Missouri County Resources

This entry was originally written by Marsha Hoffman Rising CG, FUGA, FASG, and Pamela Boyer Porter, CGRS, CGL for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

This article is part of the Missouri Family History Research series.

History of Missouri

Missouri Vital Records

Census Records for Missouri

Background Sources for Missouri

Missouri Maps

Missouri Land Records

Missouri Probate Records

Missouri Court Records

Missouri Tax Records

Missouri Cemetery Records

Missouri Church Records

Missouri Military Records

Missouri Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections

Missouri Archives, Libraries, and Societies

Missouri Territorial Records

African Americans of Missouri

Missouri County Resources

Map of Missouri

County Map of Missouri

County records are retained at the local county level. The Missouri State Archives is making an extensive effort to microfilm many of these county records. A microfilm reel entitled A Roll by Roll Listing of County Records on Microfilm is available from the Missouri State Archives, or it can be viewed at the State Archives website. This enables the researcher to ascertain the exact number of the reel desired. Microfilmed copies of county records are currently available at $15 per roll. Instructions and an order form can be accessed at www.sos.mo.gov/forms/archives/arch1.pdf.

An ongoing project of the Missouri Local Records Preservation Program compiles inventories of local records by county. The searchable Local Records Inventory Database can be found at the state archives website www.sos.mo.gov/CountyInventory/index.asp.

Note that in Missouri all marriage records are held by the recorder of deeds, even though they are listed here with other vital records sources. The year given is the earliest recorded, but there was no official requirement until 1881. Those birth and death records that do exist before statewide recording began in 1909 are held at the clerk of the county court in the county seat. The time period these cover is indicated below.

A Missouri State Archives Birth and Death Records Database at www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath abstracts births, stillbirths, and deaths recorded before 1909 at the county level that are available on microfilm at the archives.

Dates given in the chart are the earliest ones for which records are held in a particular category. The researcher should be aware that this does not mean all records in that category are extant. For instance, there may be letters of administration for a county as early as 1833, but the guardianships may not begin until 1845, nor are all the early records indexed. A ~ before the date indicates that the date could not be established. A * indicates that records for this county and time period are incomplete.

Dates for available records were verified with the state archives website listing 'Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm' at www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/county/croll.asp. These were cross-checked with the Local Records Inventory Database and the Birth and Death Records Database www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/birthdeath/. When these dates conflicted, the county courthouse was contacted.

Correspondence may be addressed to the recorder of deeds, probate clerk, clerk of the circuit court, or clerk of the county court at the county courthouse as indicated below. Street addresses are necessary for some larger counties.

