The Ancestor Hunt regularly adds and updates new collection links, as well as searches for and fixes broken links.
(This page's most recent update is October 2024)
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The Ancestor Hunt has been cataloging and listing links to free online genealogy collections in over 24 different record categories since 2014. These are available for you to view and use via the Resources tab above.
There is a massive amount of genealogy and historical material that can help us researchers as we discover who belongs in our family tree, and more importantly, what is their life story. But much of this genealogical and historical material doesn’t fit nicely into a specific genealogy record category.
As researchers, we should avail ourselves of the types of materials listed below. They definitely will help us in our genealogy and family history research These online resources are available generally at state libraries and archives, larger public libraries, and college and university digital collections. Hence the creation of these lists of links to free online digital archives for the state. I hope they prove useful to you in your pursuit.
Types of Information Available in Digital Archives
- Scrapbooks
- Diaries
- Family Papers, Biographies, and Other Collections
- Letters
- Oral Histories
- Maps
- Bulletins and Newsletters
- Corporate Collections
- Local Community and County Histories
- Photographs and Postcards
- Rare Books and Manuscripts
- Government Publications and Documents
- And yes, Genealogy Record Collections and Indexes
The Free Online Digital Archives for the state are listed below:
Ohio Archives
- Access Genealogy – Ohio
- Akron-Summit County Public Library Archival Collections
- Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
- American History & Genealogy Project – Ohio
- Ancestry Free Index Collections
- Antioch College Digital Collections
- Archbold Community Library
- Ashland University Digital Collections
- Ashtabula Public Library
- Athens County Public Libraries
- Baldwin-Wallace University Digital Collections
- Bluffton University Digital Collections
- Bowling Green State University Digital Collections
- Canton, Stark Library
- Case Western Reserve University Digital Collections
- Cedarville University Digital Collections
- Champaign County Library
- Chronicling America – Ohio
- Cincinnati Public Library
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
- Clark County Public Library
- Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery
- Cleveland State University Digital Collections
- Columbus Metropolitan Library
- Coshocton County District Library
- Cyndi’s List – Ohio
- David Rumsey’s Historical Maps
- Dayton Metro Library
- Dayton Metro Library
- Dead Fred
- Death Indexes – Ohio
- Denison University Digital Collections
- Digital Commons Collections
- Digital Public Library of America – Ohio
- Erie Lackawanna Historical Society Archives
- FamilySearch
- FamilySearch – Ohio Online Genealogy Records
- FamilySearch Catalog
- FamilySearch Wiki – Ohio
- FindAGrave
- Findlay-Hancock County Public Library
- Geauga County Genealogical Society
- Genealogy Trails – Ohio
- Google Books – Ohio
- Greater Cincinnati Memory Project
- Greene County Public Library
- Greenville Public Library
- Hamilton County Genealogical Society
- HathiTrust – Ohio
- Huron County Community Library
- I Dream of Genealogy
- Interment.net – Ohio
- Internet Archive – Ohio
- Kent State University Digital Collections
- Kenyon College Digital Collections
- LDS Genealogy – Ohio
- Library of Congress Digital Collections
- Linkpendium – Ohio
- Lourdes University Digital Collections
- Malone University Digital Collections
- Mansfield/Richland County Public Library
- Marietta College Digital Collections
- Mercer County District Library
- Miami University of Ohio Digital Collections
- Muskingum County Library System
- National Archives and Records Administration
- National Archives at Chicago
- National Archives Online Exhibits
- National Archives Resources for Genealogists
- Nationwide Gravesite Locator
- New Horizons Genealogy – Ohio
- Oberlin College Digital Collections
- Ohio Genealogical Society
- Ohio History Connection
- Ohio Memory
- Ohio Northern University Digital Collections
- Ohio State University – Columbus Digital Collections
- Ohio University, Athens Digital Collections
- Ohio Wesleyan University Digital Collections
- Otterbein University Digital Collections
- PastPerfectOnline Collections
- Preble County Library
- Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
- Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
- Sanborn Maps – Ohio
- Smithsonian Digital Library
- State Library of Ohio
- State Library of Ohio Collections
- The Cleveland Memory Project
- The College of Wooster Digital Collections
- The Digital Shoebox Project: Historical Treasures of Southeastern Ohio
- The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
- The Official Land Records Site
- The University of Findlay Digital Collections
- Tiffin-Seneca Public Library
- Toledo‑Lucas County Public Library
- United States Social Security Death Index
- University of Akron Digital Collections
- University of Cincinnati Digital Collections
- University of Dayton Digital Collections
- University of Toledo Digital Collections
- Ursuline College Digital Collections
- US GenWeb – Ohio
- US GenWeb Archives – Ohio
- Walsh University Digital Collections
- Warren-Trumbull County Public Library
- Western Reserve Historical Society
- Williams County Public Library
- Wilmington College Digital Collections
- Wright State University Digital Collections
- Xavier University Digital Collections
- Youngstown State University Digital Collections
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!