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Welcome to the WCPL Genealogy and Local History Department!
The Wayne County Public Library's Genealogy and Local History Department can trace our ancestry back to 1953 when the Wooster–Wayne Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) indicated an interest in housing family histories and other resources of genealogical value in the Wooster Library. We started with a small collection of family histories and Wayne County information. We have grown to include publications on north and northcentral Ohio; northeastern Indiana, central and northcentral West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Other states of interest include Virginia, New Jersey, and New York.
Department services
The Wayne County Public Library provides access to several genealogy databases as a service to its patrons.
Research assistance
To request information, you may email us or fill out our online request form. When requesting information, please be specific with your request, and limit the requested items to no more than five. Include names of interest, approximate dates, and places the events may have taken place. Please refer to Department Services for a complete list of available services and costs.
Your request will be answered as quickly as possible. If you have not heard from the department within 4–6 weeks, please do not hesitate to contact the department to find out the status of your request.
Where to start
This website serves as both a source and repository for research pertaining to the local history of Wayne County, Ohio and the genealogy of its residents. For an introduction to conducting genealogical research, see our "Getting started" guide. To explore the site, please see the sidebar to the left for browsing or—if you're looking for something specific—use the search bar above. To find information on a specific family name, search for the name followed by "(surname)" without quotes. To find information about the Smith family, for example, you would search for "Smith (surname)" without quotes.