Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Cooper County, Missouri ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Court House
County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1893 and burial records; Circuit Clerk has marriage, divorce, court and naturalization records from 1819, and land records from 1812; Associate Circuit Court has probate record from 1828.

Parent County
1818 Cooper County was created 17 December 1818 from Howard County. County seat: Boonville

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Missouri county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Missouri County Boundary Maps" (1804-1889) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties.

Neighboring Counties
Boone •  Howard  •  Moniteau  •  Morgan  •  Pettis  •  Saline

Cemeteries

 * Cooper County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1-12 at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Catholic
St. Peter and Paul, Boonville


 * 1850 - 1876 St. Peter and Paul, Boonville, Baptism Index 1850-1876. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1851 - 1876 St. Peter and Paul, Boonville, Marriage Index 1851-1857, 1867-1876. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) &amp; Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry.com ($)

Local Histories
A history of Cooper County, Missouri from the first visit by white men, in February, 1804, to the fifth day of July, 1876 by Levens and Drake (1876) is available online free from Google Books.


 * National Historical Company. History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences. St. Louis : National Historical Co., 1883.
 * Online at Family Search (Free)
 * Johnson, William Foreman. History of Cooper County, Missouri. Topeka, Kansas : Historical Pub. Co., 1919.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Melton, Elston Joseph. Melton's history of Cooper County, Missouri, an account from early times to the present. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Barnes, J. B. Short historical sketches of Boonville and vicinity. Boonville, Mo. : [Boonville Advertiser?], 1928.
 * Online at Family Search (Free)

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Cooper County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Cooper County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.


 * Map of 1904 Cooper County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

Military

 * 1900 - 1941 at FamilySearch — images

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861 - 1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861 - 1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * at FamilySearch — images

Regiments

Service men in Cooper County, Missouri served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Cooper County, Missouri:

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War Battle was fought in Cooper County:


 * June 17, 1861 = Boonville also known as First Battle of Boonville
 * Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Jefferson City newspapers and Sedalia newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's covering local news that included residents from Cooper County communities.

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1750 - 1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Births

 * 1819 - 1867 Cooper County Birth Index, Volumes A thru C, 1819-1867. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1868 - 1872 Cooper County Birth Index, Volume E, 1868-1872. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883 - 1884 Cooper County Birth Index 1883-1884. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1776-1988 - Missouri, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1819 - 1850 Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) &amp; Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1819 - 1867 Cooper County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1819-1867. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1867 - 1883 Cooper County Marriage Book E Index 1867-1883. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1881 - 1885 Cooper County Marriage Books 1 thru 3 Index 1881-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * 1820 - 1870 Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) &amp; Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1884 Cooper County Death Index 1883-1884. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * Boonslick Historical Society Of Cooper And Howard Counties P.O. Box 324 Boonville, MO 65233


 * Cooper County Historical Society &amp; Research Center P.O. Box 51 111 Roe Street Pilot Grove, MO 65276 Phone: 660-834-3582


 * List of Missouri Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies