Record Atlas
6 eras · 1763–2026 · 67 places

Indiana

Indianapolis, Vincennes, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Corydon. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1763–1783 Britain - Province of Quebec from 1774 no registers survive

Vincennes, on the Wabash, was an older French settlement and trading post; Americans under George Rogers Clark captured it from the British in the Revolutionary War. Britain had gained the region from France in 1763, and the Quebec Act of 1774 annexed it to the Province of Quebec.

1783–1800 United States - Northwest Territory from 1787 FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA)

The Treaty of Greenville of 1795 ended the Northwest Indian War, and the native nations ceded southeastern Indiana and about two-thirds of present Ohio.

1800–1816 Indiana Territory FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA)

Created by an act signed 7 May 1800, in effect 4 July 1800, with Vincennes as capital until the seat moved to Corydon in 1813. Michigan Territory was split off on 30 June 1805 and Illinois Territory on 1 March 1809, so Indiana Territory's jurisdiction before those dates covered Michigan and Illinois ground as well.

1816–1882 State of Indiana FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Indiana was admitted on 11 December 1816 as the nineteenth state.

1882–1907 Indiana - county health offices record births and deaths FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Births and deaths from 1882 to 1906 are held mainly at the county level; the State Archives directs enquiries to the county health office where the event happened.

1907–2026 Indiana - statewide registration FamilySearch · National Archives Catalog (NARA) · Chronicling America

Statewide birth registration is dated October 1907; statewide death registration is dated 1899 or 1900 depending on the source.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1763–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

67 places on this ground

1742 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 1682 more.

All record regions · The map