Resources
Randolph County was organized in 1818 from the north side of Wayne County.
Many official records were started at that time, hand written in large ledger books.
Some have been recopied or indexed at a later time, but not all are
indexed.
There is no master index for them.
It is sometimes necessary to look in several books to find the
information on one person.
Because of the heavy workload of the various clerks, it is
impossible for them to know what is in all the early books.
Please remember to include a self-addressed stamped envelope, and as
much information as possible if you request copies or a look up.
Copies from the clerk's office are usually $1.00 per page. Birth
certificates are $5.00 and Death certificates are $6.00 from the Randolph
County Health Department. Request Forms are available at the Historical Museum.
Before visiting or requesting look-ups from the following
departments, please call or write to verify hours of operation or any fees.
Randolph County Health Department
325 South Oak
Street
Winchester, IN
47394
Phone: (765)
584-1155
Fax: (765)
584-3287
Hours:
Monday-Friday 8:00 - 4:00 *closed 12:00-1:00 for Lunch
Birth and Death records were not kept in Indiana before 1882. They
were not mandatory for some time after that, so there are many that did not get
recorded at all. There was NO indexing done in Randolph County by the WPA
program. The birth and death records have been indexed for use in the Health
Department. They have not been published for libraries as yet. Each book is
indexed separately. There is no master index. In about 1908 the birth and death
certificates were sent to the State Board of Health, after they were recorded
locally.
Please visit the State Health Department Web
Site for more information on requesting birth or death records.
Randolph County Recorder's Office
Winchester
Courthouse -- First Floor
100 South Main
Street
Winchester, IN
47394
Phone: (765)
584-7300
Hours:
Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00
Early land records, including patent deeds starting from 1818 are
located here. Books contain plat maps for the towns and cemeteries as they were
recorded. Miscellaneous records, cemetery deeds, military discharges, church
and organization incorporations, etc. were recorded. Early black settlers, who
had been born free in the south, recorded some "freedom papers".
These are not in the indexes, but found in the deed books. Newspapers have been
kept since 1876 and are on microfilm for use. There is no index to the papers,
except for the first roll of film covering 1876-1880.
Randolph County Auditor's Office
Winchester Court
House -- First Floor
100 South Main
Street
Winchester, IN
47394
Phone: (765)
584-6700
Hours:
Monday-Friday 8:00-4:00
Across from the Recorder's office, also on the first floor of the
Courthouse, in the Auditor's Office are the transfer records, original entry
books, tract records and the commissioner's meeting records.
Please keep in mind that many of the old books are now in storage,
some in the basement.
Randolph County Clerk's Office
Winchester
Courthouse -- Third Floor
100 South Main
Street
Winchester, IN
47394
Phone: (765)
584-7407
Hours: Monday-Friday
8:00-4:00
The Clerk's Office has the following records from 1819, Marriage
Records, Wills, Probate Settlements, Common Pleas, Civil Court and Criminal
Records, Guardianships etc.
The books containing Naturalizations have been moved to the State
Archives.
Randolph County Public Libraries
Libraries are located in Winchester, Union City, Lynn, Farmland and
Ridgeville. Each has some local history and genealogy records. Winchester and
Union City have microfilm of newspapers and census records. All the libraries
have copies of the published history books from 1882 and the new one 1818-1990,
as well as many other reference materials. Cemetery Records are also in the
libraries.
Farmland Public Library
116 South Main
Street
P.O. Box 189
Farmland, IN
47340
Phone: (765)
468-7292
Fax: (765)
468-7383
Hours: Monday 9:00-12:00, Tuesday &
Thursday 1:00- 7:00, Saturday 9:00-1:00
Ridgeville Public Library
308 North Walnut
Street
P.O. Box 63
Ridgeville, IN
47380
Phone: (765)
857-2025
Fax: (765)
857-2025
Email: jhotmire@jayco.net
Hours: Tuesday
12:30-8:00, Wednesday 1:00-5:00, Thursday 12:30-7:00
The Library in Ridgeville has various resources for Franklin Township and Randolph County History. The Collection includes Family Histories, Cemetery Records, and Microfilm for all the Ridgeville Newspapers. A Copy Machine is available. The price for copies is 10 cents a sheet. Washington Township Public Library
(Lynn) 107 North Main
Street P.O. Box 127 Lynn, IN 47355 Phone: (765)
874-1488 Fax: (765)
874-1427 Hours:
Monday-Friday 12:00-5:00 The Library in Lynn has various resources for Randolph County
History. Family Histories, Cemetery Records, History for Washington Township, History
for Greenfork Township and copies of the published History books. They also have a section for Ohio Records. No microfilm is
available. Many of the resources are available in Large Print format. Copies
are 15 cents each. Winchester Community Public Library 125 North East
Street Winchester, IN
47394 Phone: (765)
584-4824 Fax: (765)
584-3624 Email: wincomlib@yahoo.com Hours:
Monday-Thursday 9:00-8:00, Friday & Saturday 9:00-5:00 Winchester Library will do look-ups; there is a Minimum Search Fee
of $5.00 for a few copies. Please call for details. Click here for a Complete List of
Resources available. Union City Library 408 North
Columbia Street Union City, IN
47390 Phone (765)
964-4748 Fax (765)
964-4748 Hours: Monday,
Tuesday & Thursday 12:00-8:00, Friday 12:00-6:00, Saturday 10:00-3:00 Union City Library has collections of obituaries and newspaper
abstracts, some Ohio records for nearby counties, newsletters and some
quarterly magazines, etc. Randolph County Historical Society
& Museum 416 South
Meridian Street Winchester, IN
47394 Phone: (765)
584-1334 Email: rchsin@insightbb.com Hours:
Monday-Friday 10:00-4:00 *closed 12:00-1:30 for Lunch The Genealogical Society's collection of family histories and other
records are kept in the Randolph County Historical Museum. In the collection of records are many books containing information
on Randolph and surrounding counties and states. Plat map books showing
landowners and towns from 1865, 1874, and 1909 as well as more current maps,
Abstracts of newspapers and courthouse books, military records. Indexes for
Marriage records, birth, death and Probate Records are also available. Many of the cemeteries have been totally destroyed through the
years, but interested persons have gone into the existing cemeteries and read
all the stones possible. Volunteers have done some repair work. Many photos
have been taken and added to the records. These are at this time, filed by
township and available for researchers to use. In some cases maps are added to
the records. Obituaries and death records are also used to add information to
the cemetery records. For information on other books and resources available,
write to the Historical Society at the above address. Don't
forget to check out these pages for additional resources. Randolph County Histories in Microfilm
& Microfiche Randolph County
Look Up Volunteers Randolph
County Books For Sale Randolph County
Surnames & Researchers Randolph
County Family Links Page This page last
modified -- Sunday, 14-Mar-2010 19:12:13 MDT
The Ridgeville Kitselman Museum compiled and donated to the library by Wayne Norton is located inside. The Library is accepting donations for the Museum & their Genealogy Collection. If you have any items you would like to donate please contact Barbara Hotmire .
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