Josephine County, Oregon Genealogy

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

Oregon Online Genealogy Records

Description
Josephine County was named for a stream in the area called Josephine Creek, which in turn is probably named after Virginia Josephine Rollins Ort. The county is located in the southwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has marriage and land records from 1857. Clerk Circuit Court has divorce, probate and court records.

Quick Facts
Named for Virginia Josephine Rollins Ort, the first white woman to settle in southern Oregon.

Parent County
22 January 1856: Created from Umpqua County.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Oregon County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oregon County Boundary Maps" (1843-1975) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

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

Populated Places
The following are locations in the county:

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator

Defunct Post Offices

 * Almeda: The post office was established February 15, 1912 and was discontinued July 15, 1920. Josephine Donoghue was the first of three postmasters.
 * Aloysius: Aloysius post office apparently operated at the Leonard Ranch in the Althouse district. Mary E. Leonard was the postmaster. Aloysius post office was established July 12, 1888, and was discontinued November 30,1889. The available business was turned over to Althouse. Named for William Aloysius Leonard, born in 1875, died in 1915, son of Lawrence Leonard and Mary Ellen Leonard, his wife.
 * Altamont: Altamont post office was established April 16, 1884, with Benjamin M. Parker first and only postmaster. The office was closed June 21, 1886. The available geographic information is meager about this place, but may be sufficient for its importance. Early gazetteers show a place called Alta and also Altamont at a point on the railroad about 21 miles north of Grants Pass and that was doubtless the location of the post office.There had been an earlier post office named Leland near the highway crossing on Grave Creek about four miles east of the railroad. After Altamont post office was closed in 1886, Leland office was moved west to the railroad, but the exact date of this move cannot be determined from the records, may be in the early 1890s.

Neighboring Counties
Curry | Douglas | Jackson | California counties: Del Norte | Siskiyou

Trivia Tidbits
Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. &gt; Trivia Tidbits

Cemeteries

 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Church History and Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

County Records

 * County Records Inventory lists record collections and locations held.

Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index

World War I

 * 1919-1920 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1938 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Historic Oregon Newspapers as a division of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program has digitzied more than 644,000 pages of newspapers throughout Oregon. Dates range from 1846-1922 with selected issues continuing through 1973.

Of particular interest to Josephine County researchers:

Grants Pass Daily Courier (Grants Pass) Rogue River Courier (Grants Pass)

Probate
Online Records
 * 1833–1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and images ($)

Rivers and Waterways
Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. &gt;&gt; Rivers and Waterways

Vital Records
See also How to order Oregon Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Oregon Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Birth Records

 * 1842-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images (*); Also at: Ancestry
 * 1860-1952 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1876-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Delayed Birth Certificates

Marriage Records

 * 1826-1975 Oregon, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1842-1917 Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1917 at Ancestry - index and images ($); Also at: 
 * 1849-1884; 1991-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
 * 1906-1968 Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1968 at Ancestry - index and images ($)
 * Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
 * Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection

Societies and Libraries
Rogue Valley Genealogical Society 500 NW Sixth Street, RM 170 Grants Pass, OR 97526 Phone: 541-474-5240 Fax: 541-474-5246 Email:[mailto:clerk@co.josephine.or.us clerk@co.josephine.or.us] Website

Josephine County Historical Society 512 SW 5th St Grants Pass, OR 97526 Phone: 541-479-7827 Website Facebook

Josephine Community Library - Four Branches 200 NW C St Grants Pass, OR 97526 Phone: 541-476-0571 Website Facebook

Family History Centers

 * Cave Junction Oregon Family History Center
 * Central Point Oregon Family History Center
 * Grants Pass Oregon Family History Center
 * Medford Oregon Family History Center
 * Jackson County Genealogy Library - an affiliate library
 * Oregon Genealogical Society - an affiliate library

Websites

 * Josephine County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Josephine County GenWeb Project part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project