Tiffin Seneca Public Library

When searching in a particular locality for me the first place to start your genealogical research is at the main library in the county. The place to start in Seneca Co., OH is at the public library in Tiffin. I was surprised to learn about all the records that they had available and the amount that was located here.

The genealogy and local history area has a variety or records. One of the most extensive parts of the collection is the records related to churches and cemeteries. The records of 29 different churches are microfilmed in their collection. A lot of these records were compiled by the WPA back in the 1930's. The cemetery records consist of a name index that primarily tells where a person is buried in the county with out any real dates. Currently they have only five cemeteries on microfilm that includes all the information. (Fountain, Liberty and Pleasant Twp., Greenlawn, St. Mary's and St Josephs.

The military records are unique and have coverage of several wars. Rosters are kept in the collection from the Civil War, WWI, and WWII. The Civil War rosters they have are complete for the county and are all on microfilm. A unique item is the picture collection that includes many of the people from the area that served during WWI and WWII. This includes events put on and many individual pictures. A microfilm copy also exists of the discharge papers for soldiers from the county.

The newspaper collection includes those in the city of Tiffin and the county as a whole. The obituary index is indexed in a card file. Another interesting item is microfilm of two German Newspapers that were published in the county. Many of the obituary records are in the process of being included in the Hayes collection in Fremont that I have mentioned on several occasions.

If your ancestor came to Seneca Co. early his name may be found in the original land entries of the county. The collection also has two key map books that were published in 1874 and 1896 that show the location where people lived in the county.

The vital records collection is all on microfilm. The records include birth records 1867 -1908, marriage records 1841-1899, 1899-1930 and 1957-1977, death records 1867-1908 and wills 1851-1900. The census collection includes all the years from 1830 to 1930. They also have a fine collection of rural directories.

The library is located at the following.

77 Jefferson Street
Tiffin, OH 44883
419-447-3045

This is a outstanding collection of records related to Seneca Co., OH. It is well worth the trip.