Ohio Genealogical Society

The Ohio Genealogical Society is the largest state genealogical society in the United States, located right here in the heart of Richland County. Our mission is to protect and share Ohio’s family history resources, develop engaging educational opportunities, and connect family historians and genealogists. Your financial support of the Ohio Genealogical Society ensures that important historical and genealogical material will be accessible for future family historians and genealogists as they explore their own Ohio roots. Newcomers and experts alike are welcome to use our resources, make connections, and find the records that bring their personal past alive.

The OGS Samuel D. Isaly Library is located just north of Bellville, Ohio at 611 SR 97 W (just off I-71) and we welcome patrons Tuesday through Saturday, from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information about visiting the library, visit our website -- www.ogs.org -- and check out the links to our many county chapters throughout Ohio. We would greatly appreciate your financial support and we look forward to serving our local community and stakeholders.

SAMUEL D. ISALY RESEARCH LIBRARY - Over 70,000 volumes, both family and local history, available to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 9 to 5.

DIGITAL LIBRARY - With all Ohio's county histories, manuscripts and early Ohio resources, our organization's periodicals going back to 1959, and submissions by our 92 county chapters.

LYLE H. WEST ARCHIVES - Temperature/humidity controlled facility within the library includes family history collections, original Bibles, courthouse case packets, newspapers, lineage society applications, rare books, and more.

YEARBOOK COLLECTION - We have THOUSANDS Ohio high school yearbooks, the largest collection in one location, with local Richland County volumes going back to 1900 from many schools!

COURT RECORDS - We are the source for naturalizations, tax lists, commissioner's journals, marriages, common pleas case files, and much more concerning Ohio's earliest pioneers.

PHOTOGRAPHS - We hold the Whissemore Collection, nearly 1,000 identified photographs of Richland County pioneers taken in 1876; and the Ohio Photograph Collection which includes identified images sorted by family name and by community.

LINEAGE PAPERS - First Families of Ohio, the Society of Civil War Families of Ohio, Settlers and Builders of Ohio, Century Families of Ohio, the Ohio Mayflower Society, Ohio Sons of the War of 1812, Ohio Daughters of 1812, and other patriotic groups keep their lineage applications in our archives.

SOCIAL MEDIA - We offer everything from the latest genealogical news to family research advice to connections with county contacts to images of archival materials. Our web site, blog, Facebook, and Twitter feed are being used by genealogists on a daily basis. Check all the links to these services - box at bottom left - www.ogs.org

EDUCATION - The library and society offer free classes and affordable workshops and conferences on family history. This includes many classes in the library, monthly lectures hosted in each Ohio county by our chapters, an annual conference in the spring and a fall seminar, cemetery preservation workshops, and much more.

PUBLICATIONS - With over 2,000 publications in print, OGS and its chapters are at the forefront of records preservation and dissemination in Ohio. Genealogical research is so much easier today because of the work done by our thousands of members. Everything from an Ohio marriage index to photographs of cemetery tombstones may be accessed from our library, and in many cases, from your home computer.

PLEASE CONSIDER A GIFT TO THE OHIO GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY THROUGH RICHLAND GIVES. 

WE ONLY EXIST BECAUSE OF YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!