Jefferson County, Oregon Genealogy

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

Oregon Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for Mount Jefferson. The County is located in the north central area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate and land records from 1914.

Jefferson County Government

County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Jefferson County Court House as of July 2011.

Jefferson County Court is structured differently. Check the County Records Inventory link for addresses for location of records (left column).

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs maintain separate government.


 * Culver was the county seat 1914 to 1916


 * Record Loss:

Historical Facts
Named for Mount Jefferson, located on west boundary. It was named in turn for, third president of the United States of America by.

Trivia Tidbits: Little biographic bits associated with the names of non-population localities.

Parent County
12 Decembr 1914: Created from Crook 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

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

Indian Reservation
Warm Springs (Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs)

Neighboring Counties
Crook | Deschutes | Linn | Marion | Wasco | Wheeler

Cemeteries

 * Oregon Metro
 * Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

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

Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Maps

 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- 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

Probate Records
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

 * 1860 - 1952 - at FamilySearch — index

Delayed Birth Certificates

Birth Registers

Marriage Records

 * 1) 1826-1975 - Oregon, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 2) 1849-1884; 1991-2006 - at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
 * 3) Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
 * 4) Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection

Societies, Libraries and Museums
Jefferson County Historical Society PO Box 647 Madras, OR 97741 Telephone: 541-475-5390 Website

Jefferson County Museum and Historical Society 34 SE "D" Street Madras, OR 97741

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * Jefferson County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Jefferson County GenWeb Project part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project (Backup site)