Access Noble County Obituaries
Noble County obituary records are held by the county health department in Caldwell, the Probate Court, and various online databases. This small county in southeastern Ohio is one of the least populated in the state, but it has records going back to the 1800s. The county seat is Caldwell. Death certificates from the 1800s to the present are split between the health department and the Probate Court. State archives and FamilySearch also cover Noble County. If you are searching for an obituary or death record from Noble County, this page will point you to the right sources.
Noble County Overview
Noble County Health Department
The Noble County Health Department in Caldwell handles birth and death certificates. They can issue birth certificates for any Ohio birth after 1908. Death records go back even further, with the office holding Noble County death certificates from the 1800s to the present. The fee is $25.00 per certified copy. They only accept cash, checks, and money orders. No credit cards.
You can get records in person or by mail. There is no online ordering through this office. For mail requests, send a completed application with your payment. Be aware that new death records can take up to three months to be registered and entered into the system after a death occurs. If you are looking for a very recent death certificate, call ahead to see if it has been processed yet. The office phone number is (740) 732-4958.
| Office | Noble County Health Department |
|---|---|
| Location | Caldwell, OH |
| Phone | (740) 732-4958 |
| Fee | $25.00 per certified copy |
| Payment | Cash, check, or money order only |
Note: New Noble County death records may take up to 3 months to be registered after the date of death.
Noble County Obituary Search Tools
The Noble County Health Department website provides basic information about vital records services. The image below shows the Noble County Health Department site.
Noble County's government website also links to county offices and departments. The screenshot below shows the Noble County government portal, where you can find contact information for the Probate Court and other offices that handle records.
These two sites will give you the contact information you need to start a records request in Noble County.
Noble County Probate Court Death Records
The Noble County Probate Court at the County Courthouse in Caldwell holds birth and death records from 1867 onward. Marriage records date to 1851, when the county was formed. The Probate Court phone number is (614) 732-2969. Under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3705, county probate courts served as the official keepers of vital records before statewide registration began in December 1908.
For deaths between 1867 and 1908, the Probate Court is the primary source. These early records are handwritten ledger entries. The detail varies, but most include the name, date of death, age, and cause. Some list birthplace and parents' names. FamilySearch has indexed Noble County death records in four volumes covering 1867 to 1909, so you may be able to find what you are looking for online before contacting the courthouse.
Probate files can help with obituary research as well. Estate records, wills, and guardianship documents from Noble County name heirs, list property, and confirm death dates. These records add context that may not appear in a newspaper obituary or on a death certificate alone. For anyone tracing family in Noble County, the Probate Court is a key stop.
Finding Obituaries in Noble County
Noble County newspapers, including the Caldwell Journal, have published obituaries and death notices for generations. Many of these papers are not fully digitized, so you may need to check microfilm at the local library or contact the Noble County USGenWeb project for transcribed records. The Ohio Obituary Index at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library may include some Noble County entries. This free index covers over 3.7 million obituary records from Ohio newspapers.
For recent obituaries, funeral home websites in the Caldwell area often post death notices within days of a passing. Online memorial sites like Legacy.com and Tribute Archive may also have Noble County obituaries. A web search with the person's full name and "Noble County Ohio obituary" is a quick way to check. Cemetery records are useful too. Noble County has many small rural cemeteries, and some have been transcribed by volunteers and posted on FindAGrave or OHGenWeb.
Ohio State Obituary Records for Noble County
The Ohio Death Record Index at the Ohio History Connection is a free tool that indexes death certificates from 1913 to 1944 and 1954 to 1970. All 88 Ohio counties are covered, including Noble County. The Ohio History Connection in Columbus holds the physical death certificates from 1908 through 1970. They issue non-certified copies for genealogy research.
FamilySearch offers free images of Ohio death certificates from 1908 to 1953 and county-level death records from 1840 to 2001. The Ohio Department of Health has death records from 1971 to the present. Certified copies cost $21.50 each as set by Ohio Revised Code Section 3705.24. You can order online, by mail, or in person at their Columbus office at 4200 Surface Road. Under Ohio Revised Code Section 3705.23, anyone may request a certified copy of a death record regardless of their relationship to the deceased.
Nearby Counties
Noble County is bordered by several other Ohio counties. If you cannot find a death record here, the person may have been registered in one of the surrounding counties.