St. Louis County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  St. Louis County

History
St. Louis County predates the state of Missouri which was admitted to the union in 1821. St. Louis was one of the five original districts of the Louisiana Territory from 1805-1812 and one of the five original counties of the Missouri Territory from 1812 to 1821.

On August 22, 1876 the City of St. Louis voted to separate from St. Louis County and became an independent city.

Parent County
'St. Louis County was created 1 October 1812 as an original county.


 * County seat: City of St. Louis (1805- Mar. 1877)
 * County seat: Clayton (abt. 1878-present)


 * Note - The seperation was not official until a court case decided the issue in March of 1877. St. Louis County started separate record keeping from St. Louis City in 1877. It was not until December 1878, however, that the county established a new courthouse in the new county seat of Clayton, Missouri.


 * Records for the county (1805-1876) are maintained by the City of St. Louis and records (1877-present) are maintained by the county. The two years of 1877 and 1878 are a gray area in county record keeping and records for those years may show up in city records. Many of these records are available at both the St. Louis Public Library (City) and the St. Louis County Library.

For further explanation see St. Louis City and County Split & How it Affects Research in St. Louis.

Boundary Changes

 * See an interactive map of St. Louis County border changes at N2Genealogy.

Places/Localities

 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all Missouri Counties. The place names for St. Louis City and St. Louis County are combined under St. Louis County Place Names.

Neighboring Counties

 * Franklin SW
 * Jefferson S
 * Madison (Illinois) NE
 * Monroe (Illinois) SE
 * St. Charles NW
 * St. Clair (Illinois) SE
 * St. Louis (Independant city) E

Archives and Libraries

 * St. Louis Public Library (St. Louis City) owns a large collection of books, periodicals, maps, and other miscellaneous materials that deal with the history of St. Louis City, and Library staff have indexed many previously unindexed books and materials on that topic. They also own a large local history card file, and a large vertical file consisting of articles clipped from local newspapers and other local publications. St. Louis Public Library Local History Indexes and Bibliographies


 * St. Louis County Library has a large collection of genealogical records for St. Louis City and St. Louis County in its Special Collections Department located at its main headquarters. The collection includes holdings from the St. Louis Genealogical Society as well as parish records from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. In addition to its holdings, the staff of the Special Collections Department has created indexes for many records including St. Louis newspapers as well as birth, naturalization, probate, and church records.


 * Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center has a collection of books, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, maps, and photographs including: Biographies, yearbooks, business and trade catalogs and military records. Their website has a searchable genealogy index that covers many of these collections.

Cemeteries

 * Search the Archdiocese of St. Louis Cemetery records for burials in seventeen Catholic cemeteries from the St. Louis area.


 * New Mt. Sinai Cemetery records (Jewish) are available online.


 * The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has burial records for Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and other Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries around the country.


 * List of St Louis Area Cemeteries with records on Cd available for purchase from the St. Louis Genealogical Society.

Catholic

 * The St. Louis County Library has a page that lists its available Catholic resources including a list of Catholic priests * that served in St. Louis from 1841-1900.
 * St. Louis County Library's Catholic records collection is large. A list of their holdings from the Archdiocese of St. Louis is not available online. They have published a 348 page guide Guide To St. Louis Catholic Archdiocesan Parish Records detailing their holdings.

Lutheran

 * The St. Louis County Library has a page that lists its available Lutheran resources including an index to some Immanuel Lutheran Church and St. Paul's Lutheran Church records.

Evangelical and United Church of Christ

 * The St. Louis County Library has a page that lists its available Evangelical resources including a list of Evangelical priests * that served from 1834-2005.

* With the priests name from a civil marriage record, this list can be used to locate a church marriage record which often contains more family information.

County Directories

 * The St. Louis County Directory for 1893 is available on Google Books.


 * The St. Louis County Library has St. Louis County Directories for 1893, 1896, 1903 and other later years available in their Special Collections Department.

Probate

 * Missouri State Archives - Online access to St. Louis Probate records (original documents)

Naturalization

 * St. Louis County Library has created an Index to Naturalizations. Site provides information on the various naturalization records from the U.S. Circuit Court.

Maps

 * Map of modern day St. Louis County townships (Histopolis) - also shows the locaton of cemeteries from the St. Louis area.


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

Military

 * Civil War service men from St. Louis County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of St. Louis County.


 * - 43rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.


 * St. Louis County Library has created an Index to Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798-1914. The names included in the extracted set below include ONLY enlistees who were either born in St. Louis, Mo., or who enlisted at St. Louis or at Jefferson Barracks (shown as Jeff Bks in the chart) which is located in St. Louis County.
 * St. Louis County Library site has a street guide to the World War I draft boards in the city of St. Louis. Ancestry.com ($) has copies of World War I draft registration cards.
 * Fold3.com ($) has Civil War and other military records available online. Some libraries including the St. Louis County Library provide free access to this database.

Vital Records (Civil)
See St. Louis County, Missouri Vital Records for information on St. Louis County vital records and their indexes.

Societies/Museums
St. Louis Genealogical Society.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Genealogy in St. Louis
 * Genealogy in St. Louis