Bates County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Description
The county was named for Frederick Bates. The County is located in the west central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Bates County Courthouse 1 N Delaware Street Butler, MO 64730 Phone: 660-679-3371 Bates County Website County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1887. County Recorder has marriage records from 1860 and land records from 1840. Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records from 1860. Probate Judge has probate records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Bates County, MO, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

 * Bates County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1-4, 5 (Part 1), 6 (Parts 1 and 2), 7, 8 (Parts 1-3) at Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Lutheran
 * Zion Lutheran Church, Rich Hill, records in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri from its first settlement to the first day of January, 1900 is available online free from Google Books.; and atFamilySearch (Free)
 * Atkeson, William Oscar. History of Bates County, Missouri.Topeka, Kansas : Historical Pub. Co., 1918.
 * Online at Internet Archive (Free)
 * The History of Cass and Bates counties, Missouri : containing a history of these counties, their cities, towns; biographical sketches of their citizens, general and local statistics, history of Missouri. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Bates County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Bates County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Plat Book of Bates County, Missouri at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * Map of Cass County, Mo. at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1911-1938  at FamilySearch — index and images

Regiments Service men in Bates 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 Bates County, Missouri:
 * - 11th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company D
 * - 60th Battalion, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company C

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1750-1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766-1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry — index and images $

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Birth

 * Pre-1910 Missouri Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index.
 * 1817-1939 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1827-1935 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images $
 * 1880-1911 Bates County Birth Index 1880-1911. Batches and  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1920-2015 Reclaim the Records: Missouri Birth Index at Archive.org - images of index

Marriage

 * 1750-1920 at FamilySearch — 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 Ancestry $
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index $

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images $
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1883-1911 Bates County Death Index 1883-1911. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index and images.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * 1968-2015 Reclaim the Records: Missouri Death Index at Archive.org - images of index

Libraries

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

Societies

 * Bates County Genealogical Society Mailing Address: P. O. Box 501 Butler, MO 64730 Meetings are the second Saturday morning of every month at 9:30 am at the Butler MO Public Library, 100 W. Atkinson, Butler, MO.
 * Bates County Museum/Historical Society 100 East Fort Scott Butler, MO 64730 Phone: 660-679-4777
 * Bates County Old Settlers’ Society Route 4 Butler, MO 64730

Websites

 * Missouri Digital Heritage. Free. digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
 * MOGenWeb. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
 * USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * . Free. - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records
 * RootsWeb resources. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * StateofUS. Free. family history resources and government records
 * Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)