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Welcome to Ashtabula County OhGenWeb

Ashtabula County OHGenWeb is a free genealogical and historical collection of information provided by volunteers. We hope you find helpful clues for your research of ancestors and relatives of Ashtabula county.

Celebrating our 25th anniversary

The OhGenWeb Project was created in 1996, and this Ashtabula County site has played it’s part since the beginning!

  • What’s New at Ashtabula County OHGenWeb since your last visit

Please Note

We are completely rebuilding the website and making it responsive to tablets and phones! Some of the pages and links may not be available during the rework.


Short About

This Ashtabula County site is a proud part of the OHGenWeb and The USGenWeb Project. To learn more see our About us page. If Ashtabula County is not the County you are looking for, check the OHGenWeb County Selection Page.


Ashtabula Facts

Ashtabula County formed on February 10, 1807. It was the first county created in the Western Reserve. The county is named for an Indian word for fish. In 1796, Moses Cleaveland traveled through Ashtabula County on his way to establish the city of Cleveland for the Connecticut Land Company. Five of Cleaveland’s traveling companions, James Kingsbury and his wife and three children, remained behind in what would become Ashtabula County. Mrs. Kingsbury gave birth to the first known white child in the Connecticut Western Reserve during the winter of 1796-1797.

1878 Ashtabula Map

This county is memorable from being not only the first settled on the Western Reserve, but the earliest in the whole of Northern Ohio. The incidents connected with its early history, although unmarked by scenes of military adventure, are of an interesting nature.Ashtabula County is the largest county by area in the state of Ohio. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,368 square miles (3,544 km).702 square miles (1,819 km) of it is land and 666 square miles (1,725 km) of it (48.67%) is water.

Name: Ashtabula, is the softening of an Algonquin Indian term originally pronounced “Hush-tah-buh-lah”, which signified our Ashtabula River as “River of many fish”.

County Seat: Jefferson
Year Organized: 1807
Square Miles: 703


Our Great Neighbors

 

Across Lake Erie lies Elgin and Norfolk Counties, Ontario, Canada Erie County, Pa
Lake County, Ohio Ashtabula County, Ohio Crawford County, Pa
Geauga County, Ohio Trumbull County, Ohio

 

I am Randy Cummings, volunteer coordinator for this Ashtabula County OHGenWeb site. We hope you enjoy your visit. Please contact us if you have any suggestions or contributions you would like to make.

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Page Updated March 2024