Belmont County Obituary Records

Belmont County obituary and death records are held by the county health department, probate court, and several state-level offices in Ohio. The county sits along the Ohio River in eastern Ohio, with St. Clairsville as the county seat. Cities like Bellaire and Martins Ferry have their own sets of vital records that add depth to any search. If you want to find an obituary or death certificate from Belmont County, you have multiple starting points depending on the time period. Online databases cover many of the older records, and the Ohio Obituary Index includes strong coverage from this part of the state.

Belmont County Health Department Death Records

The Belmont County Health Department handles death certificates for the county. Their office is at 68501 Bannock Road in St. Clairsville, OH 43950. Call 740-695-1202 or email bchd@belmontcountyhealth.com. They offer online ordering, in-person visits, and mail requests. A certified copy costs $25.00.

Belmont County has an interesting wrinkle that other counties lack. The health department keeps separate record sets for the cities of Bellaire and Martins Ferry. Bellaire city birth and death records run from 1908 to 2000. Martins Ferry city birth records cover 1908 to 2000, and Martins Ferry death records go from 1908 to the present day. So if the person you are searching for died in one of those cities, the health department may have a city-specific file in addition to or instead of the standard county record. This can be helpful when a standard county search comes up empty.

The Belmont County health department keeps death records from 1916 forward under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3705. That start date is a few years later than most Ohio counties. Social Security numbers are blacked out on death certificates for five years after the date of death unless you can prove a close family relationship.

Belmont County Probate Court Records

The Belmont County Probate Court is at 101 West Main Street in St. Clairsville, OH 43950. Phone: (740) 699-2144. Fax: (740) 232-1731. The court maintains marriage licenses, probate records, and estate files. For deaths before the health department's records begin, the probate court is where you look. Belmont County was founded in 1801, so the court has records stretching back over two centuries.

Estate files can be a strong source of obituary-level details. When someone died and left property, the probate file may list heirs, a death date, and sometimes include a newspaper clipping of the obituary. Wills often name family members and their places of residence. For genealogy researchers tracing Belmont County families, the probate court fills a role that the health department cannot. It covers the oldest records and the most detailed family information for estates that went through the court system.

Note: Pre-1867 death information in Belmont County may only exist in church records, cemetery stones, or family papers.

Belmont County Obituary Genealogy Resources

The Belmont County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society is at 361 South Chestnut Street in Barnesville, OH 43713. They offer genealogy research help and maintain local records that can supplement what the official offices hold. Cemetery records, church burial logs, and old family papers are the kinds of sources they work with. If the standard record offices come up short, this group may have the missing piece.

FamilySearch has free access to Ohio death records from 1908 to 1953 with images of the original certificates. County-level death records from 1840 to 2001 are also in their system. A free account gets you into most images. The Ohio Obituary Index at the Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont has over 3.7 million entries. Belmont County has notable coverage in this index, making it one of the better counties for finding newspaper obituaries through this tool. You can search by name and location for free.

Ohio State Obituary Resources for Belmont County

The Ohio Department of Health keeps death records from 1971 to the present at 4200 Surface Road in Columbus. You can order online, by mail, or in person. The state fee is $21.50 per search under Ohio Revised Code Section 3705.24. This fee applies whether a record is found or not.

For records from 1908 to 1970, the Ohio History Connection at 800 East 17th Avenue in Columbus has the original certificates. Their Ohio Death Record Index is free to search online and covers 1913 to 1944 and 1954 to 1970. You need a name and year of death to start. Once you find a match, you can order a copy through the site. These copies are not certified for legal use but are fine for genealogy. Death records older than 50 years may be transferred to the Ohio History Connection for archival storage under Ohio administrative rules.

Section 3705.23 of the Ohio Revised Code lets local registrars provide certified copies of death records upon request. It also gives individuals the right to photograph or copy records during in-person visits, which is useful for researchers who want their own digital copies of historical records.

Belmont County Death Record Sources

The Belmont County Health Department vital statistics page shows how to request death certificates and other vital records.

This page details the fees, required forms, and explains the process for ordering certified copies of Belmont County death records by mail or in person.

The Belmont County Health Department main site provides an overview of all health district services and contact information.

From here you can find hours, directions, and links to the different divisions that handle records in Belmont County.

How to Get Belmont County Obituary Records

The right place to search depends on when the death occurred and what kind of record you need. Belmont County's unique city-level records for Bellaire and Martins Ferry give you extra options that most Ohio counties do not have. Here is the breakdown of where to look:

• Deaths 1971 to present: Belmont County Health Department ($25.00) or Ohio Department of Health ($21.50)
• Deaths 1916 to 1970: Belmont County Health Department or Ohio History Connection
• Bellaire city records: 1908 to 2000 at the Belmont County Health Department
• Martins Ferry death records: 1908 to present at the Belmont County Health Department
• Pre-1916 deaths: Belmont County Probate Court
• Newspaper obituaries: Ohio Obituary Index at the Hayes Presidential Library (free)

Section 3705.29 of the Ohio Revised Code makes it illegal to submit false information on vital record applications. Keep your request forms accurate. If you are not sure about a detail, leave it blank and let the staff help you narrow it down. The Belmont County health department can usually locate the right record with a name and an approximate year of death. Do not give up if your first search does not turn up what you want. Try different name spellings and check the city records if the county-level search misses.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Belmont County. Check neighboring county records if the person lived near a county line.