Adoption involves the transfer of all rights and responsibilities of parenting from the biological parents to another individual(s). Adoptions are governed by state law. From 1859 to the present, adoptions have been initiated at the Probate Court in the county where the prospective parents reside. Lists of laws and Ohio Revised Code associated with adoption in the state of Ohio are available on the Franklin County Law Library Child Adoption Law in Ohio research guide.
Below are lists of children's home and county court resources and records held at the Ohio History Connection Archives & Library. Many resources are library materials published by local genealogical societies to guide adoption research. Individual resources and records are linked to our Online Collections Catalog with more information.
Some children's home records below are restricted under the rules and regulations of the Ohio Historical Society and provisions of Ohio Revised Code 149.43. Researchers wishing to use these records should contact the reference archivist.
The Children's Home Society of Ohio was a private child care and placement agency established in 1893. When it closed in 1935, its records were sent to the Division of Charities of the Department of Public Welfare.
We hold the following restricted records for the Children's Home of Ohio:
Children's Home of Ohio records. 1893-1926. [State Archives Series 4382]
Children's register. 1893-1936. [State Archives Series 2853]
Family register. 1893-1936. [State Archives Series 1517]
Final settlement register, 1894-1937. [State Archives Series 2852]
The following records are not restricted and are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Photographs of children [graphic]. 1913-1921 [State Archives Series 711 AV]
The Florence Crittenton Services of Columbus, Ohio provided shelter and care for unwed mothers and their children.
We hold the Florence Crittention Services of Columbus, Ohio records. 1908-1940 [MSS 481]. A collection finding aid is available on Ohio Memory. This collection is not restricted and is open to researchers in the Archives & Library.
Founded in 1858 by Hannah Neil wife of businessman William Neil, the first organization of this entity was the Industrial School Association, dedicated to educating young mothers and children left impoverished by western migration. In honor of Hannah Neil after her death in March 1868, the school incorporated itself under the name Hannah Neil Mission and Home of the Friendless and moved into their new quarters on Main Street in April 1868. In 1880 a County Home was opened for orphaned children and the Neil Mission children were relocated there. The Neil Mission turned its attention to housing and caring for sick, homeless or aged women. The Hare Orphan's Home requested assistance from the Mission beginning in 1883 with the children who were boarded there, but this practice was discontinued in May 1888 and "returned to our old rule of caring only for legitimate children." The County Home did not accept children under the age of two and with a large gift from Mr. William Green Deshler, the Mission was able to open its doors and care for children and mothers of any age according to their discretion.
We hold the following restricted records for the Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc.:
Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc. Records, Series II, Restricted Records, 1868-1960. [MSS 455]
The following records are not restricted and are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc. Records, Series I, Institutional Records, 1866-1983. [MSS 455]
Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc. records, Series I, Sub-series I, Financial Records, 1866-1974. [MSS 455]
Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc. Records, Series I, Sub-series II, Meeting Minutes, 1868-1972. [MSS 455]
Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc. Records, Series I, Sub-series III, Miscellaneous Records, 1898-1983. [MSS 455]
Hannah Neil Home for Children, Inc. Records, Series III, Scrapbooks, 1936-1974. [MSS 455]
The Hare Orphans' Home was established by ordinance on January 28, 1867. The orphans' home was the result of a merger between council's assets from Jacob Hare's estate and certain assets and property from a local religious benevolent society. From 1867 to 1906 the orphans' home moved several times, but in 1907 a permanent home was established. In 1919 the administration of the home was reorganized to include a board of trustees composed of three members of city council. In 1867 all authority and financial affairs were consolidated under the Columbus City Council.
We hold the Hare Orphans' Home (Columbus, Ohio) Records. 1801-1992 [State Archives Series 5047]. Boxes 2322, 2323, 3438, and GRVF 36/15 are restricted. Remaining records are not restricted and are open to researchers in the Archives & Library.
The Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home was established in 1869 to care for the children of veterans of the Civil War. The school, cottages, and other buildings were built just south of Xenia. The Home was renamed the Ohio Veteran's Children's Home in 1978. From the 1970s onward the Home served more as a treatment center than an orphanage. The State closed the Home in 1995.
