Ross Gallabrese NEW OFFICE — Flora VerStraten-Merrin, president of the Jefferson County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, shows off some of the files available at the organization's new office, located in the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services Building at 125 S. Fifth St. in Steubenville.

STEUBENVILLE — Flora VerStraten-Merrin and Sandy Day spent some time Thursday looking back on several decades and seeing just how much progress the Jefferson County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society has made.

“Look at what it’s become,” Day said. “I’m happy it has become like this. It started out small, and we built it up.”

VerStraten-Merrin, the local chapter’s current president, and Day, the organization’s first president, were among the volunteers guiding visitors through its new home during a public open house.

Located inside the Jefferson County Department of Job and Family Services building at 125 S. Fifth St., the office provides ample space for research areas and numerous volumes and files filled with public records, some of which date back to the county’s founding in 1797, six years before Ohio would become a state.

The county’s location and its role in westward expansion make it an important area for those trying to learn more about their relatives. Many of the first people who came from the East passed through Steubenville when they purchased land at the First Federal Land Office in the Northwest Territory, which opened in 1800.

“People are interested in researching their family history,” VerStraten-Merrin said. “You’re talking about the Northwest Territory and you’re talking about celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary. Our ancestors were coming in here and purchasing land at the land office. It’s so significant because people from all over the country have ancestors who were right here in this area.

“Having these records accessible — the original records — they can see the ‘X’ or the signature of their ancestor,” she added. “They can see some of the naturalization books that have photographs of their ancestors.”

It is a far cry from the organization’s beginning in 1986. There was no office — the first meeting was held in the building that has become the Jefferson County Tower, Day said. From there, the organization moved through several locations, including Fernwood Road in Wintersville and Stratton.

Thanks to the work of Michele Santin, the county’s director of Job and Family Services, and county Commissioner Eric Timmons, the chapter now has a centralized location with ample space to store records in a way that keeps them accessible to the public. The facility includes shelves and rolling files filled with estate files, wills, probates, adoptions, naturalization records and high school yearbooks.

The county records, VerStraten-Merrin said, go through the early 1930s. The yearbook collection, which continues to grow, dates back to the 1913 edition from Wells High School, which later became Steubenville High School.

Some files, such as naturalization records, have been indexed by volunteers, Day said, making it easier to locate specific relatives.

“Imagine finding a particular yearbook,” VerStraten-Merrin said. “I went to where some of my ancestors are from on my mother’s side. I found a yearbook that included my great-grandfather. He was a football player in 1902, and he had a soft helmet and no pads. And to see my great-grandfather, and my grandfather and my grandmother, who was in the choir, and just to see them in their clothing at the turn of the century, it gives you a connection to your family. It’s really what people are looking for — connections.”

Also intriguing are the naturalization records, she said. The collection includes information about Gaetano Alfonso Crocetti, whose son, Dino, would go on to become Dean Martin.

“Original records — that’s what people want to see,” VerStraten-Merrin said. “If you are looking for your ancestor who came over during the Ellis Island period but came here and not to Ellis Island to get naturalized, it’s pretty cool. Then you find a picture, and it tells you that he had brown eyes, dark skin, a scar on his face. He was tall. He was stout. It’s descriptions of your ancestors. Then it tells you about all of the kids, if the kids came with them, how old they were and what they looked like. Details, details.”

For now, the office is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays or by appointment. Because it is located inside the office building, access is not available when the facility is closed.

Another set of files contains delayed and corrected births.

“If you were born before 1940 and you wanted to start getting Social Security when it was formed, you had to have a birth certificate,” VerStraten-Merrin said. “Everyone was scrambling. They wanted to get Social Security because they worked hard. Some people were born on farms and had to get a birth certificate.

“When they went to the courthouse, they found they had no birth certificate,” she continued. “That’s what led them to the delayed or corrected births. For example, you would have to get your kindergarten teacher to verify that you were born in Smithfield and you were in her class, something like that. It could be a neighbor or an aunt or various people.”

Those files contain extensive information, she explained, because officials required detailed verification letters rather than simple statements.

“That’s what we call putting meat on the bones,” VerStraten-Merrin said. “You’re getting more than just a vital record. Vital records are here — births and deaths — but you are getting meat on the bones. You’re finding out about your ancestor.”

The genealogical society is a nonprofit organization operated by volunteers. It does pay for some services, such as web design and maintenance, she said. The move to the downtown Steubenville location will significantly reduce overhead and make operations more manageable, she added.

VerStraten-Merrin and Day said collaboration between the genealogical society and organizations such as the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County — where Day worked as historian and genealogist before retiring — is important. They added the new location strengthens those partnerships.

While the local chapter was founded in 1986, it did not receive nonprofit status until 1987, which is why it is celebrating its 40th anniversary across this year and next.

Upcoming events include a presentation on Steubenville’s 1897 Centennial by John Boilegh, an archaeologist with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Mineral Resources, scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 14 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Powells Lane in Wintersville. The chapter is requesting a $10 donation to attend.

For information, contact the chapter at (740) 283-8567, email jeffersoncounty1@att.net or visit jeffcochapter.com.