Research

History & Genealogy

The Lane Libraries have two separate historical/genealogical collections. The Smith Library of Regional History is located in Oxford. The Cummins Local History Room is located at the Hamilton Lane Library in downtown Hamilton.

Digital Collections of the Lane Libraries

Ohio Historic Inventory for Butler County
This collection of PDF forms is the work of the Ohio Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio Historic Society. Records for buildings and sites of historical interest for Butler County are indexed here. The Ohio Historic Inventory Form consists of a single page, two-sided questionnaire that gives a complete but succinct description and history of a building, site, structure, or object. The form is divided into six basic categories: Identification, Location, Background, Architectural Data, Additional Information, and Photographic Documentation.

Greater Cincinnati Memory Project
A database of over 6000 historical images, including 350 images from our Smith Library of Regional History photograph collection.

Clark Lane genealogy (PDF and GEDCOM format)

See also the genealogy section of our Databases Page


External links to sites related to Butler County history and genealogy:

Butler County Chapter, Ohio Genealogical Society

Butler County GenWeb

Butler County Historical Society’s Virtual Community
Includes over 550 historical images and condensed virtual tours of Hamilton, Middletown, Oxford, Shandon and Trenton.

Butler County Records Center and Archives

CHAPS (Citizens for Historic and Preservation Services)
CHAPS strives to educate the public on the value of saving significant buildings and structures from neglect and modernization (that destroy the integrity of the building), and demolition. CHAPS records and communicates news about preservation efforts in Butler County.

The Frank Snyder Photograph Collection
Frank R. Snyder was the leading Oxford, Ohio, photographer during the early twentieth century. He also worked for Miami University during this period, taking many of the photographs that were used in University publications. Before his death, Snyder gave most of his surviving collection of over 4000 negatives to Miami University. In addition to providing a pictorial record of the community and citizens of Oxford, Ohio, the Snyder Collection chronicles buildings, organizations, students, and events at Miami University; Oxford College, which merged with Miami in 1928; and Western College, which merged with Miami in 1973. The Collection spans the years from 1897 to 1955, with the bulk dating from between 1900 and 1930. Many of these early 20th-century views of Oxford are also held in the Lane’s Smith Library of Regional History.

Michael J. Colligan History Project
The principal goal of the Project is to make the appreciation and study of history accessible and enriching for all members of the university, the schools, and the community at large. To that end, the Project offers a wide variety of programs, series, projects, and symposia that present a broad and diverse perspective on the people and events of the past.

Morgan Township Historical Society
Morgan Township Historical Society collects and preserves historic records of the Township in order to educate and promote an appreciation of local history. Its 1858 Township House Museum is in Okeana.

Ohio Memory
An online scrapbook of Ohio History

Rudolph Thiem History

History of designer and sculptor Rudolph Thiem, sculptor of “Victory, Jewel of the Soul,” usually referred to it as “Billy Yank,” the nickname given to the Union foot soldier of the Civil War. This statue sits atop the Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument in Hamilton, Ohio.

Soldiers, Sailors and Pioneers Monument