Clermont County Recorders Office
Home   |   Research Sites

The Clermont County Recorder’s Office
First floor of the Administration Building at 101 Main St., Batavia.


by Amy Schneider

            xIn 1787, the Northwest Territory was formed, encompassing all lands north and west of the Ohio River. A Recorder's Office was established in each county.   After Ohio became a state in 1803, the first state legislature mandated that a Recorder be appointed in each county by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. Since 1829, it has been an elected office.  The County Recorder keeps and maintains accurate land records (deeds, mortgages, maps, etc.) and makes them easily accessible to the public through indexing.  This makes it possible to follow the history of the ownership of land, which is of benefit to the general public, lawyers and title examiners, but especially for genealogists and historians.  With the deeds, it is often possible to determine relationships, in a period prior to vital records.  In addition, other interesting documents may be found in the recorders office,x such as cemetery plats, living wills, health care power of attorneys, street-name changes, subdivision plats, and even military discharge papers (DD Form 214, which may include a great deal of information on the military service of your ancestor, as well as some personal information).  Any significant document that a person wanted recorded for safekeeping might be found in a recorders’ office.
        
   Currently, the Clermont County Recorders’ Office has begun the enormous project of digitizing all of the record plats,x matching documents, and the indexes back to 1953.  This began in 2002, and will take years to complete.  However, the historic indexes and images will eventually be included.  This will allow access to anyone in the world through the internet.  If you would like to search the more recent land records, go tox www.landaccess.com.
         
  The Clermont County Recorder has records that were created prior to Statehood.  These books are out on the shelves, but there is one you need to know about that is kept behind the desk.  If you ask, they will pull it out and let you look carefully….that one is the original survey book for the Virginia Military District.  If your ancestor fought in the Revolution and received a land grant, be sure to check it out!


x