Local Genealogy Resources

Defiance County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society

The Defiance County Genealogical Society helps create interest in genealogy and preserves local genealogy records. We meet once a month on the 4th Monday of the month; 7PM usually in the hall for St. John’s United Church of Christ on the Defiance College Campus. Of course all meetings are on hold due to COVID. Guests are always welcome to the short business meeting followed by a 45 minute program. We have a large variety of publications available for sale including birth, death and tombstone inscriptions, Marriage volumes, indexes to the History of Defiance County 1883 and Defiance County History 1976. Visit our site by clicking on our name above for a massive archive of our research.

Defiance County Historical Society

The Defiance County Historical Society was founded in 1936, but took a break during the WWII years. Reorganized in 1946, the society worked from a donated home in Defiance’s original plat near the Defiance Public Library. DCHS put on driving tours, marked notable Native American and frontier sites with large boulders as well as marking several ghost towns throughout the county. The active and popular group soon outgrew their home on Fort Street and acquired a farm called AuGlaize Village on Krouse Road just outside the city limits. In 2020, DCHS moved their headquarters to the old Defiance Stamping Company at 1090 Perry Street in Defiance giving it a foothold in the city as well as the county.

DCHS owns the entity, AuGlaize Village and the brand Vintage Defiance.

Hicksville Historical Society

Hicksville’s Historical Society had its beginnings in the 1970’s when area citizens formed “The Friends of St. Paul’s, a group dedicated to rescuing the 1875 Episcopal Church from its dilapidated state. This group’s hard work resulted in the addition of the building to the National Register of Historic Places. A decade later, the group expanded their mission and changed their name to The Hicksville Historical Society, Inc.

The historical society has three goals:

1. the generation of interest in local history,

2. the preservation of local historical buildings

3. the preservation of items important to local history

Today, historical society volunteers help maintain St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in cooperation with the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio; help Johnson Memorial Library maintain The Land Office, where a collection of historical items is housed; and assist as requested with local historical projects.

Historic Homes of Defiance

When we aren’t in COVID, we meet the first Tuesday of each month, usually in member homes. Each quarter we have a board meeting in place of the monthly meeting. January, April, July and October are reserved for planning and business matters and are usually held at the HHOD Office in the old Legion Hall on Clinton St. next to the armory. All are welcome to attend board meetings, but the majority of our membership is interested in the home meetings where we have a brief business meeting and then focus on the history of the home as given by our host or hostess. We have been meeting since 2000 and worked to place the Flood Poles found at the parks near the confluence of the rivers. Our research helped place the entire downtown on the National Register of Historic Places. Our committee, Save Our School launched a successful campaign to save the 1918 “Old High School” when the Defiance City Schools voted to tear it down. Our committee, led by Sally Meyer, placed the school on the National Register in 2019 at its 101st birthday. We have accumulated files for each address on the Original Plat in Defiance’s downtown.