Featured: The Names That Built Ohio
The Names That Built Ohio
Every Ohio county was built by families, and the old county histories wrote their names down. One county at a time, we read the founding names township by township, then show you the records that prove each one. Starting with Richland County: Episodes 1 and 2 are out now, and Episode 3 premieres Tuesday, November 3 at 3 PM, with a searchable index of 1,532 Richland County names and a free worksheet.
Search the Names & Watch →Brick Walls Beyond Ohio
Your Ohio ancestor arrived from somewhere. This series follows the trail across the state line into the neighboring states, and shows where their records were left behind.
Pennsylvania · Kentucky · Virginia & West Virginia · Indiana · Michigan
Migration & Settlement
Where They Came From: The Rivers That Built Ohio
One river per episode: the Ohio, Great Miami, Scioto, Muskingum, and Maumee, plus Lake Erie and the Western Reserve. Where the rivers went, the settlers and their records followed.
Watch the PlaylistTrails to Ohio: The Roads That Carried Them
The Great Wagon Road, Braddock's Road, Forbes Road, Zane's Trace, the Wilderness Road, and the National Road. Follow the route to find the place your family left.
Watch the PlaylistTreaty Lines That Opened Ohio
The treaties and boundary lines that opened Ohio land to settlement, from the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 forward, and how they decided where your ancestors could legally buy land.
Watch the PlaylistCanals That Built Ohio
The Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal: the canal era, the workers and families it brought, and the records it created.
Watch the PlaylistHow Ohio's Counties Were Made
From the Northwest Territory through statehood to Noble County in 1851. Know the parent county, and you know where the early records are.
Watch on YouTubeResearch Skills
DNA for Ohio Brick Walls
Using DNA evidence to break through Ohio research dead ends: how to read your matches, pair them with Ohio records, and push past the brick walls paper alone can't solve.
Watch the Playlist →Ohio Research Strategies
Record types and research methods that work across every Ohio county, from religious records to Gretna Green marriages.
Watch the Playlist →Free cheat sheets (PDF):
War of 1812 Records: Where to Find What
Revolutionary War Records: Where to Find What
Civil War Pension Records: Where to Find What
Family Reconstruction Worksheet
Watch with the cheat sheets:
I Investigated a 170-Year-Old Case: Reading a War of 1812 Pension File
Finding Marriage Proof in Military Files: Reading a Revolutionary War Pension File
How to Find Civil War Pensions: Researching the Murray Brothers
Stuck on Your Ancestors? The Ohio Research Strategy That Actually Works
The Morrow Family Files: William & Eleanor's Children
One Ohio family, one record at a time: a War of 1812 pension, a family rebuilt from the census, and each child in turn, with a method you can use on your own family in every episode.
Watch the Playlist →Free worksheets (PDF):
Family Reconstruction Worksheet · Tracing Women Through Marriages
The Heston Family Files: Family Stories & Genealogy Research
Old family papers can preserve remarkable stories, but which details can the records support? The Heston family's reported 1684 arrival in America, traced from 1957 family newsletters back through Massachusetts and New Jersey to the original records, with the proof methods you can run on your own family's stories.
Watch the Playlist →88 Counties, County by County
Formation, settlers, probate, land, tax, churches, newspapers, and repositories: eight episodes for each Ohio county.
Open the County IndexRevolutionary War
Patriot Paths
Revolutionary War soldiers whose descendants migrated west, traced from the enlistment roll to the far side of the frontier.
Watch on YouTubeOhio Patriots & Pioneers
Veterans who personally settled in Ohio, profiled from their NARA M804 pension files.
Watch on YouTubeForgotten Battles of the Revolution
The engagements that don't make the textbooks: Fort Laurens, Crawford's Defeat, Blue Licks, Piqua, and more.
View Episodes →Free cheat sheet (PDF):
Revolutionary War Records: Where to Find What
Watch with the cheat sheet:
Finding Marriage Proof in Military Files: Reading a Revolutionary War Pension File
War of 1812
Ohio Under Siege: The War of 1812 in Ohio
The forts, sieges, battles, and military roads of Ohio's War of 1812, from Fort Meigs and Dudley's Defeat to Fort Stephenson and the Battle of Lake Erie, and the muster rolls, pension files, and bounty land records they left for your family's story.
Watch the Playlist →Free cheat sheets (PDF):
Episode 1: Fort Miamis & the Maumee Record Trail
Episode 2: Was Your Ancestor at Fort Meigs?
War of 1812 Records: Where to Find What