Map	County	County Address	Date Formed	Parent County(ies)	Birth	Marriage	Death	Land	Probate	Court
B4	Adair	106 W. Washington Kirksville 63501	1841	Macon	1883'93	1841		1841	1841	1841
	Courthouse burned 1865.
B1	Andrew	Savannah 64485	1841	Platte Purchase	1883'95	1841	1883'93	1841	1841	1841
	Arkansas		1806 (abolished 1819; became Arkansas Territory)	New Madrid
B1	Atchison	400 S. Washington Rock Port 64482	1845	Platte Purchase/Holt	1883'93	1845	1883'93	1845	1845	1845
D5	Audrain	101 N. Jefferson Mexico 65265	1836	Callaway/Monroe/Ralls	1883'86	1837	1883'86	1837	1837	1837
H3	Barry	700 Main Cassville 65625	1835	Greene	1883'85	1837	1883'85	1835	1835	1872
G2	Barton	1004 Gulf Lamar 64759	1855	Jasper	1883'96	1866	1883'99	1857	1866	1866
	Courthouse burned 1862.
E2	Bates	1 N. Delaware Butler 64730	1841	Van Buren (now Cass)	1883'1907	1860	1883'93	1839	1845	1858
	Courthouse burned 1861.
E3	Benton	316 Van Buren Warsaw 65355	1835	Pettis/Greene	1883'90	1839	1883'90	1837	1836	1835
	State census of 1876.
G7	Bollinger	204 High St. Marble Hill 63764	1851	Cape Girardeau/Madison/Stoddard/Wayne	1883'91	1865	1883'92	1851	1866	1866
	Courthouse burned 1866, 1884.
D5	Boone	801 E. Walnut Columbia 65201	1820	Howard		1821		1821	1821	1821
C1	Buchanan	St. Joseph 64501	1838	Platte Purchase		1839	1883'93	1839	1839	1839
H7	Butler	Poplar Bluff 63901	1849	Wayne	1883'93	1878	1883'93	1849	1849	1849
C2	Caldwell	Kingston 64650	1836	Ray		1860		1835	1856	1859
	Courthouse burned 1860, 1896.
D5	Callaway	Fulton 65251	1820	Boone/Howard/Montgomery	1883'88	1821	1883'88	1821	1821	1821
	State census of 1844 and 1876.
F4	Camden	1 Court Cir. Camdenton 65020	1841 ( as Kinderhook;renamed 1843)	Benton/Morgan/Pulaski		1902		1849	1902	1902
	Courthouse burned 1902. Some deeds were re-recorded in 1902.
G8	Cape Girardeau	1 Barton Sq. Jackson 63755	1812	original	1883'93	1805	1883'93	1805	1805	1815
	State census 1868 and 1876. Almost all county records up to 1990 are now in custody of the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center, 112 E. Washington, Jackson, MO 63755 .
C3	Carroll	8 S. Main Carrollton 64633	1833	Ray	1883'85	1833	1883'90	1833	1833	1833
H6	Carter	Van Buren 63965	1859	Oregon/Reynolds/Ripley/Shannon		1861		1845	1859	1866
E2	Cass	Harrisonville 64701	1835 (as Van Buren;renamed 1849)	Jackson	1883'1903	1836		1837	1835	1835
	State census of 1876.
F3	Cedar	Stockton 65785	1845	Dade/St. Clair	1883'89	1845	1883'86	1845	1845	1845
C4	Chariton	306 S. Cherry St. Keytesville 65261	1820	Howard	1883'87	1821	1883'87	1826	1861	1820
	County Court records burned 1861; courthouse burned 1864, 1973.
G3	Christian	100 W. Church St. Ozark 65721	1859	Greene/Taney/Webster	1840'1904	1866	1883'84	1861	1864	1865
	Courthouse burned 1865; state census of 1876.
	Clark (present)		1818 (abolished 1819 when it became part of Arkansas Territory)
B5	Clark	111 E. Court St. Kahoka 63445	1836	Lewis	1830'92;	1836	1883'92	1833	1836	1837
	*Records incomplete. Birth records extant for 1830'40 and 1883'92 only.
D2	Clay	Administration Bldg. Liberty 64068	1822	Ray	1883'84	1822	1883'84	1822	1822	1821
C2	Clinton	207 N. Main Plattsburg 64477	1833	Clay	1863'88;	1847	1883'88*	1833	1833	1836
