Howard County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Clerk of the Circuit Court has birth records 1870-1955, marriage and court records from 1870, land and burial records from 1820, military and divorce records from 1900; Probate Court has probate records from 1835; County Health Nurse has death records from 1870.

Parent County
1816 Howard County was created 13 January 1816 from St. Charles and St. Louis Counties. County seat: Fayette

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
1886 Fire destroyed the courthouse on December 1, 1886, but no records were lost.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all Missouri Counties.

Neighboring Counties
Boone •  Chariton  •  Cooper  •  Randolph  •  Saline

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Catholic
Immaculate Conception, Richmond


 * 1870 - 1876 Immaculate Conception, Richmond, Baptism Index 1870-1876. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * Van Ravenswaay, Charles. The Boon's Lick country : a guide for the William Clark Society second annual field trip, June 15 and 16, 1940. [St. Louis, Mo.? : s.n.], 1940.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Smith, Thomas Berry. History of Chariton and Howard counties, Missouri. Topeka [Kansas] : Historical Pub., 1923.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * National Historical Company. History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences. St. Louis : National Historical Co., 1883.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps



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


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

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 Howard 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 Howard County, Missouri:

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War Battle was fought in Howard County:


 * October 15, 1864 = Glasgow

Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri.

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Moberly newspapers from the early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Howard County communities.
 * Missouri Intelligencer, 1819-1835 (Franklin, Howard County, Missouri) Searchable online at the State Historical Society of Missouri’s Digital Collections, Index to Selected Missouri Newspapers.

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 $
 * 1883 - 1893 Howard County Birth Index 1883-1893. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1865 - 1878 Howard County Birth Index, Volume 4A, 1865-1878. 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 $
 * 1816 - 1861 Howard County Marriage Index 1816-1860. Batches and  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1865 - 1885 Howard County Marriage Book 4A Index 1865-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1881 - 1885 Howard 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
 * 1883 - 1888 Howard County Death Index 1883-1888. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * Howard County Genealogical Society 201 South Main Street Fayette, MO 65248 Phone: 660-248-3348


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

Societies

 * Howard County Missouri Genealogical Society Facebook