Ray County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Ray 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 John Ray, Missouri state legislator. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Ray County Courthouse 100 W Main Street PO Box 536 Richmond, MO 64085-0536 Phone: 816-776-4502 Ray County Website County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1884. Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records. Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records. Probate Judge has probate records. (Records of interest to genealogists obtainable from Ray County Historical Society, Richmond, Missouri 64085)

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Ray 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:

Biographies

 * Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton and Linn Counties, Missouri Index to Biographies at Ancestry ($)
 * Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri at Ancestry ($)

Cemeteries

 * Compendium Resources:
 * Cemetery Records Ray County, Missouri Genealogy Trails
 * Ray County, Missouri Cemetery Records, Volume I-III at Ancestry ($)
 * Ray County, Missouri Cemetery Records, Volume IV-VI at Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy
 * Individual Cemeteries:
 * Sunny Slope Cemetery, Richmond
 * Woodland Cemetery, Richmond
 * Odell Cemetery (also known as Roe Baptist Church cemetery)
 * Three of the cemeteries in this county, Shotwell, Sunny Slope, and Richmond, are on the north side of Highway 10 (Main Street) and are all together almost as if they were all one cemetery.
 * The Hardin Cemetery Disaster - The Flood of 1993 (Hearthstone Legacy)

Census Records

 * 1732-1933 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

New Hope Church, near Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, was the first church of any faith to organized (1820) in this county. (Transcript of records at Primitive Baptist Library in Carthage, Illinois.)


 * "Churches of Ray county, Missouri" Ray County Genealogical Association.
 * Church and Family History Assistance for Ray County, Missouri Primitive Baptist Family History website. (1847-1877 Crooked River Church records recently donated.)

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Many of your ancestors may be found in the "more genealogically obscure" court records as defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses, or jurors. Court records can establish family relationships and places of residence, occupations, and other family history information. See Missouri Court Records for a discussion of court types and their jurisdictions.

For the top court records sought by genealogists, see Vital Records · Wills and Probate · Land · Naturalization

Circuit Court
 * Woods, Fred D. Name Index to the First Twenty Years of Ray County, Missouri, Circuit Court records, 1820-1840 FHL
 * The Missouri State Archives has the index (1821-1872) to the circuit court records, and Vols A-O (1821-1882) in microfilm.
 * Missouri, Ray County Circuit Court. Court Records, 1821-1882; Index to Court records, 1821-1888. FHL

County Court The Missouri State Archives has Vol A (1820-1837) Minutes (County Clerk) on microfilm.

Court of Common Pleas The Missouri State Archives has the Common Plea Index, Vol A, 1867-1874 and the Common Pleas book, Vol A, 1867-1870 on microfilm.

Justice of the Peace Docket, 1836-1851 is available at the Missouri State Archives.

Local Histories

 * History of Ray County, Mo. 1881. St. Louis Missouri Historical Company. Available online at FamilySearch; Google Books.
 * A History of Northwest Missouri. By Walter Williams, Editor. 1915. The Lewis Publishing Company. Available online at Google Books.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Ray County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Ray County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Ray County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)
 * An illustrated historical atlas of Ray County, Mo. at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images

Indian Wars
(Black Hawk 1832, Seminole War 1837, Osage War 1837, Heatherly War 1836)


 * Service Records
 * Pensions and Claims, 1892-1926
 * See Missouri Military Records: Indian Wars or Military Records (Missouri State Archives)

War with Mexico
''Some Ray county residents served in the Santa Fe Battalion of the Missouri Mounted Volunteers. (This unit compiled its own record.)''


 * Service Records
 * Pensions and Claims, 1887-1926
 * 1846-1848 Missouri Military Records: Mexican War 1846-1848.''

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 Ray 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 Ray County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 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 Chillicothe newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Ray County communities.

Other Records

 * 1831 "Poll Book of Elections &amp; Voter Registrations", Ray County Genealogical Association

Probate Records
A unique aspect of Ray county wills is that the people who legally should be referred to as executors are referred to as administrators. ''The Ray County Courthouse houses the orginial probate records from 1821. All dates have associated packets.''

Ray county, Probate Court. Wills, Letters &amp; Bonds, 1821-1915. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Bonds, Vol B, 1836-1844. Missouri State Archives Microfilm Reel Number C 5780.

Ray county, Probate Court. Letters of Admministration, 1836-1884. Missouri State Arcives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Inventories/appraise/sale Bill, Vol B, 1853-1863. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Inventories,Appraisements &amp; Sale Bills, Vol D-FI, 1859-1886. Missouri State Archives microfilm

Ray county, Probate Court. Notices &amp; Affidavits, Vol A, 1862-1877. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Minutes, 1867-1869. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Record of Estates, Vol 1, Allen-Zuklin. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Record of Estates-guardians, Vol 1, Adams-Yates. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

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.

Tax Records

 * 1821 "Ray County Assessor's List for 1821" Ray county, Missouri USGenweb. Cites as its source: "Missouri Pioneer Book" Volume 2 February 1968, p. 39-41, compiled and published by Miss Nadine Hodges &amp; Mrs John Vineyard &amp; Mrs Howard W. Woodruff.
 * Cowles, Edgar M. Resident taxpayers of Ray County, Mo., comprising the names and occupation of all resident taxpayers in the county, arranged alphabetically, according to post-office addresses. (Hardin? Mo., c1894). See Library of Congress F472.R2 C87.
 * Missouri State Archives has microfilmed taxation sources starting in the 1900s.

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 ($)
 * 1858-1868 Ray County Birth Index 1858-1868. Batch  at FamilySearch.
 * 1883-1890 Ray County Birth Index 1883-1890. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * Missouri, Ray county, County Clerk. Permanant Record of Births, Vol 1, 1883-1889 is available at the Missouri State Archives on microfilm. Reel Number C 25631.
 * Missouri, Ray county, County Clerk. Register of Births and Stillbirths, Vol 1, 1883-1890 is available at the Missouri State Archives on microfilm. Reel Number C 5754.
 * 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 ($) - Index and Images. Some years have no entries for Ray County.
 * 1820-1850 Ray County, Missouri Marriages (1820-50) and Wills (1824-49) at Ancestry ($)
 * 1820-1880 Ray County Marriage Index 1820-1880. Batch  at FamilySearch.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1880-1885 Ray County Marriage Index 1880-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch.

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1867-1976  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1883-1890 Ray County Death Index 1883-1890. Batch  at FamilySearch.
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1960 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index and images.
 * Missouri, Ray county, County Clerk. Permanent Record of Deaths, Vol 1, 1883-1889 is available at the Missouri State Archives on microfilm. Reel Number C 5754.
 * 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

 * Ray County Museum and Genealogical Library 901 W Royle Street Richmond, MO 64085-1545 Phone: 816-776-2305 Facebook

Museums

 * Ray County Museum and Genealogical Library 901 W Royle Street Richmond, MO 64085-1545 Phone: 816-776-2305 Facebook

Societies

 * Ray County Genealogical Society Website Facebook page
 * Ray County Genealogical Association 901 W. Royle Richmond, MO 64085 Website

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 ($)