Death Records

No death records were maintained by the county prior to 1867.

1867 Through 19 December 1908

County level death records were maintained by the Warren County Probate Court and can found found in Registers located in the Edna L. Bowyer Warren County Ohio Record Center & Archives. I believe that the Probate Court Registers were generated from information submitted by the various Township Assessors.

December 20, 1908 to Date

Starting December 20, 1908, official state level death certificate were required. These were issued by the Warren County Health Department with a copy sent to The Division of Vital Statistics of the Ohio Department of Health.

The Records from 20 Dec 1908 through 31 Dec 1952 were archived at the Ohio Historical Society. The Ohio Heath Department continues to hold the records from 1 Jan 1953 to the present. Copies of the Ohio Historical Society microfilms are also available at the Cincinnati Public Library and the Akron Public Library and maybe elsewhere.

Obtaining Copies of Death Certificates

As of 1 Jul 2003, the state and county health departments stopped providing uncertified copies of death certificates.

• Certified copies from 1 Jan 1955 to present can be ordered from the Ohio Department of Health for $16.50 [price as of 1 Oct 2005]
• Certified copies from 20 Dec 1908 to date can be obtained from the Warren County Health Department.
• Uncertified copies are still available from the Ohio Historical Society for records from 20 Dec 1908 to 31 Dec 1952 using their on-line form. As of 4 Jun 2006 their website indicates the fee is $7. If you visit the Society in Columbus, you can view [and print] a copy of the certificates yourself in their microfilm room.
• The microfilms of the death certificate through 31 Dec 1952 have also been acquired by at least two libraries - Cincinnati & Akron.
• Images of Ohio Death Certificates from 1908 through 1953 are available on line at Pilot Family Search site.

Researching Death Records

• The Death Registers from 1867 to 1908 are available for public inspection at the Edna L. Bowyer Warren County Ohio Record Center & Archives. Copies are $0.15 each.
• The Ohio Department of Health Search Policy indicates that they will search a ten year period for a given surname for $3.
• The Ohio Historical Society Research Policy indicates that they will search for one name in two of their indexes (which you specify) for $25 as of 4 Jun 2006.

Publications

Transcriptions of Death Records have been completed by the Warren County Genealogical Society [WCGS] and Cardinal Research [CARD]. All of these publications can be purchased from the Warren County Genealogical Society. The Genealogical Society has also put the indexes to a number of these publications on line.

PUBLICATION	PUBLISHER	ON LINE INDEX
Deaths 1850 &1860 Mortality Indexes	CARD	1850 & 1860
Death Book #1, 1867-1881	CARD	Index
Death Book #2, 1881-1904	CARD	Index
Death Book #3, 1905-1908	CARD	Index
Warren County Assessors Records Book 1 - Deaths 1886-1907	WCGS	Index
Warren County Death Records, 1909 - 1915	WCGS	Index
Warren County Death Records, 1916 - 1920	WCGS	Index
Warren County Death Records, 1921 - 1925	WCGS	Index
Warren County Death Records, 1926-1930	WCGS	Index
Miami Valley, Ohio Deaths, 1930 - 1977, Gathered by Ina Dearth	WCGS
Oswald Funeral Home Records, Lebanon, Ohio Recorded by Chester Dunn, Vol 1. 1867-1890	WCGS
Oswald Funeral Home Records, Lebanon, Ohio Recorded by Chester Dunn, Vol 2. 1890-1907	WCGS

Other On-Line Indexes

• The Ohio Historical Society
  • provides a searchable database of Ohio Death Certificates 1913 to 1944. You may order a copy for a fee
  • Microfilm indexes are available at the The Ohio Histoical Society for all years from 1909 to 1953.
    
• Ancestry.com [paid site] subscribers can access the Ohio Deaths 1958 - 2002. This database, with over 3.1 million names, lists those who passed away between 1958 and 2002 in the state of Ohio. In addition to providing the name of the deceased the index also provides information such as place of residence, location at time of death, death date, age at time of death, birth date, race, educational level, and father's name. Note: Each entry may not provide ALL of this information.
  
• Free images of Ohio Death Certificates from 20 Dec 1908 through 1953
  see https://beta.familysearch.org/
  
• Free access to the so called "Social Security Death Index" is on line at a number of place on the interenet to include Ancestery.com, Family Search, Family Tree Maker, New England Historical Genealogical Society, Rootsweb, and others.

Transcriptions

• "Joy and Sorrow; The Births and Deaths of Warren County during the past year [by township]" f rom the 20 Jun 1895 Western Star
• "Births and Deaths for the Past Year [by township]" f rom the 20 Jun 1901 Western Star

We would be happy to add your images or transcriptions of Death Certificates to the following list.
You can paste this FORM into an email to transcibe the data or email in your own format if you already have it typed up.

This page created 31 August 2003 and last updated 23 March, 2015
© 2003-2008 Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved