Holmes County Ohio Genealogy

Founded: January 20, 1824

Named for: Andrew Holmes

County Seat: Millersburg

Search Free Holmes County, Ohio Genealogy and Family History Records Online including census, cemetery, vital, military and other genealogical and historical records that can be used for your family history research.

Holmes County, Ohio genealogy and family history page is a place where you can come in and research your genealogy and family history. We also do our best to provide a history of the area, to provide you with an overview of the time in which your ancestors lived.

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History

Holmes County was formed on January 20, 1824, from portions of Coshocton, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. It was named after Major Andrew Holmes, who was killed in action at the Battle of Mackinac Island.

In 1863, during the Civil War, numerous small anti-draft riots took place, mainly in the German-speaking areas. Holmes County at the time was a Democratic stronghold, dominated by its Pennsylvania Dutch settlers, along with many recent German immigrants. With the passage of the Conscription Act in March 1863, Holmes County politicians denounced both Congress and President Lincoln as despotic, saying that forced military service was little different from slavery. Conscription had been common in their former German homelands, and it was one of the reasons they had moved to America. Violent protests broke out in June, and they continued until the Union Army marched into the county and declared martial law. Stephen E. Towne in 2019 using archival records argues that many of the resisters belonged to secret organizations that opposed Union tactics to defeat the Confederacy.

In the spring of 1892, a Black man from Mt. Vernon or Wooster, Ohio, whose name remains unknown, was walking through the county. After he had been in town for a few days, a group of white people decided to lynch him because he “lingered about people’s doorsteps and angered them in various ways.” On April 1, 1892, a mob gathered after nightfall, abducted the man, and hanged him from a tree in the public square in front of the county courthouse.

In Holmes County Amish Settlements, there are several Old Order Amish affiliations. The Holmes Old Order Amish affiliation is the main and original affiliation, the Swartzentruber Amish with three subgroups, that originated in 1917 in Holmes County, are the most conservative Amish in Holmes county. There are also Andy Weaver Amish (formed 1952), Stutzman-Troyer Amish, Old Order Tobe Amish and Roman Amish on the conservative side, whereas the New Order Amish (formed in the early 1960s), the New Order Tobe Amish the New Order Amish Christian Fellowship are on the more progressive side. Holmes County is home of more Amish affiliations than any other place in the world.

Communities

Villages: Baltic (north part), Millersburg (county seat), Killbuck, Nashville (south part), Holmesville, Glenmont, Loudonville (east part), Nashville (north part).

Townships: Berlin, Clark, Hardy, Killbuck, Knox, Mechanic, Monroe, Paint, Prairie, Richland, Ripley, Salt Creek, Walnut Creek, Washington.

Census-designated places: Berlin, Lake Buckborn, Winesburg, Walnut Creek.

Unincorporated communities: Charm, Farmerstown, Unionville, Holmes County Airport, Becks Mills, Saltillo, Welcome, West Holmes High School, Stillwell, Big Prairie, Mt. Hope, Trail and Lakeville.

Holmes County Genealogy Records

Biographies	Cemetery Records	Census Records
Church Records	Cities & Towns	County Records
Family Bibles	History Topics	Military Records
Miscellaneous Data	Newspaper Data	Obituaries
School Records	Vital Records	Wills/Probate Records

Adjacent counties

Wayne County (north)
Stark County (northeast)
Tuscarawas County (southeast)
Coshocton County (south)
Knox County (southwest)
Ashland County (northwest)

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