Franklin County, Ohio adoptions, 1852-1901

Westminster, MD: Heritage Books. New. (1988) 2007. Paperback. 72 pages. In Ohio, the legal procedure of adopting children was authorized on 29 March 1859 by an act of the General Assembly. The first adoption in Franklin County occurred on 27 July 1859 when James Rice, aged three years, son of Jeremiah and Mary Ann Rice, was adopted by John J. and Lydia Wilson. For the period of 1859 through 1901, there were approximately three hundred and forty adoptions in Franklin County, Ohio. All of these appear in the Probate Court Journals and most of them appear in the Probate Court Complete Record as well. All of these records are available on microfilm or as originals at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus. The abstracts included in this compilation identify the adoptees, the natural and adoptive parents, the adoptee's new name if the name was changed, and the date of the adoption. A reference code identifies the source where the complete record can be found if desired. *** On 26 January 1987, Judge Richard B. Metcalf of the Franklin County Probate Court sent a letter to Dennis East, State Archivist, in which instructions were contained regarding the opening of all Franklin County adoption records prior to 1 January 1926. Also, all adoption records between 1 January 1926 and 1 January 1964, if intermingled with other Probate Court records, were to be opened; if they were not intermingled, such records were to be closed. .