Many Ohio counties have independent historical societies, but only about 17 of Ohio’s 88 counties have Archives departments, according to Ohio History Connection. Montgomery, Warren, Butler, and Clinton counties also have Archives departments. Between 2,200 and 2,500 people access the Greene County Archives annually, searching for wills, estates, tax records, divorce decrees and maps. Many visitors are conducting genealogical research, tracing their family history through the county. More and more people have come to the Archives in the wake of the pandemic, Heise said.

Probate Court documents, which are typically the most useful for genealogical research, start in 1806 and run through the present. Over the last six months, Archives staff have been working to implement the online catalogue ArchivesSpace and the electronic record preservation system Preservica to make records more accessible online.

Black Americans face particular hurdles in studying their genealogy because of slavery. Very few records date back before the Civil War. However, Greene County has one of the few records that document the arrival of Black Americans in the region. A ledger called The Emancipation Record of Free Blacks is one of the rarest such documents in the state of Ohio.

Greene County archivists found United States demand notes, or “Greenbacks,” some of the earliest paper currency printed in the United States, in the records of Greenewood Manor after the retirement home closed last year. MARSHALL GORBY\STAFF

Greene County archivists found United…