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Welcome To Jefferson County

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Jefferson County, Ohio

Jefferson County was erected and organized on July 29, 1797. The county seat is Steubenville.


 


Jefferson County flag with the county seal
image by: Phil Nelson


     
Short History of Jefferson County


Jefferson County was named for Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, Secretary of State, and Vice President of the United States at the time of the county's creation. It was created July 29, 1797, by proclamation of Governor Arthur St. Clair. In 1786, the United States built Fort Steuben on a hill overlooking the Ohio River. The fort's purpose was to protect the government surveyors mapping seven ranges of wilderness land from Indian attack. When the surveyors had completed their task, the two companies of troops were transferred to Fort Harmar. In 1794, the abandoned fort caught fire. In the meantime, a small cluster of homes had collected around the fort in 1787, which the residents named La Belle. In 1797, Jefferson County was created, and the site where La Belle stood was selected as the county seat. Bezaleel Wells and James Ross laid out a town around La Belle, whose name was subsequently changed to Steubenville in honor of the charred fort.
During the first half of the nineteenth century, Steubenville was primarily a port town. However, in 1856, Frazier, Kilgore and Company erected a rolling mill (the forerunner of the area's steel mills) and the Steubenville Coal and Mining Company sank a coal shaft resulting in a new industrial base for the city and county. Around 1800, a group of Quakers founded the town of Mount Pleasant, which became a center for abolitionist activity. Besides being a primary stop on the Underground Railroad, Mount Pleasant in 1817 saw the publication of one of the first abolitionist newspapers in the United States - the "Philanthropist". In 1837, Ohio's first abolitionist convention was held in Mount Pleasant. Jefferson County was the birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton, who was born in Steubenville on December 19, 1814.




SURROUNDING COUNTIES


Jefferson County is bordered on the North by Columbiana County, OH. on the South by Belmont County, OH. on the West by and on the West by Harrison County, OH. on the East by Hancock County, WV and on the East by Brooke County, WV and on the East by Ohio County WV



July 29, 1797--Jefferson County erected & organized; Dec. 19, 1799--Part of Washington attached; July 10, 1800--Reduced by formation of Trumbull County; Sept. 7, 1801--Reduced by formation of Belmont County; May 1, 1803--Reduced by formation of Columbiana County; Jan. 31, 1807--Western boundary extended; Feb. 11, 1809--Part attached to Tuscarawas County; Feb. 1, 1813--Reduced by formation of Harrison County; Jan. 1, 1833--Reduced by formation of Carroll County. Part of Columbiana attached.




WHAT'S NEW!!


Stop in at our What's New page and see what things have been added to the Jefferson county page.




Index to Jefferson County Pages


AHNENTAFELS


Ahnentafels family relationship records submitted by descendants of ancestors of Jefferson County, Ohio


BIBLE RECORDS


Bible Records Online with listed Surnames


BIOGRAPHIES



Biographies from The 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio
Jefferson County, Ohio
Historical Collections of Ohio by Henry Howe 1888
Biographies Index to the 1890 History of the Upper Ohio Valley Vol I & II
Historical Collections of Ohio by Henry Howe
Complete Book
Family History Archive--LDS Family History Books Online
Beers Biographical Records online Washington County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania History, Biographies, Yearbooks, Genealogy & More


CEMETERIES


On-Site Jefferson County Cemeteries
On-Site Cemeteries List
Ohio Cemeteries and Tombstone Project
All States Cemeteries and Tombstone Project
Ohio Grave Stones A new and growing awesome site of Ohio's graves and cemeteries with actual photos of tombstones
Interment.net
Records of burial from cemeteries across the world for genealogy and historical research
African American Cemeteries Online (wayback version)
Old City Cemetery (submitted by: Melany on Find-A-Grave)
Galena Twp. (Jefferson County, Ohio resident buried there--Alias Lee.


