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Missouri, U.S., State Census Collection, 1844-1881315,589
U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820171,563
U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898165,796
Missouri, U.S., Jackson County Voter Registration Records, 1928-195661,961
Missouri, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1830-186052,451
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Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-20028,462,358
Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-20026,493,677
U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-19704,566,787
Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1969Free4,392,648
U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-19473,655,095
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U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-194754,144,553
U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 194214,501,913
U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-18652,049,383
U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865837,569
Missouri, U.S. Pre-World War II Adjutant General Enlistment Contracts, 1900-1941342,712
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Missouri, U.S., Western District Naturalization Index, 1840-1990127,003
Missouri, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-194296,830
Missouri, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists of Airplanes, 1958-19631,127
Missouri, U.S., County Naturalization Records, 1883-1927898
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Missouri, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current696,436,718
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There are no pictures collections unique to Missouri
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Springfield, Missouri, U.S., St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Employee Cards, 1940-1980396,807
Missouri State Offices Political and Military Records, 1919 - 192025,922
Missouri, U.S., Quaker Records Index, 1867-19332,604
Gould's St. Louis red book, 19141,590
Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 18811,261
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Missouri, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1766-19882,356,895
Missouri, U.S., Miscellaneous Records, 1805-2002213,680
U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820171,563
U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898165,796
The Spanish Regime in Missouri913
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Missouri, U.S., Cemetery Inscription Sources, 199515,040
Missouri History Encyclopedia, 19014,060
Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis : a compendium of history and biography for ready reference2,901
Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 18811,261
Missouri Biographical Dictionary1,103
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U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898165,796
Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 18811,261
Gazetteer of the state of Missouri370
A gazetteer of the states of Illinois and Missouri351
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Missouri, Bible Records, 1600-19638,699
Missouri History Encyclopedia, 19014,060
Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis : a compendium of history and biography for ready reference2,901
The winning of the West1,736
Gould's St. Louis red book, 19141,590
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A genealogical history

Missouri in brief

Statehood: August 10, 1821
Capital: Jefferson City
Largest City: Kansas City
Counties: 115
State motto: Salus Populi Suprema Lex Esto (The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law)
State nickname: The Show Me State
Neighboring states: Iowa, Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma
 


Eads Bridge at St. Louis, Missouri, c. 1874

Interesting facts

  • In the 1800s as settlers began westward migration, Independence was a popular starting point for the wagon trains. Merchants were on hand to supply emigrants with the necessary supplies and people converged on the city from all over to join the wagon trains on their journey to the West.
  • In 1811 and 1812, three earthquakes, estimated at around 8.0 on the Richter scale, jolted the New Madrid, Missouri, and much of the Midwest. The quakes permanently altered the landscape, creating new lakes and even reversing the flow of the Mississippi River for a time.
  • In 1819, Missouri Territory sought statehood. With eleven free states and eleven slave states, the prospect drew heated debate. The Missouri Compromise was reached and as part of the agreement, Maine, previously part of Massachusetts would become the 23rd state on 15 March 1820, and Missouri would be admitted as a slave state (21 August 1821), thereby maintaining the balance.
     

Featured Missouri collections

U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970
Missouri, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current
U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865
Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-2002

Famous people

Help and advice

Resources

Missouri Census Research

Federal censuses are available for Missouri as early as 1830. Pre-statehood territorial censuses taken in 1810 and 1820 censuses were lost or destroyed, though the 1820 has been reconstructed from census fragments, tax lists, petitioner’s lists, and other records. Other censuses were taken in 1814, 1817, and 1819, but only statistical summaries remain. Fragmented Spanish censuses exist for select towns or settlements.

Although Missouri conducted a number of state censuses, most of the individual schedules are lost, with only statistical abstracts remaining. The state compiled a census corresponding to the 1840 U.S. census, for which nine counties survive, including New Madrid, Newton, Pike, Randolph, Ray, Shelby, Stoddard, Warren, and Rives (now Henry).

A few listings remain for the state censuses of 1844, 1852, 1856, and 1868, but most are statistical abstracts only. The state census of 1876 exists for Benton, Butler, Callaway, Cape Girardeau, Christian, Franklin, Greene, Holt, Howard, Iron, McDonald, Montgomery, Osage, Phelps, Reynolds, St. Francois and Texas counties. The originals remain in the county, but microfilmed copies have been made by the Missouri State Archives and are also available at the FHL.

 

Missouri Vital Records
Missouri began recording vital records at the statewide level August 1909. The city of St. Louis, however, began recording deaths in 1850 and births in 1870. It is estimated that about 60% compliance was met in these earlier recordings for that city.


Marriage records must be requested from the Recorder of Deeds for the county where the license was issued. Divorce decrees are held by the Circuit Clerk for the county where the divorce was granted.

 

Missouri Land Records

  • Missouri State Archives - Land Records: The page provides an overview of holdings at the Archives, and includes a link to a searchable collection of land patents issued by the state of Missouri from 1831-1969.
  • Bureau of Land Management (BLM) General Land Office Records: The BLM administers Federal Land for public land states including Missouri, and maintains records of land patents which granted land from the Federal Government to individuals. Use the Land Patent Search to locate land grants by name. Many record images are available on the web site. See the FAQ for more information on how to locate and use land patents.

 

Missouri Newspapers


Missouri Research Resources

The organizations listed below provide information about Missouri history and genealogy. In addition to these state-level resources, many counties and towns maintain important genealogical collections in local libraries, genealogical societies, or historical societies, so check for a local resource when researching.

 

Statewide Research Resources

  • Missouri State Archives: The Research Room page describes the holdings, which include census, land, military, judicial, and more than 1000 family histories. Several important collections have been indexed and made available on the Missouri Digital Heritage website. The growing collection of online resources includes indexes to birth and death records, coroner’s inquests, court proceedings, land transactions, and military records. The useful FAQ page describes the process to request research.
  • The State Historical Society of Missouri: Among the highlights of the Society’s extensive holdings are large collections of newspapers, photographs, oral histories, census records, and Western States manuscripts. Researchers can visit the research room located on the University of Missouri – Columbia campus, or request limited research via a web-based form.
  • Missouri History Museum: The Library and Research Center in St. Louis holds many resources of interest to genealogists. See the Catalogs and Indexes section to search the holdings. Some names, businesses, and streets are indexed in the searchable Genealogy and Local History Index.
  • Missouri State Genealogical Association
  • Missouri GenWeb: This extensive website provides links to maps, historical information, county-level genealogy pages, Missouri research resources, special projects, and information on the Civil War. Some vital records information is also available, including “Missouri Marriages, 1820-1850”, and the Missouri Tombstone project.
  • The National Archives at Kansas City, Missouri: This facility maintains records from Federal agencies and courts in Missouri, including census, military, court, naturalization, and immigration records.

 

Local and Regional Research