Adair County, Missouri Genealogy

''This article is about a northeast Missouri county. For other uses, see Adair.''

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

County Courthouse
County Recorder has marriage and land records from 1840. Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Probate Clerk has probate records; County Clerk has school enumeration records.

Parent County
1841 Adair County was created 29 January 1841 from Macon County. County seat: Kirksville

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
Knox •  Linn  •  Macon  •  Putnam  •  Schuyler  •  Scotland  •  Sullivan

Cemeteries
Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries Missouri Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * Violette, Eugene Morrow. History of Adair County : together with reminiscences and biographical sketches. Kirksville, Missouri : Denslow History Co., 1911.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free); and at HathiTrust (Free)


 * History of Adair, Sullivan, Putnam and Schuyler counties, Missouri : from the earliest time to the present. Chicago, Illinois : Goodspeed Pub. Co., 1888.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free); and at Missouri Digital Heritage (Free)


 * John, A. H. Sketch of Adair County, Missouri : plus "patron's business references" by township, telling the section, township and range of their property, where they were born and when they settled in Adair County. S.l. : s.n., 199-?.
 * Online at Family Search (Free); PDF at Adairchs (Free)

History Timeline
Emphasis for this timeline is on events that affected migration, records, or record-keeping. Unless otherwise mentioned, the events below were gleaned from Missouri Digital Heritage,


 * The area now known as Adair County was first settled in pre-historic times.
 * 1804 November 3 - The Treaty of St. Louis, between the USA and the Sacs and Foxes, stipulated that goods and cash be paid to the Sacs and Foxes.
 * 1825 - The Big Neck War was fought.
 * 1828 - The first white settlement in Adair County.
 * 1838-40 - Survey of Public Lands of Adair County was completed.
 * 1840 - Both settlers and speculators began a rush to the land office.
 * 1841 January 29 - Adair County was founded.
 * 1850 - Immigrants started coming to Adair County in large numbers.

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Interactive map of Adair County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Adair County.

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 Adair 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 Adair County, Missouri:

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War Battle was fought in Adair County


 * August 6-9, 1862 = Kirksville

Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers
The Adair County Historical Society has created an obituary and death noticecollection on its website. They have been extrated from the Kirksville Daily Express and cover from March, 1979 through December 31, 2010. There are some additional obituaries taken from the Unionville Republican which are earlier than the listed dates above.

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

 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1866 - 1867 Adair County Birth Index, Volume 1, 1866-1867. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1841 - 1878 Adair County Marriage Book 1 Index 1841-1878. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1871 - 1884 Adair County Marriage Books 2 thru 4 Index 1871-1884. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1884 - 1885 Adair County Marriage Books 5 and 6 Index 1884-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $

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

Adair County Historical Society 211 South Elson Street Kirksville, MO 63501-3466 Phone: 660-665-6502

Family History Centers

 * Kirksville Missouri Family History Center 2000 E Normal, Kirksville, MO 63501 United States Location Map