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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 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 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 there are two years 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 “formed from ,” 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.
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. Choose from the counties below to view the county information.
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