	*Records incomplete. Birth records extant for 1863'79 and 1883'88 only.
E5	Cole	311 E. High Jefferson City 65101	1820	Cooper	1883'1906	1821	1883'1906	1821	1834	1821
D4	Cooper	200 Main St. Boonville 65233	1818	Howard	1883'94	1819	1883'89	1819	1819	1821
F6	Crawford	302 Main Steelville 65565	1829	Gasconade	1879'1903	1829	1883'91*	1832	1832	1831
	*Death records extant for 1883'91 and 1942'43. Courthouse burned 1873, 1884.
G3	Dade	Greenfield 65661	1841	Barry/Polk	1883'85	1863	1883'85	1841	1841	1846
	Courthouse burned 1863.
F4	Dallas	102 S. Cedar St. Buffalo 65622	1841 (as Niangua; name changed 1844)	Polk	1883'1908	1867	1883'1924	1867	1867	1867
	Courthouse burned 1863, 1864, 1867, 1955.
C2	Daviess	102 N. Main Gallatin 64640	1836	Ray	1883'91	1837	1883'91	1838	1890	1837
	State census of 1876.
	Decatur		(see Ozark; name changed from Ozark 1843; changed back to Ozark 1845)
C2	DeKalb	109 W. Main Maysville 64469	1845	Clinton	1883'93	1845	1883'91*	1836	1877	1856
	*Death records extant for 1883'91 and 1942'43. Courthouse burned 1878.
F6	Dent	400 N. Main Salem 65560	1851	Crawford/Shannon	1883'84	1851	1883'84	1851 (1866)	1866	1866
	Courthouse burned during Civil War and 1866; earlier deeds recreated.
	Dodge		1849/50 (abolished 1853; see Putnam)
H4	Douglas	Ava 65608	1857	Ozark		1877	1886'94	1858	1886	1886
	Courthouse burned 1882, 1886.
J8	Dunklin	Court Sq. Kennett 63857	1845	Stoddard		1872		1859	1865	1872
	Courthouse burned during Civil War and 1872; deeds 1872'76 recreated.
E6	Franklin	300 E. Main Union 63084	1818	St. Louis	1862'92	1819		1819	1819	1819
	State census of 1876.
E6	Gasconade	119 E. First St. Hermann 65041	1820	Franklin	1867'96	1822	1883'96	1821	1825	1821
B2	Gentry	200 W. Clay St. Albany 64402	1845	Clinton	1883'93	1885	1883'93	1885*	1885*	1885*
	Courthouse destroyed by windstorm 1883. Incomplete sporadic records before 1885.
G3	Greene	940 Boonville Springfield 65802	1833	Crawford/Wayne	1883'1901	1833	1883'1902	1833	1830	1833
	Courthouse burned 1861; state census of 1844 and 1876.
B3	Grundy	700 Main St. Trenton 64683	1841	Livingston	1847'93*	1841	1883'93	1841	1863	1841
	*Records incomplete. Birth records extant for 1847'66 and 1883'93 only.
B2	Harrison	1505 Main St. Bethany 64424	1845	Daviess	1883'89	1845	1883'93	1845	1853	1845
	Courthouse burned 1874.|
	Hempstead		1818 (abolished 1819; became part of Arkansas Territory)	New Madrid
E3	Henry	Clinton 64735	1834 (as Rives; renamed 1841)	Lillard (now Lafayette)	1883'90	1835	scattered	1835	1834	1835
F3	Hickory	Hermitage 65668	1845	Benton/Polk	1883'98	1872	1883'89	1846	1845	1845
	Courthouse burned 1852, ~1860, and 1881.
B1	Holt	102 W. Nodaway Oregon 64473	1841 (as Nodaway; renamed 1841)	Platte Purchase	1883'89	1841	1883'89	1841	1837	1841
	Courthouse burned 1965; state census of 1876.
D4	Howard	1 Courthouse Sq. Fayette 65248	1816	St. Charles/St. Louis	1883'93	1816	1883'88	1816	1818	1816
	Courthouse burned 1886, 1975; state census of 1876.
H5	Howell	1 Courthouse West Plains 65775	1857	Oregon	1883'95	1867	1883'95	1866	1862	1857
	Courthouse burned 1866.
