Death records typically provide the individual’s date of death, the cause of death, residence and additional biographical information. Depending on the time period, there are different ways to access death records. In Ohio, it became a statewide law to record deaths in 1867. Each county's probate court was responsible for recording the death as a single line entry in a ledger book from 1867 to December 19, 1908. Deaths that occurred on December 20, 1908 to the present are recorded by local vital statistics offices and the Ohio Department of Health in a certificate format.
The Archives & Library holds probate court death records for some Ohio counties, but not all. We hold Ohio Department of Health death certificates from December 20, 1908 through 1970. We also hold Ohio Stillborn Death Certificates from December 20, 1908 through 1935 and 1942 through 1953, as well as Columbus Death Certificates from 1904 through 1908.
We do not hold records of deaths that occurred in 1971 to the present. Death certificates for the state of Ohio from 1971 to the present are held by the Ohio Department of Health. You can also request death certificates from the local public health department where the death occurred.
It was not required by law to keep death records in Ohio until 1867. Although the official records do not exist, you may be able to find information about these events from other sources.
Search for a death notice or obituary in the newspaper. This is a hit-or-miss proposition. Depending on the time period, the notices could be scattered throughout the newspaper. Search the Library Catalog to determine what newspapers we have available for which time periods. Visit our Newspaper Research Guide for search tips and strategies, and links to some of Ohio's popular obituary indexes. Some Ohio newspapers are freely available online and keyword searchable on Chronicling America and Ohio Memory.
If you know where the person was living and what church the family attended, you may be able to find baptismal, christening, funeral, burial or other records. Because the Archives & Library does not hold church records, it is best to contact the church or church archives directly.
For deaths occurring before 1852, check for records in the Supreme Court of Ohio or county court of common pleas, chancery section. Also review Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850: an Index by Carol Willsey Bell [R 929.3771 B413], available in the Archives & Library for research. For deaths occurring after 1852, check for records in the county probate court.
The best way to find out what records are housed in the Archives & Library is to search the Library Catalog by the county and court name (for example: Knox County Probate).
In 1867, it became a statewide law to record deaths at the probate court of the county where the death occurred. Death records were one-line entries in ledger books listing additional information such as birthplace and cause of death. Records will have space to include the deceased's parents names, but this information is dependent on the informant knowing and providing the correct information. Some records may have indexes to direct you to the volume and page number on which a person’s record can be found.
There is no statewide index to these records before December 20, 1908, so you need to know the county of death to find a record. If the county of death is not known, search the U.S. Census to identify possible counties.
The Archives & Library holds probate court death records for some Ohio counties, but not all. The best way to find out which probate court records or published indexes are available in the Archives & Library is to search the Library Catalog. For example, search: Knox County Probate Court Death.
For death records not in our collection, contact the local Probate Court or county archives to find out where the records are housed.
In the past, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints microfilmed Ohio county courthouse records, and many are available digitally on their website, www.familysearch.org. The website is free, but you will have to sign up for an account to view the original documents. You can search the collection cited below for your ancestors, but because the database is not entirely name indexed your ancestor may not appear after a search. You can browse the collection on Family Search by county using the link at the bottom of the page, Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001.
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If you have an exact place and year of death for someone who died in Ohio between 1867-December 19, 1908, you can submit an Indexed Public Records Copy Request form. The exact citation to the event should have the following:
Full legal name of the person documented by the record
Type of record being requested (for example: death)
The year that the death occurred
County or city in Ohio where the death occurred
We can research one single spelling of a name per order. It takes four to six weeks for us to process and respond to a death record request. Orders cannot be canceled or refunded once processed. Information about cost and the form for submitting a copy request is available on the Indexed Vital Records Copy Request form linked on the left side of this page.
If you know that a person died in Ohio, but you do not have the exact year of death, you can request research for a record of death during a ten-year time frame. Because there is no statewide index to Ohio deaths that happened before December 20, 1908, it is necessary to know the county or city in Ohio where the person died. The citation to the event must include the following:
Full legal name of the person documented by the record
Type of record being researched (for example: death)
Approximate year of the death (must be within a 10-year time span)
County or city in Ohio where the death happened
We can research one single spelling of a name per order. It takes four to six weeks for us to process and respond to a death record request. Orders cannot be canceled or refunded once processed. Information about cost and the form for submitting a research request is available on the Vital Records Research Request form linked on the left side of this page.
Please note: We can research Ohio stillborn death certificates up to 1935.
Deaths occurring within this time period were recorded with the Ohio Department of Health and are available through the Archives & Library.
The Ohio Death Record Index includes Ohio death record indexes from 1913–1944 and 1954–1970. Off-site researchers can use the online index to order copies of the death certificates. If the certificate you need is not in our index, you can order it online by using the online request form.
Microfilm indexes from December 20, 1908 - 1953 are available at the Archives & Library.
If you have an exact place and year of death for someone who died in Ohio between December 20, 1908 and December 31, 1970, you can submit an Ohio Death Certificate Request Form. You can also order online through the Ohio Death Record Index. The exact citation to the event should have the full legal name of the deceased, the year of death and at least one of the following:
Certificate number
Day and/or month of death
County or city in Ohio where the death occurred
Death certificates from 1908 through 1953 are sent as hard copies through the U.S. Postal Service. Certificates from 1954 through 1970 are transmitted via email.
If a death certificate order needs canceled, please contact us within 24 hours of placing the order. Orders can be edited if needed by emailing death@ohiohistory.org before processing. Orders cannot be canceled or refunded once processed.
Certified copies of death certificates can be obtained from the local Ohio county health department where the death occurred. To Apostille certified copies, contact the Ohio Secretary of State's Office. We can verify death certificate copies (stamp) for non-legal purposes (ex. DAR applications).
We can research one single spelling of a name per order. It takes two to four weeks for us to process and respond to a death certificate request. Information about cost and the form for submitting a Death Certificate request is available on the Death Certificate Request form linked on the left side of this page.
The Ohio History Connection Archives & Library does not have copies of these records.
Death certificates for the state of Ohio from 1971 to the present are held by the Ohio Department of Health. You can also request death certificates from the local public health department where the death occurred.
From 1867 to December 19, 1908 although Ohio law required deaths to be recorded, this did not always happen. A family member, the doctor, or the tax assessor was responsible for reporting the death, and sometimes this didn’t happen, especially if the family lived far from the court.
If you can’t find a person’s name in the index, that doesn’t mean that his/her record will not be in the actual record book. If you have a general idea of the year in which the person died, you may consider reviewing all of the records from that year or group of years.
If an entry is incorrect in the index, please send corrected information to death@ohiohistory.org. Death certificate corrections can be made by submitting a notarized affidavit to the State Archives office. You can download a copy of the affidavit here [.docx format].
If we cannot find a death record or certificate for someone who died in Ohio, you should consider contacting the county probate court or health department where the individual was at the time of death.