Douglas County, Nebraska Genealogy

Douglas County, Nebraska genealogy and family history research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
County Judge has marriage and probate records. Clerk District Court has divorce records. County Clerk has military discharge records.

Parent County
1854 Douglas County was created 23 November 1854 as an original county. County seat: Omaha

History of Douglas County: Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska, Douglas County, Produced by Liz Lee

Description
Douglas County was established in 1855. It was named after Stephen A. Douglas (1813-1861), U.S. Senator from Illinois. Its county seat is Omaha, the state's largest city.

Boundary Changes

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Nebraska - shows boundary changes for Nebraska Counties
 * Nebraska Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Records Lost
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Cities

 * Bennington
 * Omaha
 * Ralston
 * Valley

Villages

 * Boys Town
 * Waterloo

Census-designated places

 * King Lake
 * Venice

Unincorporated communities

 * Briggs
 * Debolt
 * Elk City
 * Irvington
 * Lane

Neighboring Counties

 * Dodge
 * Pottawattamie County, Iowa
 * Sarpy
 * Saunders
 * Washington

Railroads
In December 1863 the First Transcontinental Railroad started from Omaha, Nebraska.


 * Union Pacific Railroad
 * American Memoryfrom Library of Congress has maps of the Union Pacific Railroad
 * Wikipedia article on the Union Pacific Railroad
 * Railroad Museumin Omaha, Nebraska

Cemeteries and Obituaries

 * Douglas County Cemeteriesfrom RootsWeb - Links to some cemeteries and transcriptions
 * Omaha obituary index. Lists over 150,000 obituaries from Omaha and surrounding areas.

BillionGraves: Each page has Google map showing cemetery, and searchable database for each one, and photos of headstones.


 * Bohemian Cemetery, Omaha
 * Calvary Cemetery, Omahas
 * Elkhorn Cemetery, Elkhorn
 * Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery, Omaha
 * Forest Lawn Cemetery, Omaha
 * Golden Hill Cemetery, Omaha
 * Graceland Park Cemetery, Omaha
 * Mormon Cemetery, Omaha See note below.
 * Mount Auburn Cemetery, Omaha
 * Mount Calvary Cemetery, Elkhorn
 * Mount Sinai Cemetery, Omaha
 * Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Omaha
 * Prospect Hill Cemetery, Omaha
 * Saint Mary's Cemetery, Omaha
 * Saint Mary Magdalene Cemetery, Omaha
 * Springwell Cemetery, Omaha
 * West Lawn Cemetery, Omaha

Note about 'Mormon Cemetery'. Burials here are largely from the late 1840s, when the Mormons began their trek west, this general area very close to this spot is where they stopped for the winter of 1846 and subsequent groups heading for what is now known as Utah staged from this general area. This area is also known as 'Winter Quarters' due to the fact that the first group stopped for the winter around this location. There may be a very few later than that here as well.

State Census Records

 * 1854 - 1870 - Nebraska, Compiled Census Index, 1854-1870 at Ancestry.com - index ($)
 * 1860 - 1885 - Nebraska State Census Collection 1860-1885 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)
 * 1885 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1885 - Nebraska State Census 1885 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for Nebraska starting in 1860. For links to Federal census indexes, see Nebraska Census.

Church
Google maps shows many Douglas County churches

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Record of Members 1929-1942 at Family History Library
 * Record of Members 1941 at Family History Library
 * Bishops Accounts 1840-1859 for Bishop Edward Hunter. Also includes Nauvoo, Illinois 5th Ward and Salt Lake City, Utah 13th Ward,

Lutheran

 * Records of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Millard, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court

 * Douglas County Court 1819 Farnam St. Omaha, NE 68183 Telephone: (402) 444-7000
 * Douglas County Court Directory Lists courts in Douglas County their addresses, their online resources, and links to their individual websites.


 * 1870 - 1990 — Nebraska Prisoner Records 1870-1990 — index only

Land

 * DoGIS.com Geographical Information Systems for Douglas County. Locate addresses and land parcels in the county

For more information see Nebraska Land and Property
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Nebraska Gazetteer - database for all known places found in 1890 and 1911 Nebraska gazetteers
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Nebraska - shows boundary changes for Nebraska Counties

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Douglas County for European and African American settlers included:


 * Missouri River
 * Platte River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Revolutionary War

 * 1775 - 1783 - at FamilySearch - images only
 * For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * Grand Army of the Republic in Douglas County, Nebraska -- Provisional Organization - July 10, 1867  --  Permanent Organization June 12, 1877


 * 1891 - Nebraska Resident Military Roster on June 1, 1891 at Ancestry.com - ($), Roster of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the War of 1812, the Mexico War, and the War of the Rebellion, residing in Nebraska June 1, 1891
 * 1893 - Roster of Nebraska Veterans - list of veterans in 1893
 * For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.