F7	Iron	250 S. Main St. Ironton 63650	1857	Madison/Reynolds/ St. Francois/Washington/Wayne	1883'96	1857	1883'87	1814	1857	1857
	State census of 1876.
D2	Jackson	415 E. 12th St. Kansas City 64106 and 200 S. Main Independence 64050	1826	Lillard (now Lafayette)	1883'95	1827	1883'93	1827	1828	1828
G2	Jasper	302 S. Main Carthage 64836	1841	Barry	1883'1900	1841	1883'97	1841	1841	1841
	Courthouse burned 1863.
E7	Jefferson	Hillsboro 63050	1818	St. Louis/Ste. Genevieve	1883'92	1825	1883'92	1819	1820	1819
E3	Johnson	300 N. Holden Warrensburg 64093	1834	Lillard (now Lafayette)	1883'94	1835	1883'94	1832	1835	1835
	Kinderhook		1841 (changed to Camden 1843)	Benton/Pulaski/Morgan
B5	Knox	Edina 63537	1845	Scotland	1883'1939	1845	1883'93	1845	1845	1845
F4	Laclede	Laclede County Government Center Lebanon 65536	1849	Camden/Pulaski/Wright	1883'93	1855		1849	1848	1845
D3	Lafayette	1001 Main Lexington 64067	1820 (as Lillard; renamed 1825)	Cooper		1821		1820	1821	1821
	Lawrence		1815 (abolished 1819; became part of Arkansas Territory)	New Madrid
G3	Lawrence	1 Courthouse Sq. Mt. Vernon 65712	1845	Barry/Dade	1883'93	1845	1883'93	1845	1843	1845
	Courthouse burned 1895.
B5	Lewis	Monticello 63457	1833	Marion	1883'87	1833	1883'87	1833	1833	1833
D6	Lincoln	Troy 63379	1818	St. Charles		1825	1883'84	1819	1820	1819
C4	Linn	Linneus 64653	1837	Chariton	1822'1907*	1857	1883'87	1836	1840	1837
	*Records incomplete. Birth records extant for 1822'88 and 1907 only.
C3	Livingston	700 Webster St. Chillicothe 64601	1837	Carroll	1883'91	1837	1883'90	1837	1837	1837
H2	McDonald	Pineville 64856	1849 (as Seneca)	Newton	1856'94	1865		1853	1865	1855
	Courthouse burned 1863; deeds before 1863 recreated. State census of 1876.
C4	Macon	101 E. Washington Macon 63552	1837	Chariton/Randolph	1883'93	1837	1883'93	1837	1838	1837
G7	Madison	1 Courthouse Sq. Fredericktown 63645	1818	Cape Girardeau/Ste. Genevieve	1883'1900	1821	1883'1900	1819	1821	1827
F5	Maries	211 Fourth St. Vienna 65582	1855	Osage/Pulaski	1883'84	1869	1883 only	1855	1866	1866
	Courthouse burned 1868.
C5	Marion	Palmyra 63461	1826	Ralls	1883'90*	1827	1883'89*	1827	1827	1827
	*Also births 1927'30 and deaths 1927'30.
B3	Mercer	802 Main St. Princeton 64673	1845	Grundy	1883'94	1898	1883'94	1846	1849	1868
	Courthouse burned 1898.
E4	Miller	256 High St. Tuscumbia 65082	1837	Cole/Pulaski	1883'91	1837	1883'1904	1837	1837	1837
H8	Mississippi	Charleston 63834	1845	Scott		1845		1823	1845	1845
	Courthouse burned 1891, 1997.
E4	Moniteau	California 65018	1845	Cole/Morgan	1883'94	1845	1883'87	1845	1845	1845
	State census of 1876.
C5	Monroe	300 N. Main Paris 65275	1831	Ralls	1883'85	1831	1883'85	1831	1832	1831
	Courthouse burned 1861.
D6	Montgomery	Montgomery City 63361	1818	St. Charles		1864		1839	1889
	Courthouse burned 1864, 1901; copies of the original early deeds are at Jones Abstract Company in Montgomery City. State census 1876.
E4	Morgan	100 E. Newton St. Versailles 65084	1833	Cooper	1841'86	1833	1883'86	1837	1834	1833
	*Records incomplete. Birth records extant for 1841'63 and 1883'86 only.
	Courthouse burned 1887.
H8	New Madrid	New Madrid 63869	1812	original		1847		1805	1800	1805
H2	Newton	Neosho 64850	1838	Barry	1883'85	1865	1883'85	1839	1839	1939
