Washington County, Kansas Genealogy

United States Kansas  Washington County

Guide to Washington County, Kansas ancestry, family history and genealogy and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
Washington County Courthouse 214 C Street Washington, KS 66968-1928 Phone: 785.325.2974 County Clerk has birth, marriage and death records 1887-1911. Clerk District Court has marriage records from 1868, divorce, probate and court records from 1873 and naturalization records 1870-1938. Register of Deeds has land records.

Parent County
1859--Washington County was created in 1859 from unorganized territory. County seat: Washington

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties



 * Clay
 * Cloud
 * Gage County Nebraska
 * Jefferson County, Nebraska
 * Marshall
 * Republic
 * Riley
 * Thayer County, Nebraska

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European and African American settlers included:


 * Little Blue River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Probate
Online Records


 * 1803 – 1987 Kansas Wills and Probate Records 1803-1987 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Birth Records

 * 1818 - 1936 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1885 - 1911 Kansas, Births and Christenings Index, 1885-1911 at Ancestry.com — index $

Death Records

 * 1885 - 1930 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1885 - 1930 Kansas, Deaths and Burials, Index, 1885-1930 at Ancestry.com — index $

Marriage Records

 * 1811 - 1911 at | FamilySearch — index
 * 1840 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1855 - 1911 at | FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1855 - 1911 Kansas, County Marriages, 1855-1911 at Ancestry.com — images $

Societies
The Washington County Historical and Genealogical Society has a website that contains contact information and a list of research resources held by the group. Although it is not specifically mentioned on the site, Society members will do research for a fee. An email detailing desired research will result in a cost estimate for the outlined research.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Washington County, Kansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Washington County, Kansas Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)