 * 1) History of Nebraska GAR
 * 2) GAR information is available through the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War


 * Original Post


 * 1) Post # 1 OMAHA Chartered Dec. 13, 1866 by National Headquarters 15 members


 * Later Posts


 * 1) Post #2 FT. OMAHA Phil Kearny Jan. 1, 1876-1896 Post moved to South Omaha Membership: Total-136+
 * 2) Post #2-A South Omaha Phil Kearny Oct 5, 1896-1924 Charter surrendered April 30, 1924 Membership: Total-304+
 * 3) Post # 7 Omaha George Custer June 5, 1876-1946 Changed Jan 9, 1922 when last 3 Omaha posts were combined to Old Guard (A reference to their being the last of their kind) Membership: Total-477+
 * 4) Post #110 Omaha Aug. 18, 1882-1921 Combined with Post #7 Omaha, changed on July (23), 1888 to U.S.Grant, Membership: Charter-18 Total-344+
 * 5) Post # 262 Omaha April 6, 1888-1921, Combined with Post 7 Gate City, (Post originally requested name of Thomas J. Potter) changed January 30, 1889 to Phil Sheridan, changed March 21, 1890 to George Crook, Membership: Total-400+
 * 6) Post # 282 South Omaha R.R. Livingston May 7, 1889-1896 Combined with Post 2-A 1827-1888 Membership: Charter-N/A Total-66+
 * 7) Post # 300 Florence James Isom March 29, 1890-1890 Charter surrendered 1/29/189,1Membership: Total-12
 * 8) Post # 337 South Omaha Samuel Dennis April 16, 1895-1896 Combined with Post 2-A Membership: Charter-27 Total-34

WWI

 * 1917 - 1918 - World War I Drafts 1917-1918 - index only
 * For more nationwide World War I databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Newspapers

 * Library of CongressChronicling America newspaper project contains digital copies of newspapers for Douglas County, Nebraska. Some are foreign language newspaprs. Years of publication vary.

Obituaries

 * Omaha Obits - site with obituary listings that includes the Omaha Bee, the Omaha Star (African-American paper) and the Jewish Press; provided by the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society.

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1806 – 1989 Nebraska Wills and Probate Records 1806-1989 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Vital Records

 * Douglas Countybirths from early Omaha newspapers at the W. Dale Clark Library in Omaha. These birth announcements were extracted by those looking for obituaries in the same papers.
 * Marriage License Indexes for Douglas County, Nebraska: Licenses since 1988 plus some earlier
 * Obituaries from Omaha and surroundong areas, Nearly 19,000 listings from Omaha newspapers.

Marriage Records
Online Marriage Records Indexes and Images
 * 1855 - 1995 — at FamilySearch — index only
 * 1856 - 1898 — Nebraska Marriages 1856-1898 at Ancestry.com ($), index only
 * Marriage License Indexes for Omaha, Nebraska

Societies and Libraries
County, Township and City Societies


 * Historical Society of Douglas County 5730 N 30th St #11b Omaha, NE 68111 Metro Community College P.O. Box 11398 Phone: 402-455-9990; 402-451-1013 Fax: 402-451-1394


 * Valley Community Historical Society 218 West Alexander P.O. Box 685 Valley, NE 68064 Phone: 402-359-5544; 402-359-2678


 * Greater Omaha Genealogical Society 720 N. 87th Street P.O. Box 4011 Omaha, NE 68104-0011

Libraries


 * Baright Public Library 5555 South 77th St Ralston, NE 68127-2899 Phone: 402-331-7636 Fax: 402-331-1168 Email: [mailto:jgorman@cityofralston.com jgorman@cityofralston.com]


 * Creighton University Carl M. Reinert/Alumni Memorial Library 2500 California Plaza Omaha, NE 68178 Phone: 402-280-2227; Archives: 402-280-2746 Fax: 402-280-2435 Email: [mailto:askus@creighton.edu askus@creighton.edu]


 * Omaha Public Library 215 South 15th St Omaha, NE 68102-1629 Phone: 402-444-4825 Fax: 402-444-4507 Email: [mailto:heenan@omaha.lib.ne.us heenan@omaha.lib.ne.us]


 * University of Nebraska Omaha, NE 68182 Phone: 402-554-2362; Info: 402-554-2661 Government Documents: 402-554-3202; Special Collections: 402-554-2884

Family History Centers



 * Omaha Nebraska Family History Center

Websites

 * NEGenWeb
 * USGenWeb
 * Linkpendium links for Douglas County, Nebraska
 * Linkforumfor Douglas County, Nebraska
 * Cyndi's ListFor Nebraska then scroll to Douglas County. Links to websites for multiple subjects
 * Cyndi's ListFor Nebraska then scroll to Douglas County. Links to websites for multiple subjects