Howard County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Howard County

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 Circuit Court has birth recordsc 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

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.

Civil War

 * - 46th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company A
 * - 46th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company B
 * - 46th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company E
 * - 46th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company K
 * - 9th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company A
 * - 9th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company H
 * - 1st Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company C

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


 * October 15, 1864 = Glasgow

Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

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

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1750-1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1816-1861 - Howard County Marriage Index 1816-1860. Batches and  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 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

 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * 1883-1888 - Howard County Death Index 1883-1888. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

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 link.