Dent County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Dent 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 marriage, divorce, and court records; Clerk of the Magistrate Court has probate records; County Recorder has land records.

Parent County
1851 Dent County was created 10 February 1851 from Crawford and Shannon Counties. County seat: Salem

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
1864 Courthouse burned. 1866 Courthouse burned in May 1866. County records were destroyed.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties.

Neighboring Counties
Crawford •  Iron  •  Phelps  •  Reynolds  •  Shannon  •  Texas  •

Biographies

 * Family Biographies from The History of Dent County, Missouri (1889) published by Goodspeed are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Marriage records, Dent County, Missouri : book "A," 1851-1870 and abstracts of wills "A," 1866-1893 at Ancestry.com ($)

Local Histories

 * History of Laclede, Camden, Dallas, Webster, Wright, Texas, Pulaski, Phelps and Dent counties, Missouri. Chicago : Goodspeed, 1889.
 * Online at Family Search (Free)

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.


 * Map of Dent County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Dent County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Dent County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

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

Regiments

Service men in Dent 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 Dent County, Missouri
 * - 32nd Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company A
 * - 32nd Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company D

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

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 - 1884 Dent County Birth Index 1883-1884. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — 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.com $
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1851 - 1870 Marriage records, Dent County, Missouri: book "A," 1851-1870 and abstracts of wills "A," 1866-1893 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1851 - 1878 - Dent County Marriage Books A and B Index 1851-1878. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1878 - 1885 - Dent County Marriage Books C and D Index 1878-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1866 - 1893 Marriage records, Dent County, Missouri: book "A," 1851-1870 and abstracts of wills "A," 1866-1893 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1884 Dent County Death Index 1883-1884. 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

 * Dent County Historical Society 1202 Gertrude Street Salem, MO 65560 Phone: 573-729-5707


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