The records of the Ottawa County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas were microfilmed by the Center for Archival Collections at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. The microfilm is located in the Library Reading Room.

Ohio’s county Court of Common Pleas system was established in the state constitution drafted in 1802, and was a continuation of the institution created under Ohio’s territorial act of 1788. The court was assigned common law and chancery jurisdiction, including criminal cases, probate cases, testamentary matters and the appointment of guardians. The court also was authorized to appoint a clerk and county prosecuting attorney; in 1851, the state constitution made the office of judge elective for a five-year term. In 1906, the term was increased to six years. In the same year, the court took over jurisdiction of naturalization proceedings.

Scope and Content

The collection, which is not complete, is comprised of two rolls of microfilm containing Quadrennial Enumerations from the court’s civil division. The records date from 1857 to 1903.

1. Quadrennial Enumeration: 1857 (also contains Enumeration of Soldiers and Sailors, 1900,
    and Militia Rolls, 1908, from the Ottawa County Auditor’s Office)
2. Quadrennial Enumeration: 1899 and Benton Township Precinct 1, 1903 (also contains
    Abstracts of Militia, Enumerations of Militia, Enrollments of Volunteers, School Enumeration
    Records, 1862-1877; and School Enumeration Records, 1835-1842, 1844, 146-1852, 1857,
    1860-1862, from the Ottawa County Auditor’s Office)

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