | P.O. Box 350, Monticello 47960 | 1834 | Wabash New Purchase(Carroll) | 1882 | 1834 | 1882 | 1834 | 1835 | 1834 |
| B6 | Whitley | 101 W. VanBuren St., Columbia City 46725 | 1835 (1838) | unorganized (Allen/Elkhart/Grant)/*Huntington | 1838 | 1813 | 1839 | 1882 | ||
