Platte County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Description
Platte County was named for the Platte River or Platte Purchase. The county is located in the northwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Platte County Courthouse 415 3rd Street PO Box 30CH Platte City, MO 64079 Phone: 816-858-2232 Platte County Website County Clerk has birth records 1883-1887 and death records 1883-1888. Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records. Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records. Probate Judge has probate and court records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Platte County, MO, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census Records

 * 1732-1933 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1850-1860 Slave Schedules, Census Records Search online at Missouri State Archives - index and images.
 * 1850-1880 Mortality Schedules, Census Records Search online at Missouri State Archives — index and images.
 * 1850-1880 Special Federal Schedules, Census Records Search online at Missouri State Archives - browsable images of agricultural schedules and manufacturing and industrial schedules.

Church Records

 * FamilySearch Places

List of Churches and Church Parishes

Catholic Deister Settlement


 * 1847-1853 Deister Settlement Catholic Church Baptism Index 1847-1853. Batch  at FamilySearch.

Holy Trinity Teeleum Landeing, Weston


 * 1847-1876 Holy Trinity Teeleum Landeing, Weston, Baptism Index 1847-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch.
 * 1848-1885 Holy Trinity Teeleum Landeing, Weston, Marriage Index 1848-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch.

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1839-1869 Missouri Judicial Records Historical Database online at Missouri State Archives — index and images.
 * 1821-1874 Missouri Supreme Court Historical Database online at Missouri State Archives — index and images.

Directories

 * Kansas City, Missouri City Directories, 1889-91 at Ancestry ($)

Land and Property Records
Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Missouri Land and Property for information about records of land transfers from the government to private ownership. After that transfer, transactions were usually recorded and are currently housed at the county courthouse.


 * 1843-1851 Land Claim Books, County and Municipal Records Database online at Missouri State Archives — images.
 * 1844-1891 Land Records online at Missouri State Archives — index.

Local Histories

 * Annals of Platte County, Missouri. 1897. By William McClung Paxton. Kansas City, Missouri: Hudson-Kimberly Publishing Co. Online at ; and at Missouri Digital History
 * Also at: Google Books; and at.


 * A Civic History of Kansas City, Missouri. Available online at Ancestry ($)
 * History of Clay and Platte Counties, Missouri. 1885. St. Louis, Missouri: National Historical Company. Online at: FamilySearch; and at Missouri Digital History
 * History of Missouri's Counties, County Seats, and Courthouse Squares. 1983. by Marian M. Ohman. Missouri: Missouri State Library. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * Kansas City, Missouri : its History and its People, 1808-1908. 1908. by Carrie Westlake Whitney. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Online at Ancestry ($)
 * Platte County. 1929. Platte City, Mo: Landmark. Available online at FamilySearch
 * State of Missouri: an autobiography. 1904. By Walter Williams. Columbia, Mo: Press of E. W. Stephens. Online at: Missouri Digital History

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Platte County townships (Histopolis)
 * Missouri As It Is In 1867. 1867. by Nathan II. Parker. Philadelpia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Online at: Missouri Digital History


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


 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Platte County, Missouri Genealogy for European settlers included:


 * Missouri River from St. Louis to western Missouri via flatboat or steamboat
 * Boone's Lick Road from St. Charles, Missouri, to Independence, Missouri, via wagon
 * Liberty to Fort Leavenworth Military Road from Liberty, Missouri, to the Platte Purchase counties via wagon
 * Oregon Trail 1830s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 from western Missouri to northern California

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images - How to Use this Collection

Civil War
Online Records


 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1866 Missouri's Union Provost Marshal Papers online at Missouri State Archives - index and images.
 * 1911-1938  at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Regiments

Service men in Platte County, Missouri Genealogy 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 Platte County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1941-1946  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1816-1955 Naturalization Records records online at Missouri State Archives — index.
 * 1843-1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * Missouri Digital Newspaper Project at Missouri State Historical Society

Other Records

 * 1836-1931 Missouri State Penitentiary records online at Missouri State Archives — index and images.

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1750-1988 at FamilySearch — images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1766-1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry — index and images ($)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Birth

 * Pre-1910 Missouri Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index.
 * 1817-1939 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1827-1935 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1850-1877 Platte County Birth Index 1850-1877. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1910-2022 Missouri, Birth Index, 1920-2015 at Reclaim the Records — index; Also at: MyHeritage ($)

Marriage

 * 1750-1920 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1776-1988 Missouri, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1839-1855 Marriage records of Platte County, Missouri, 1839-1855 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1839-1882 Platte County Marriage Index 1839-1882. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1881-1885 Platte County Marriage Index 1881-1885. Batch at FamilySearch.

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1960 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1910-1972 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1972 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index and images.
 * 1968-2022 Missouri, Death Index, 1968-2015 at Reclaim the Records — index; Also at: MyHeritage ($); Ancestry ($)

FamilySearch Centers

 * Platte City Missouri FamilySearch Center
 * Riverview Missouri FamilySearch Center

Libraries
Mid-Continent Public Libraries in Platte City, Weston, and several locations in Southern Platte County.

Societies

 * Platte County Historical Society P.O. Box 103 220 Ferrel St. Platte City, MO. 64079-0103 (816) 431-5121 Website Facebook


 * Northland Genealogy Society P.O. Box 14121 Parkville, MO 64152 Email: [mailto:President@northlandgensoc.org President@northlandgensoc.org] Website

Websites

 * Missouri Digital Heritage. Free. digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
 * Platte County Missouri Genealogy Research. Contains information for researching genealogy in Platte County MO, Census, bios, obituary, birth, death, marriage, maps, and other records
 * MOGenWeb. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
 * USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * . Free. - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records
 * RootsWeb resources. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * StateofUS. Free. family history resources and government records
 * Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)

Research Guides

 * Missouri State Archives Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm: Platte. This 95-page pdf lists hundreds of Platte County microfilm rolls available for viewing at the Missouri State Archives. Departments filmed include the circuit court, tax collector, coroner, county clerk, court of common pleas, justice of the peace, probate court, school district, recorder of deeds, city clerks (Houston Lake and Weston). Some of these records have been digitized at Missouri Digital Heritage.