Holt County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has incomplete birth and death records 1883-1893, marriage, divorce, land records from 1841; Clerk of the Circuit Court has court records 1841; Probate Judge has probate records from 1849.

Parent County
1841 Holt County was created 29 January 1841 from the Platte Purchase. County seat: Oregon

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
1965 There was a courthouse fire in February 1965, but the records were saved.

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

 * Andrew •
 * Atchison •
 * Doniphan County, Kansas •
 * Nemaha County, Nebraska •
 * Nodaway •
 * Richardson County, Nebraska

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Holt County, Missouri Census, 1920 at Ancestry.com ($)

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * The History of Holt and Atchison counties, Missouri: containing a history of these counties, their cities, towns, etc., etc., biographical sketches of their citizens, general and local statistics ... history of Miss. St. Joseph, Mo.: National Historical Co., 1882.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Holt County Historical Society. History of Holt County, 1882. Cassville, Missouri: Holt County Historical Society, 1973.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * History of Holt County, Missouri: from the time of the Platte Purchase to the end of the year 1916; preceeded by a short history of Missouri; supplemented by biographical sketches.... St. Joseph, Missouri : Midland Print., 1916?.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps



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


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Holt County.

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


 * Missouri River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 from western Missouri to northern California

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 Holt 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 Holt County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers
The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) Nearly 2,000 issues between 1880 and 1921 have been digitized and are fully searchable online at the Library of Congress, Chronicling America website.

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 $
 * 1870 - Holt County Birth Index 1870. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883 - 1889 Holt County Birth Index 1883-1889. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1846 - 1881 Holt County Marriage Books B thru E Index 1846-1881. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1881 - 1885 Holt County Marriage Book 1 Index 1881-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * 1883 - 1889 - Holt County Death Index 1883-1889. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * Northwest Missouri Genealogical Society 412 Felix Street Saint Joseph, MO 64501 Phone: 816-233-0524 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 382 Saint Joseph, MO 64502


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