	Courthouse destroyed during Civil War.
	Niangua		1841 (renamed Dallas, 1844)	Polk
B1	Nodaway	305 N. Main Maryville 64468	1845	Andrew	1883'90	1845	1883'93	1845	1845	1845
H6	Oregon	Alton 65606	1845	Ripley	1883'90	1845'77*	1883'89	1845	1854	1845'72'
	*Records incomplete. Marriage records extant for 1845'61 and 1877 only.
	' Court records extant for 1845'59 and 1872 only.
	Courthouse burned 1863 during Civil War.
E5	Osage	Linn 65051	1841	Gasconade	1883'98	1841	1883'94	1841	1841	1841
	Courthouse burned 1880 and 1922; state census of 1876.
H4	Ozark	Gainesville 65655	1841 (renamed Decatur, 1843; renamed Ozark, 1845)	Taney	1884'90	1858	1887'89	1858	1865	1858
	Courthouse burned 1858 or 1859, 1865, 1934, and 1937.
J8	Pemiscot	610 Ward Ave. Caruthersville 63830	1851	New Madrid	1883'84	1882		1881	1865	1883
	Courthouse burned 1882. Deed index from 1833 survived fire.
F8	Perry	321 N. Main Perryville 63775	1820	Ste. Genevieve	1883'94	1830	1883'94	1821	1821	1821
	State census of 1876.
E3	Pettis	Sedalia 65301	1833	Cooper/Saline	1883'85	1833	1883'85	1833	1833	1833
F5	Phelps	200 N. Main Rolla 65401	1857	Crawford	1883'90	1857	1883'90	1857	1858	1857
	State census of 1876.
C6	Pike	Bowling Green 63334	1818	St. Charles	1883'84	1825		1819	1825	1819
	Courthouse burned 1864 and 1915.
C1	Platte	415 Third St. Platte City 64079	1838	Platte Purchase	1883'87	1839	1883'87	1839	1839	1839
	Courthouse destroyed 1861 during Civil War.
F3	Polk	Bolivar 65613	1835	Greene	1872'1900	1836	1883'90	1837	1835	1836
F5	Pulaski	301 Historic 66 East Waynesville 65583		Crawford		1903		1903	1833	1834
	Courthouse burned 1903.
B4	Putnam	Unionville 63565	1845	Adair/Sullivan	1878'1907	1849	1887'1907	1847	1853	1855
C6	Ralls	New London 63459	1820	Pike	1883'93	1821	1883'86	1821	1821	1821
C4	Randolph	Huntsville 65259	1829	Chariton/Ralls	1883'89	1829	1883'89	1841	1829	1858
	Courthouse burned 1882 and 1955. Deed index from 1829 survived fire.
D2	Ray	Richmond 64085	1820	Howard	1883'90	1820	1883'89	1820	1821	1821
G6	Reynolds	Centerville 63633	1845	Shannon	1883'86	1872	1883'86	1872	1872	1872
	Courthouse burned 1862, 1871; state census of 1876.
H7	Ripley	Doniphan 63935	1833	Wayne	1883'97	1833	1883'93	1833	1856	1867
	Courthouse burned during Civil War and 1898.
	Rives		1834 (see Henry)
D7	St. Charles	201 N. Second St. P.O. Box 99 St. Charles 63302	1812	original	1867'90	1807		1804	1805	1808
	City Clerk has birth and death records 1883'1952.
F3	St. Clair	655 Second St. Osceola 64776	1841	Rives (now Henry)	1883'1903	1855	1883'90	1841	1865	1841
	Courthouse burned 1861 and 1864.
F7	St. Francois	Farmington 63640	1821	Jefferson/Ste. Genevieve/Washington	1883'93	1836	1883'90	1822	1822	1822
	State census of 1876.
E7	St. Louis (City)	1200 Market St. St. Louis 63103	1804 (1764)	(1876 became independent city separate from St. Louis County)	1825'*	1766	1825'*	1766	1766	1766
	On August 22, 1876, St. Louis City separated from St. Louis County and began keeping its own records, also retaining all original St. Louis County records before 1876.
