Licking County Records & Archives Blog

  Each year, the Records and Archives Department gets spooky and hosts a county record keeper’s training event, Records Spooktacular. The vampire staff of the Archives department waited centuries to share their wisdom in this Halloween themed event with an opportunity to refresh the memory and test records knowledge through a variety of games. Participants were able to pick and choose the games they played, or if they were feeling exceptionally competitive, they could work their way through all four.   Visitors could read up on the available activities from the Records Spooktacular map.    Stop number one was Records Candyland in the Reference Room.  Then on to Scattergories in the garage. With cards that fit in to multiple categories and a couple of dud answers, this was the most tricky game to beat! But the next game was a real treat! True or false with Imaging Specialist, Angie. Finally, we have the crowd pleaser, Jeopardy with the rest of the imaging staff in the Archive's ceme

  It’s that time of year again-fried foods, fun games, and entertainment, otherwise known as Fair Season! It’s the opportunity for farmers to show off their best livestock, and for the rest of us to marvel at how cute the animals are. So for this month’s “Living in the County Archive” we are celebrating all that goes in to agricultural production and studying the 1914 Crop Statistics volumes. The Records and Archives department is currently in possession of Crop Statistics Volume 65, which is for the year 1914. Volume 65 is broken up in to three books by township. Township numbers 1-10 include: Bennington, Bowling Green, Burlington, Eden, Etna, Fallsbury, Franklin, Granville, and Hanover. Township numbers 11-19 include: Harrison, Hartford, Hopewell, Jersey, Licking, Liberty, Lima, McKean, and Madison. Lastly, township numbers 20-27 include: Mary Ann, Monroe, Newark, Newton, Perry, St. Albans, Union, and Washington.       The purpose of crop statistics is to gather trends for plan

  Happy Independence Day from your county archive! In honor of the holiday, we are remembering those who fought for their country by digging in to the records that are “Living in the County Archive”, and examining Indigent Soldier’s Burial Relief Records. These records document the burials of honorably discharged Union veterans of the Civil War, who at their time of death were unable to afford burial costs. Authorized by the County Commissioners, these records seem to have been eventually classified as records of the County Auditor. Entries of the record indicate the name of the deceased veteran and the name of their widow if applicable, residence of the deceased, military unit of the veteran, date and place of death, burial place, occupation of the deceased, cost of burial, and names of persons who testified to the inability of family members to pay for the burial despite title of records.   Transcribed, the record reads: “The State of Ohio. To the Board of County Commissioner

                      2022 marks the 220 th anniversary of the City of Newark. Newark is probably best known for the Earthworks and the ancient Moundbuilders, or the architecture of the Courthouse and Historic Jail, but for those who live and are from Newark the town means so much more. For the month of May, Living in the County Archive is a photocopy of a painted portrait of the man associated with establishing the City, William C. Schenck.                          While Samuel Parr and Samuel Elliot are believed to be the first settlers in Newark, it was William Cortenus Schenck who helped establish the city in 1802. Named after his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, Schenck came to the area as a surveyor. He helped to lay the land of the town, and it was Schenck who placed the first courthouse. The original courthouse was a log structure that doubled as Newark’s first church. The location of the original square and courthouse was situated in the same spot it is today.          

  We return to records from the Licking County Children’s Home for April’s “Living in the County Archive”. This month we are looking at one of our more fragile books from 1889-1901, “Licking County Children’s Home Visitor Log”. Many records from the 19 th and 20 th century were made with wood-pulp paper, a highly acidic material, which is likely to deteriorate more rapidly over time unless handled properly. Acids tend to break down in the presence of heat, light, and moisture in the air. Combine that with years of oils from the different hands that wrote in the pages in the record, and the general wear-and-tear of being used more frequently, this record requires a little more care than some of the Archive’s other materials. Keeping the record in our archive, which is temperature controlled and maintained by a dehumidification system, helps to keep this record from further decline. However, due to this book’s already fragile state it is kept in an archival box designed to fit the re

  The Licking County Records and Archives is always thankful for all of our volunteers; the time they dedicate to make our collections more accessible for the public and preserve the history found in our records is greatly appreciated. This March, we are feeling especially lucky for Jon Emler, who has recently finished transcribing the Children’s Home Registers of Admittance and Indentures volumes. So for “Living in the County Archive” this month, we are featuring the Children’s Home Registers of Admittance and Indentures. We will examine what these records are, where they came from, and why they are important. The Register of Admittance and Indentures for the Licking County Children’s Home would have been the tracking method for all children admitted in to the Children’s home. The volumes include the name of the child being admitted, their gender, race, age, place of birth, parents, if the parents are living or deceased, the date of their admittance, as well as the date of indenture