We hold the following restricted records for the the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home/Ohio Veteran's Children's Home:
Agendas and attachments to minutes, 1984-1987. [State Archives Series 4621]
Minutes, 1893-1995. [State Archives Series 4608]
The following records are not restricted and are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Annual reports, 1930-1977. [State Archives Series 4617]
Auditor's reports, 1963-1995. [State Archives Series 4618]
Certificates of authorization, 1941-1961. [State Archives Series 4619]
Directive manuals, 1993-1995. [State Archives Series 4616]
Employee time ledger, 1933-1943. [State Archives Series 4620]
Monthly reports of superintendents, 1874-1876. [State Archives Series 1520]
The following Athens County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Register of inmates [microform], 1882-1911. [State Archives Series 3160]
The following Belmont County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Registers [microform], 1880-1947. [State Archives Series 3182]
The following Brown County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Journal [microform], 1885-1935. [State Archives Series 3201]
Record of indentures [microform], 1886-1921. [State Archives Series 3199]
Register of inmates [microform], 1885-1924. [State Archives Series 3200]
The following Children's Home Association of Butler County records are open to researchers who sign the Ohio History Connection's confidentiality agreement:
Children's Home Association of Butler County (Ohio) Records. ca. 1880-1985 [MSS 1065]
The following Champaign County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Record of inmates [microform], 1892-1910. [State Archives Series 5344]
The following Clark County Children's Home resources and records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Clark County (Ohio). Children's Home. Annual report. [362.73 C547r]
Record of inmates [microform], 1878-1917. [State Archives Series 6684]
The following Clinton County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Admittance and indenture records [microform], 1884-1926. [State Archives Series 5376]
The following Darke County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Records of admittance and indenture [microform], 1889-1915. [State Archives Series 5452]
Records of inmates [microform], 1889-1915. [State Archives Series 5453]
The following Erie County Children's Home resources and records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Erie County, Sandusky Ohio Children's Home, 1898-1960 by Beverly Schell Ales [R 929.377122 AL25e 2014]
Child Welfare Board of Trustees, Minutes. 1945-1958 [State Archives Series 7634]
The following Gallia County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Childrens' home reports, 1882-1894. [State Archives Series 7301]
Registers [microform], 1885-1942. [State Archives Series 5480]
The following Greene County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Indenture records [microform], 1896-1910, 1912-1919. [State Archives Series 5516]
Inmates records [microform], 1904-1924. [State Archives Series 5517]
The following Hocking County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Childrens' home record [microform], 1871-1920. [State Archives Series 6814]
The following Lawrence County Children's Home resources and records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Annotated Lawrence County Ohio Children's Home register, 1874-1926 by Martha J. Kounse. [R 929. 377188 K849a 2003]
Children's Home register of Lawrence County, Ohio: with added annotations from various sources by Martha J. Kounse. [929.377188 K849c 2000]
Register [microform], 1874-1931. [State Archives Series 5720]
The following Logan County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Record of inmates [microform], 1886-1934. [State Archives Series 5747]
The following Miami County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Record of indentures [microform], 1880-1904. [State Archives Series 5816]
Record of inmates [microform], 1879-1939. [State Archives Series 5817]
The following Montgomery County Children's Home resources and records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
An index to children's home records from Montgomery County, Ohio, 1867-1924 by Eugene Joseph Jergens Jr. [R 929.377172 J476i 1988]
Report on the Montgomery County Children's Home [362.73 M767d]
Death records [microform], 1877-1924. [State Archives Series 5858]
Indentures [microform], 1867-1908. [State Archives Series 5859]
List of Children in Home, 1880. [State Archives Series 6622]
Minutes of trustees [microform], 1867-1917. [State Archives Series 5861]
Record of inmates [microform], 1867-1912. [State Archives Series 5860]
The following Perry County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
History [microform], 1885-1927. [State Archives Series 5936]
Journal [microform], 1885-1921. [State Archives Series 5937]
Registers [microform], 1885-1918. [State Archives Series 5938]
The following Pickaway County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Children's home admittance records, 1906-1923. [State Archives Series 3593]
The following Pike County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Registers [microform], 1882-1957, 1967-1970. [State Archives Series 5969]
The following Preble County Children's Home resources and records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
The Preble County Children's Home records, 1882-1900 by Joan Bake Brubaker [R 929.377171 B83pc 1989]
Record of inmates [microform], 1884-1946. [State Archives Series 6003]
The following Shelby County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Record of inmates [microform], 1897-1910. [State Archives Series 6104]
Trustees minutes [microform], 1896-1921. [State Archives Series 6105]
The following Union County Children's Home records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Administrative files, 1937-1977. [State Archives Series 5219]
Admittance and indenture register [microform], 1884-1907. [State Archives Series 5215]
Minutes, 1884-1907. [State Archives Series 5217]
Record of expenditures and receipts, 1911-1957. [State Archives Series 5216]
The following Warren County Children's Home resources and records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Record of inmates [microform], 1874-1952. [State Archives Series 6206]
Trustees' minutes [microform], 1874-1926. [State Archives Series 6207]
The following Allen County Probate Court records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Journal [microform], 1866-1918. [State Archives Series 6838]
The following Delaware County Probate Court records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Civil docket, 1871-1878. [State Archives Series 4959]
The following Franklin County resources and Probate Court records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Franklin County, Ohio adoptions, 1852-1901 compiled by W. Louis Phillips [R 929.377156 F854 1988]
Complete record [microform]. 1852-1955. [State Archives Series 3810]
Confirmation of accounts. [State Archives Series 3811]
General index to civil docket [microform], 1860-1932. [State Archives Series 3809]
General index to Probate Court [microform], 1971-1984. [State Archives Series 3821]
Journal [microform], 1852-1967. (Order book, 1852- May 1879) [State Archives Series 3829]
The following Tuscarawas County Probate Court records are open to researchers in the Archives & Library:
Journal [microform], 1852-1969. [State Archives Series 6188]
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