Portal:Local history

Local History Portal

Wayne County, Ohio Online Resource Center Portals Organization • Genealogy • Local History

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Welcome to the Wayne County Public Library Local History Portal.

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Portal:Local history/Intro

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The Genealogy and Local History Department of the Wayne County Public Library has updated several new pages on the wiki. An ongoing task is to have a listing of all known churches in Wayne County, Ohio from its settlement in 1808 to present day. The Wayne County, Ohio Churches (Table) has recently been updated.

The First Baptist Church in Wooster was originally known as Bethany Baptist Church and was founded in 1812. Prior to Bethany Church, it was known as the "Regular Baptist Church of Jesus Christ". This first congregation met in a blockhouse used to protect the first settlers from the Indigenous peoples. Some of the first known Baptists who moved to Wooster were David and Lydia Kimpton and Philip B. Griffith. They were here in 1810. In 1811, Ezekial and Hannah Jones and family settled in same area.

Did you know...

Did you know the house that is on the corner of Beall Ave and High St in Wooster was built in 1861? The house was owned by only two different families. The first owner was Anthony Wright. When he died, the house was deeded to his only daughter, Sarah Elizabeth (Wright) Quinby. It left the family when Sarah sold the property to William and Mary Fike in 1908. When William and Mary Fike died, the house passed down to their only daughter, Elizabeth Lorson. It remained in her position until she sold it to the Noble Foundation Inc in 2007.

The deed to the house was transferred a couple more times since 2007 and is currently used as a Pathway House.

About Us

Welcome to the Wayne County Public Library Genealogy Portal. This website serves as both source and repository for research pertaining to the local history of Wayne County and the genealogy of its residents. For an introduction to conducting genealogical research, see our "Getting started" guide. 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 quotation marks. To find information about the Smith family, for example, you would search for "Smith (surname)" without quotation marks. For historical information on specific businesses in Wayne County, Ohio, browse through our business history category or do a search on the name of the business.