Centennial Families of Defiance County

 If your family has lived in Defiance County for 100 years or more, we invite you to apply for a Centennial Families designation to honor them.  It's easy to apply; details follow.

These citizens have already been so named and their certificate awarded to the descendant/ researcher who applied:

Ayers, Elicum

Bayes, Catherine Holey

Bayes, Howard Leroy "Roy" and Sarah Ellen "Ella" Fickle Bayes

Bayes, Thomas

Bayes, William P.

Burgbacher, John W. and Louise Vollmer

Burgbacher, John and Catherine Hornish

Burgbacher, Herman F.

Burgbacher, Harold and Clara C. Hoch

Childs, George

Deckrosh, Christian

Dreher, Carrie E.

Durfey, Maria Iona Miller

Gorman, Bernard John

Gorman, Edmund Benedict and Eliza J. Carney

Gorman, Michael

Gorman Sophia Hovestadt

Gusler, David and Susannah

Helfrick, John

Himes, William Marion

Kistner, Jacob and John George

Kniss, John

Kurtz, Jacob

Kurtz, Louisa

Long, John Thomas

Mason, George Childs

Miller, Jacob C. and Louisa Heller Miller

Miller, Jacob and Vernia Walter Miller

NIcely, Effie

Nolan, John

Pask, Joseph George

Polter, August and Wilhelmina

Sanford, Samuel R. and Annzonetta M. "Nettie" Spencer

Scranton, James A.

Scranton, Ward E.

Smith, Anthony Bennett

Smith, John B.

Smith, Stanley Robert

Stuckman, Isaac

Swartz, Lewis/Louis

Todd, Edward and Frances

Toenjes, Henry John

Veith, Carl A.

Walter, Jacob and Vernia Walter Miller

Walter, John

Walters, Goldie Lovejoy

Walters, John and Orpha Gusler Walters

Walters, Nicholas and Elizabeth Margaret Roth Walters

Walters, Perry "Roy" and Carrie Polter Walters

Wilhelm, Harrison Henry

Wilhelm, Henry

Wilhelm, Walter and Frances

The Centennial Family designation honors those who were in Defiance County one hundred or more years ago from the present date.  

To apply:

1. Fill out the application form found on our website.

https://www.defiancecountygenealogy.org/centennial.html

2. Only Defiance County Genealogical members may apply.  Join our society!

Application at 

https://www.defiancecountygenealogy.org/join.html

3. Explain your connection to this family by blood or marriage, or if unrelated, present some of your research.

4. Send a copy of a document that proves the person or family has lived in Defiance County for 100 years from the present date.

When approved a Centennial Families certificate will be presented or sent to you, honoring your ancestor, and that person will be added to the Centennial Family roll.

Membership Drive

     The newsletter will be coming out very soon!
Don't miss out!

 We welcome you to join the

Defiance County chapter

of the

Ohio Genealogical Society

•  Membership is only $12 a year (single) or $15 (family) 

Members receive our newsletter quarterly - "Yesteryear's Trails."   It can be emailed at no extra cost or for $5, one can received a print copy through the mail.

Members may submit surnames being researched for publication in the newsletter, perhaps leading to someone else who is studying the same family.

Members may submit their own family history queries to the newsletter and online.

Enjoy informative meetings and discussions with folks who are interested in not only genealogy, but history, as well.  Part of understanding our ancestors is knowing about the time period in which they lived.

• Meetings are held monthly, except for August and December, at the St. John United Church of Christ, Webster Street, Defiance - adjacent to the Defiance College campus.  

Meetings are on the fourth Monday of the month at 7 p.m.  

 

For a membership application, look HERE.

**Membership allows one to apply for special recognitions for the family, if criteria are met.

 If your family came early to Defiance County, membership allows one to apply for First Family status.
 If you can prove your direct ancestor was here before January of 1846 you can join as a Pioneer member.
If you can prove your direct ancestor was here 1846 - December 1860 you can join as a Settler member.
For a First Family application, look HERE.

If your family has been in Defiance for at least 100 years, membership allows you to apply for Centennial Family status.
For a Centennial Family application, look HERE.

If your family has someone who served in the Civil War from Defiance, membership allows you to apply for a Civil War Certificate for that individual.

Defiance County Birth Records, 1867 - 1908, Second Edition Ready!

A NEW 5 volume set of Defiance County Birth Records has been completed and is ready for sale.  Originally, the birth records (1867 - 1908) were read by Fayne Harter back in the 1970s and the books were produced then. 

In the new volumes, we have made corrections where noted, alphabetized correctly, and added over 1100 new birth records discovered at the Defiance County Records Center.  

The book will contain Surname, Given Name, Place of Birth (not always Defiance County!), Parents' Names and the Location of the Record.  The location might be BR (Birth Records books) or F (File) and/or C (Case).  

This location should be given when asking for a record from the Records Center because it is the finding aid for the staff.

Are there still errors?  It's very likely.  Spelling was often done by phonics and we have left the spellings as they were, for the most part.  So a researcher must be creative in searching for a name that could be spelled various ways.  

 This is an INDEX. It is VERY important that a researcher order the record and make his or her own decisions on transcriptions.  It was not easy to decipher some of the handwriting of the day.  Someone familiar with the family may be able to make a more correct decision on the information on the record.  Also, there probably will be additional information on the record NOT included in the index.

Ordering a record from the Records Center is very easy and inexpensive or, in some cases, free.  See instructions 
HERE.




The books vary in size, hence the prices vary a little.  The price already includes
tax and shipping.
The order form may be found HERE and printed for mailing.

The volumes are divided by the first letter of the SURNAME.

Volume A - D - $40

Volume E - I - $40

Volume J - M - $40

Volume N - SL - $35

Volume SM - Z - $35 

Orders may be sent to:

Defiance County Genealogical Society 
PO Box 7006
Defiance, Ohio 43512 


Checks may be made out to DCGS or Defiance County Genealogical Society.