CENSUS


1830 & 1840 Census Transcriptions for Jefferson County
1890 Special Census of Jefferson County Civil War Veterans/Widows


CHURCH RECORDS


Church Records
on Linkpendium for Jefferson County
Religious Affiliation
of ancestors-how to identify and where to find records


COMMUNITY NEWS


Tidbits
of Odds and Ends
Brick Walls
Family Reunion News Announcement and Update Page


DEATH & MILITARY INFORMATION


ENTER
The Death & Military information site has been moved to its own page. Please click the "Enter" in order to view all the great sites.
American Civil War Comprehensive American Civil War site with forums
Virtual Wall Vietnam Veterans Memorial
(DUVCW) Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War--Nationally Recognized-a wonderful way to prove your civil War veteran and preserve their memories forever! Chapters all over the United States


DEEDS


Deeds of Jefferson County, Ohio


DIRECTORIES


1850 Steubenville Directory
1856-'57 Steubenville Directory
1933-35 Farm Directory of Jefferson County, Ohio


FAMILY PAGES AND LINKS


ENTER
The Family Pages and Links has been moved to it's own page. Please click the "Enter" in order to view all the great information and sites.
Yellow Creek Stories
Wonderful stories of the Yellow Creek area and families. Great site!!
Paul Ridenour's
Ridenour Family Tree - Awesome site!
Page 2 of Paul Ridenour's
Ridenour Family Tree
Stories in and Around
Jefferson County past & present
Scamahorn Family
of Jefferson County, Ohio
Maxwell and Goodwin Family
Bible records of the Goodwin and Maxwell Family
Chamberlain and Morgan
Brothers Page
The Matthew Warden
Family Page


FORMS AND SOFTWARE WEBSITES;
WEB BASED SOFTWARE AND FUN & FREE WEBSITES


1790 - 1930 Census Forms; Miscellaneous forms and software
Perpetual Calendar Calculator Find the day your ancestors were born, married or died on
Birth Date Calculator
FotoTagger a free downloadable program to record identification data on people in family photos
Legacy Family Tree Free Standard Edition


GENEALOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETIES

Jefferson County Chapter, OGS
Jefferson County Historical Association and Museum
A wonderful and very large collection of the old records with much to offer researchers!
Belmont County Chapter, OGS
Brooke County Genealogy
National Genealogical Society
Ohio Genealogical Society
Ohio Historical Society
OGS of Ontario, Canada
includes Cemetery Index of Over 6,000 cemeteries transcribed


HISTORICAL INFORMATION


ENTER
The Historical Information has been moved to it's own page. Please click the "Enter" in order to view all the great information and sites.
Ohio Historical Society the complete searchable set of the Ohio History Journals
The Pathfinders of Jefferson County, Ohio Online--lots of historical information as well as family genealogical information--INDEXED
International Trading Service (ITS) Open to the Public after more than 60 years
Holocaust and Historical Researchers can examine
archives and documents from WWII at the ITS located
in Bad Arolsen, Germany


LIBRARIES

Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County
Original primary records on microfilm, includes births, deaths, marriages, early deeds, Naturalizations, Newspapers of Jefferson County, Ohio, etc. A great resource for needed documents and a wonderful staff to help.
Jefferson County Resources
Cleveland Public Library
Columbus Metropolitan Library
St. Clairsville Public Library
Oberlin Public Library
Cornell University Library Digitized County and Local Histories of Ohio
Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
Stark County Public Library
Mary H. Weir Public Library located in Weirton, West Virginia
Library Historical Newspaper Index 1785-2000
beneficial to Ohio researchers whose family members came from Virginia
Iron Range Research Center Library & Archival Facility
Library of Congress Library of Congress (LOC)

LOC Digital Resources
Morgan Library of Ohio Imprints, 1796-1850--includes many Counties in Ohio with great genealogical resources


LOST AND FOUND

Lost & Found Family Treasures
Just a Joy World's largest source of indexed family heirlooms
Lost Faces Family Photos Lost & Found


MAPS

ENTER
The Maps section has been moved to it's own page. Please click the "Enter" in order to view all the great sites.
Maps
of the Upper Ohio River and Town Maps of Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky-published in 1877. Excellent resources thanks to Mr. Moyer! Free to download and print.
Ohio
map that shows the townships in each county


NATURALIZATIONS

Jefferson County Naturalizations


NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Weirton Daily Times
Wheeling-News Register
ENTER
The Newspapers and Other Items of Interest section has been moved to it's own page. Please click the "Enter" in order to view all the great sites.
National Digital Newspapers Program (NDNP)Excellent source of an internet based, searchable database of all U. S. newspapers
Paper of Record
Digitized papers from all over and its FREE!
Wyoming Newspaper Project


OBITUARIES

Obituary Page
Random obituaries extracted from various Steubenville, Ohio newspapers
Obituaries and death notices
Free searching
RB Hayes Obituary Index Ohio obituary index
Obit Finder


OTHER WEBSITES FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY GENEALOGY

Ohio Genealogy Express
Jefferson County, Ohio. FREE genealogy records.
Digital Shoe Box
Historical Treasures of Southeastern Ohio
Arcadia Publishing History of Local and Regional areas across the United States-Great book sources with photos as well
Descendants of Bower, Easterday, Hoover and SwinehartFamilies from Colonial Maryland to Ohio in the 1800's
Old Fort Steuben


PHOTOS/POSTCARDS

USGW Penny Postcards
Photo Album
Early 1900 Jefferson Co. Post Cards
Dead Fred
Genealogy Photo Archive
The American Local History Network - Ohio
PHOTO PAGE of people, places and misc. in and around Jefferson County, Ohio






QUERIES

Jefferson County Queries

Rootsweb's Message Board  You can read & post new queries here


Archived surnames, queries, and researchers 1998 - 2009




RAILROADS/TRAINS

Railroads of Jefferson County
Railroads of Jefferson County page 2
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
Railroads of Pennsylvania


RESEARCHERS

Lookup Volunteers


SCHOOLS

1850
Steubenville Female Seminary Name Index
Old Ohio Schools
Old Schools in Jefferson County, Ohio
SCHOOLS

Old Photos of and Around Jefferson County, Ohio


SURNAMES

Surnames & Researchers
A - E Page
F - L Page
M - P Page
Q - Z Page
Index to archived Surnames, Queries & Researchers 1998 - 2009
Surname research tool; searchable library of data files
Do you have info to trade?


TOWNSHIPS


Jefferson County Cities and Towns
An archived vesion of the old WELLS Township awesome website
for Wells Township in Jefferson County, Ohio

and The new WELLS Township web-site


TRAVEL and TRANSPORTATION


19th Century in Print
Travel and Westward Expansion--this site is combined with all but still a good resource
Hudson's Bay Company (wayback version)
articles describing canoes, York boats, sailing boats and steamships


VITALS


ENTER
The Vitals have been moved to it's own page. Please click the "Enter" in order to view all the great information and sites.
OHIO death certificates 1908-1953 online
at the familysearch.org site -- free registration required
Arizona Birth and Death certificates
free and printable!


WILLS


Wills of Jefferson County, Ohio



This county is available for adoption.
Please contact the State Coordinator

Many thanks to long time former County Coordinator Danice Ryan and all of those that went before, Jan Cortez, Stephanie Ebel & Terri Menzel, for creating and maintaining this Jefferson County OHGenWeb Site 1996-2024.




To forget one's ancestors is to be
a brook without a source,
a tree without a root




THE STATE FLAG OF OHIO

First used at the Pan-American Exposition; Authorized by law May 9, 1902
The white circle represents the initial "O", thirteen stars represent the original thirteen states,
four stars in the apex of the blue field represent Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee and
Ohio--the seventeenth state admitted.



This Page Last Updated - June 2025


Jefferson County Coordinator - This County is available for adoption. Learn More

State Coordinator for the OHGenWeb Project Contact Info

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