	*Public Vital Records before State Recording: City of St. Louis Vital Records Division, City Health Department, 634 N. Grand Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103. Some births and deaths were recorded back as far as 1825, but they are far from complete.
E7	St. Louis County	41 S. Central Ave. Clayton 63105	1812	original	1883'*	1876'	1883'*	1876	1876	1876
	Note that all records of St. Louis County prior to 1876 are held by the City of St. Louis (see listing above).
	*Public Vital Records before state recording: Vital Records Division, County Health Department, 111 S. Meramec, Clayton, MO 63105.
F7	Ste. Genevieve	Ste. Genevieve 63670	1812	original	1883'92	1807	1883'92	1804*	1807	1804
	State census 1868. *Also Misc. Records (Concessions, Contracts, Deeds, Slave Deeds) 1761' .
D3	Saline	101 W. Arrow Marshall 65340	1820	Cooper	1883'85	1835	1883'85	1821	1821	1821
	Courthouse burned 1864 during Civil War.
B4	Schuyler	Lancaster 63548	1845	Adair	1883'93	1845	1883'91	1845	1845	1846
	State census 1880.
B5	Scotland	117 S. Market Memphis 63555	1841	Clark/Lewis/Shelby	1883'89	1841	1883'89	1836	1842	1841
G8	Scott	131 S. Winchester Benton 63736	1821	New Madrid	1883'86	1840	1883'86	1822	1825	1822
	State census of 1876.
G6	Shannon	Eminence 65466	1841	Ripley		1881		1859	1869	1872
	Courthouse burned during Civil War, 1871, 1895, and 1938.
C5	Shelby	Shelbyville 63469	1835	Marion	1883'87	1835	1883'87	1835	1836	1835
	Courthouse burned 1891.
H8	Stoddard	316 S. Prairie Bloomfield 63825	1835	New Madrid	1883'87	1863	1883'86	1835	1835	1835
	Courthouse burned 1864 during Civil War.
H3	Stone	108 E. Fourth St. Galena 65656	1851	Taney		1851		1854	1848	1851
B4	Sullivan	109 N. Main Milan 63556	1845	Linn	1835'71*	1845	1883'99	1845	1849	1845
	Courthouse burned 1908. *Also birth records 1883'92.
H4	Taney	266-A Main St. Forsythe 65653	1837	Greene		1885		1881	1888	1887
	Courthouse burned 1885.
G5	Texas	210 N. Grand Ave. Houston 65483	1845	Shannon/Wright	1883'87	1855	1883'90	1843	1870	1858
	Courthouse burned or damaged ~1850, destroyed during Civil War, burned 1881 and 1930. State census of 1876.
	Van Buren		1835 (see Cass)
F2	Vernon	100 W. Cherry Nevada 64772	1855	Bates	1883'97	1855	1883'1904	1855	1855	1856
	Courthouse burned 1863 during Civil War.
D6	Warren	104 W. Main Warrenton 63383	1833	Montgomery	1883'89	1833	1884'94	1833	1833	1833
F6	Washington	102 N. Missouri Potosi 63664	1813	Ste. Genevieve	1883'95	1815	1883'1976*	1813	1813	1819
	*Records incomplete. Death records extant for 1883'95 and 1974'76 only.
	Courthouse burned 1907.
G7	Wayne	109 Walnut Greenville 63944	1818	Cape Girardeau/Lawrence		1892		1849	1869	1893
	Courthouse burned 1853 or 1854 and 1892; some deeds re-recorded.
G4	Webster	100 Crittenden St. Marshfield 65706	1855	Greene	1883'93	1855	1883'84	1854	1856	1855
	Courthouse burned 1863 during Civil War; damaged by tornado 1880. State census of 1868, 1876.
B2	Worth	Fourth & Front St. Grant City 64456	1861	Gentry	1883'93	1861	1883'93	1849	1861	1861
	Courthouse burned 1866. State census of 1876.
B4	Wright	125 Court Sq. Hartville 65667	1841	Pulaski		1897		1853	1853	1895
	Courthouse burned 1862 and 1863 during Civil War and 1896; damaged by tornado in 1888.