Genealogy
WPPL's Genealogy Databases
Are you interested in genealogy? Are you a veteran researcher or are you just getting started? This page includes a list of special resources that the library subscribes to for any user. Below are some guides not only for beginners, but that also include local sources of records that will be critical for your research.
Best Practices and Sources of Records
How to Begin
WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU KNOW
Fill in a family chart— you, your parents, grandparents…
Add birth, marriage, and death dates and places. Estimate dates, or years if you are unsure.
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Cuyahoga County online research
Ancestry
Marriage Records 1810 - 1973
Death Index Ohio 1908-1932, 1938-1944, 1958-2007
Birth & Christening Index Ohio 1800-1962
Naturalizations - Petition Index U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio 1855-1967
How to access
Ancestry Library Edition is available for free at the library or for a fee you can subscribe to access at home
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*Note Some of these records are also online
Cuyahoga County Archives
Atlases: Cuyahoga County, 1852, 1874, 1892, and 1903
Atlases: City of Cleveland, 1881 and 1898
Birth records, 1849-1908
Cleveland City Directories, 1837-1939 (not inclusive)
Death records, 1840-1908
Divorce case files, 1876-1882, Court of Common Pleas
Ohio Supreme Court records, 1811-1858
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Veterans History Project at WPPL
WPPL is currently collecting oral histories from veterans living in the area, regardless of branch or rank, who served in the United States military in any capacity from World War I through the present and are no longer serving.
If you are a veteran and would like to share your memories with your community, please stop by the library and see Debbie Loiacono, Adult Services Manager, or contact her by telephone (440-250-5463) or via email at Debbie.Loiacono@westlakelibrary.org, to get more information on how you can participate in the project. We’d love to hear from you!
Visit our Veterans History Project page to view the oral histories already collected through Westlake Porter Public Library. Or visit the Library of Congress Veterans History Project form more information on the nationwide effort.