Atchison County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Atchison 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; Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records; County Clerk has birth records 1883-1893; Probate Judge has probate records.

Parent County
1843 Atchison County was created 23 February 1843 from Holt County. County seat: Rock Port. Atchison County was originally named Allen County when it was formed in 1843. It was renamed Atchison County in 1845.

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
Fremont County, Iowa •  Holt  •  Nemaha County, Nebraska  •  Nodaway  •  Otoe County, Nebraska  •  Page County, Iowa  •  Richardson County, Nebraska

Cemeteries
Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries Missouri Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories
A Biographical History of Nodaway and Atchison counties, Missouri compendium of national biography (1901) is available online free from Google Books. Part I contains biographies of national celebrities. Part II (starts on p.219) contains biographies of Atchison and Nodaway county residents.


 * Van Leuven, Audrey. Early times of Atchison County, Missouri : being a collection of items taken mostly from old newspapers of early da ys in Atchison County, Missouri. Some are historical, some are amusing, all are interesting, 1838-1932. [S.l. : s.n.], 1984.


 * 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. Tucson, Arizona : W.C. Cox, 1974.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Online at Internet Archive (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 History of Holt and Atchison Counties Internet Archive


 * The earliest inhabitants of what is now Missouri where Indians.
 * The first non indians to lay claim to what is now Missouri were the French
 * 1768 - Spain became the "owners" of the area.
 * 1800 October 1 - Spain ceded this area back to France
 * 1803 October 31 - France ceded this territory to the USA.
 * 1821 August 10 - Missouri became a state.
 * 1836 - The "Platte Purchase" was made with the Indians.
 * 1839 - The first white settler to settle in what is now Atchison County.
 * 1843 February 23 - Atchison County was organized.

Maps



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


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

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Atchison County, Missouri for European and African American settlers included:


 * Missouri 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

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 Atchison 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 Atchison County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

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 $

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 [http://home.ancestry.com/
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $

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.

Societies and Libraries

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


 * Atchison County Historical Society 210 South Main Street Rock Port, MO 64482 Phone: 660-744-5800


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