Access Fulton County Genealogy
Fulton County genealogy records start in 1850 when the county was formed from Henry, Lucas, and Williams Counties. The county seat is Wauseon, in the far northwest corner of Ohio. You can search birth, death, marriage, probate, and land records through the Fulton County Records Center, Probate Court, and local genealogical society. The county was named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the steamboat. This page covers the offices and resources for doing family history research in Fulton County, Ohio.
Fulton County Overview
Fulton County Record Sources
The Fulton County Courthouse is at 210 S. Fulton Street, Wauseon, OH 43567. The Probate Court holds birth and death records from 1867 to 1908, marriage records from 1864, probate records from 1853, and naturalization records. The Clerk of Courts keeps divorce and court records from 1850. The County Auditor has land records from 1835, and the Fulton County Recorder holds military records and burial records.
The Fulton County Records and Microfilm Center is at 152 South Fulton Street, Suite 55, Wauseon, OH 43567. Call 419-337-9262 for help. The center holds microfilm records and local government documents. If the courthouse does not have what you need on hand, the records center may have it on microfilm.
The Fulton County Records Center provides access to microfilm and local government records for genealogy research.
Call ahead to check if the records you need are available on microfilm at the center.
Fulton County Birth and Death Records
Birth and death records at the Fulton County Probate Court cover 1867 through 1908. After December 20, 1908, the state began managing vital records. The Ohio Department of Health holds birth records from that date forward and death records from 1954 on. Death records from 1908 to 1953 are at the Ohio History Connection Archives in Columbus.
Naturalization records are a bonus at the Fulton County Probate Court. These show when immigrants became citizens and often list their country of birth, arrival date, and sometimes the ship name. Under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3705, all births must be filed with the local registrar. The Ohio History Connection Vital Records Guide helps sort out which office holds which records by date.
Probate records from 1853 are another strong source at the Fulton County courthouse. Wills name heirs and sometimes describe property in detail. Estate inventories can show what your ancestor owned, from farm tools to livestock. Guardianship papers list minor children by name, which is useful when census records are incomplete. The court also has records for estates that went through probate without a will. These can name next of kin and describe how the estate was split, giving you family details that do not show up in other record types.
Fulton County Genealogical Society
The Fulton County Genealogical Society is a chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. Their mailing address is PO Box 337, Swanton, OH 43558. Email FCCOGS@gmail.com for questions. The society provides cemetery records, census indexes, and research help for Fulton County families.
Cemetery records are one of their strong suits. Fulton County has dozens of small rural cemeteries where early settlers are buried. Tombstone inscriptions often give dates, family relationships, and birthplaces that you will not find in official records. The society has worked to transcribe and index many of these cemeteries over the years. Many of these rural cemeteries are on private land or in places that are hard to reach. Having the transcriptions available through the society saves you time and sometimes a long drive down a dirt road. If a tombstone has weathered beyond reading, the transcription may be the only surviving copy of that information.
The Fulton County OHGenWeb page is another free resource. It provides cemetery records, census transcriptions, and other genealogy data gathered by volunteers. The site notes that Fulton County was organized on February 28, 1850 and established on April 1 of the same year.
More Genealogy Tools for Fulton County
Land records in Fulton County go back to 1835. That is 15 years before the county was formed. The Recorder's office inherited older records from the parent counties. These early land records can show when your ancestors first arrived in northwest Ohio and where they settled. Military records at the Recorder are also useful for tracking veterans in your family tree.
For online research, FamilySearch has free Ohio databases covering births, deaths, marriages, and county records. The Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University specializes in northwest Ohio county records and may hold additional Fulton County materials on microfilm. The Ohio Memory digital library is worth checking for digitized Fulton County items.
The Chronicling America newspaper archive has free access to historic Ohio papers. These sometimes cover Wauseon and other Fulton County towns. Old newspaper obituaries, marriage notices, and legal ads often hold facts that are not in courthouse records. The OhioGenealogy.org site provides links to county-level resources across all 88 Ohio counties. For Fulton County records before 1850, check the parent counties of Henry, Lucas, and Williams, since earlier files for this area may be stored there instead.
Note: Fulton County land records from 1835 predate the county's formation, as they were inherited from Henry, Lucas, and Williams Counties.
Cities in Fulton County
Fulton County does not have cities large enough for a dedicated page on this site. Wauseon is the county seat and largest community. All residents use the county offices listed above for genealogy record searches.
Nearby Counties
These counties share borders with Fulton County. Records for ancestors near the line may be in a neighboring county.