Jefferson County Chapter, OGS Archives and Research Center
Visit Location
501 Fifth Street
Stratton, Ohio 43961
 Mailing Address
P.O. Box 2367
Wintersville, OH 43953
Email: jeffersoncounty1@att.net
Office Phone: 740-346-2820

Preserving Ohio’s Local Government Records: Why it Matters to You Records Project Progress Photos

Old Jefferson County courthouse records were stored in the basement and in the annex/jail cells for many years. Some of the records date back to the formation of our county, in 1797 and later the formation of the state of Ohio in 1802. They tell the stories of the early pioneers in the County, as well as the tens of thousands of later immigrants who came to work in the mills and mines.

These records have been slowly deteriorating, and there was a fear that if something wasn’t done quickly, soon they would be lost forever. Some were placed in wet basements and others in dry hot storage spaces and yet others in outside storage sheds, exposed to all types of weather extremes. Some sat on metal shelves, while others sat in cardboard boxes or on the floor. The records were not easily accessible to genealogists and some records were never revealed for public access or researchers. Our archive and research center was created in the fall of 2009 due to a need to preserve county records.

In 2002, JCCOGS began working with the County Probate and Common Pleas judges, culminating with their approval in 2009 for the Chapter to take possession of the records on a permanent loan basis.

Our chapter members stepped up and a chapter member offered her office to our chapter to house and archive the valuable records in November of 2009. Now the work begins of sorting the records, indexing the records, digitizing the records and finally and opening our archives to the public for research purposes.

The Jefferson County Chapter, OGS archive and research center is a must for genealogical research. Our archive will consist of many valuable genealogical materials in their original state. Various collections have been donated and we will continue to accept all donations of family histories, bible records, maps, journals, church records, cemetery records, local histories, yearbooks, directories, veterans/military records, and much more - too many to list in this format. We gratefully accept material on Columbiana County.

While we will be open to researchers with volunteers available to assist, we will offer a mail and email queries for researcher and for copies of documents. Our vast indexing program will allow us to provide information for historians and researchers.

Our chapter and archive will depend upon memberships, donations, research requests and copying fees to operate the center. Many office supplies will be needed and most importantly, money, through donations will be needed to purchase a copy machine, a high quality scanner and printer. We will continue to need donations for various archival materials to store and organize all the ledgers, probate packets, and various loose papers that have been given to us from the various county courthouse records.

Please check back here to see when we will be open for business to researchers. We are now operating out of boxes and organizing materials to prepare for digitizing these records.

JCCOGS's mailing address is PO Box 2367, Wintersville, OH 43953.