Sorted by Missouri census & voter lists | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, U.S., State Census Collection, 1844-1881 | 315,589 |
U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 | 171,563 |
U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898 | 165,796 |
Missouri, U.S., Jackson County Voter Registration Records, 1928-1956 | 61,961 |
Missouri, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1830-1860 | 52,451 |
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Sorted by Missouri birth, marriage & death | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, U.S., Birth Registers, 1847-2002 | 8,462,358 |
Missouri, U.S., Marriage Records, 1805-2002 | 6,493,677 |
U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970 | 4,566,787 |
Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1969Free | 4,392,648 |
U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Swedish American Church Records, 1800-1947 | 3,655,095 |
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Sorted by Missouri military | Sort by Count |
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U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 | 54,144,553 |
U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 | 14,501,913 |
U.S., Confederate Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 | 2,049,383 |
U.S., Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865 | 837,569 |
Missouri, U.S. Pre-World War II Adjutant General Enlistment Contracts, 1900-1941 | 342,712 |
View all Missouri military (16) |
Sorted by Missouri immigration & emigration | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, U.S., Western District Naturalization Index, 1840-1990 | 127,003 |
Missouri, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1942 | 96,830 |
Missouri, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists of Airplanes, 1958-1963 | 1,127 |
Missouri, U.S., County Naturalization Records, 1883-1927 | 898 |
View other immigration & emigration collections related to Missouri (43) |
Sorted by Missouri newspapers & periodicals | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current | 696,436,718 |
View other newspapers & periodicals collections related to Missouri (51) |
Sorted by Missouri pictures | Sort by Count |
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There are no pictures collections unique to Missouri | |
View other pictures collections related to Missouri (15) |
Sorted by Missouri directories & member lists | Sort by Count |
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Springfield, Missouri, U.S., St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Employee Cards, 1940-1980 | 396,807 |
Missouri State Offices Political and Military Records, 1919 - 1920 | 25,922 |
Missouri, U.S., Quaker Records Index, 1867-1933 | 2,604 |
Gould's St. Louis red book, 1914 | 1,590 |
Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1881 | 1,261 |
View all Missouri directories & member lists (15) |
Sorted by Missouri court, land, wills & financial | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1766-1988 | 2,356,895 |
Missouri, U.S., Miscellaneous Records, 1805-2002 | 213,680 |
U.S., Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 | 171,563 |
U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898 | 165,796 |
The Spanish Regime in Missouri | 913 |
View all Missouri court, land, wills & financial (6) |
Sorted by Missouri dictionaries, encyclopedias & reference | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, U.S., Cemetery Inscription Sources, 1995 | 15,040 |
Missouri History Encyclopedia, 1901 | 4,060 |
Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis : a compendium of history and biography for ready reference | 2,901 |
Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1881 | 1,261 |
Missouri Biographical Dictionary | 1,103 |
View all Missouri dictionaries, encyclopedias & reference (16) |
Sorted by Missouri maps, atlases & gazetteers | Sort by Count |
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U.S., Indexed Early Land Ownership and Township Plats, 1785-1898 | 165,796 |
Missouri State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1881 | 1,261 |
Gazetteer of the state of Missouri | 370 |
A gazetteer of the states of Illinois and Missouri | 351 |
View other maps, atlases & gazetteers collections related to Missouri (11) |
Sorted by Missouri stories, memories & histories | Sort by Count |
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Missouri, Bible Records, 1600-1963 | 8,699 |
Missouri History Encyclopedia, 1901 | 4,060 |
Encyclopedia of the history of St. Louis : a compendium of history and biography for ready reference | 2,901 |
The winning of the West | 1,736 |
Gould's St. Louis red book, 1914 | 1,590 |
View all Missouri stories, memories & histories (129) |
A genealogical history
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
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.
- Missouri State Archives: The Digital Heritage project includes a searchable index to Missouri pre-1910 birth and death records and a digitized collection of Missouri death certificates. See the useful FAQ page for information about vital records at the Archives.
- Missouri Bureau of Vital Records: Holds records of births from January 1, 1910, and records of death which are less than 50 years old. Older death records have been transferred to the Missouri State Archives.
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
- State Historical Society of Missouri – Newspaper collection
- Chronicling America: Online newspapers: Provides searchable online versions of selected 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
- Mid-Continent Public Library – Midwest Genealogy Center
- Genealogical Society of Central Missouri
- Springfield-Greene County Library – Local History and Genealogy
- St. Louis Genealogical Society: The Society’s collections are held at the St. Louis County Library. Online tools on the website include a searchable index of St. Louis naturalization records; an extensive list of St. Louis resources which include church, cemetery, ethnic, military, and many other resources; and the Earl Fischer Database of information on St. Louis people.
- St. Louis County Library Genealogical collections