Can' find what you are looking for... 
...then submit a question to the genealogy department.

Submit a question!

City/County Directories
City directories begin in 1877/ County directories begin in 1892 and continue to the present.

Defiance County Histories
Defiance County histories were published in 1883, 1976 and 1991. All three contain family histories.

Defiance County Probate Records
Marriages, wills, probate records and journals for the earliest years are available on microfilm. The birth register from July 1, 1867 - Dec. 19, 1908 and the death register from 1867 -1884 are available in book form.

Defiance County Veteran's Database
As part of the bicentennial celebration of Ohio (1803-2003) there has been a commitment made to honor the veterans of Defiance County by collecting and preserving a written history of their service. This project has evolved into a searchable database that provides key facts which will assist researchers in locating additional information on armed forces/militia veterans of all eras who were born in, lived in, died in, or were buried in Defiance County. This database is available to the public. The project is dynamic in nature. We encourage input from all sources

Family Histories
Through generous donations we have received copies of many local family histories.

Newspapers
Many of the early Defiance newspapers are available on microfilm starting in 1844.

Obituary File
Our obituary file is currently "under construction"

Special Photographic Collections
The Bronson Collection contains approximately 800 photographs on various subjects in and around the Defiance are from 1906 - 1949.  The Center for Archival Collections (Bowling Green, OH) has done an inventory of this collection. 

The Kniffen Collection contains approximately 2000 photographs mainly on businesses and people of Defiance from 1946 - 1951. At present these collections have not been digitized and therefore are not available online.

Surname Card File
This file contains names and addresses of individuals searching a surname.

Tombstone Inscription Records
The tombstone inscription records have been done for the entire county and are indexed by surname.

Tours & Programs
Tours of the Ohioana Room and Fort Defiance are available for school groups and clubs. Programs on local history and genealogy are also available for school groups and clubs either in-house or off site.

Vertical File
Our vertical file contains newspaper clippings, brochures, pamphlets, etc. on various topics of local interest. In addition to our regular vertical file we have added a new section for surnames. These files contain assorted information about families.