Benton County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records from 1883 and marriage records from 1839; Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Probate Court has probate records; Recorder has deeds and land records.

Parent County
1835 Benton County was created 3 January 1835 from Pettis and St. Clair Counties. County seat: Warsaw

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

Places/Localities



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

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places

 * Cole Camp
 * Edwards
 * Mora
 * Warsaw

Neighboring Counties
Camden •  Henry  •  Hickory  •  Morgan  •  Pettis  •  St. Clair

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * A sketch of the history of Benton County, Missouri by James Henry Lay (1876), only 76 pages, is available online free from Google Books.
 * Biographies from The History of Benton County, Missouri (1889) published by Goodspeed are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Maps

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Map of Benton County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Benton County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Benton County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

Military

 * 1900 - 1941 at FamilySearch — images

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

Regiments Service men in Benton County, Missouri served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are ompanies that were specifically formed in Benton County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 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 Sedalia newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that sometimes included Benton County residents.

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 - 1892 Benton County Birth Index 1883-1892. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1839 - 1861 Marriage records, Benton County, Missouri, 1839-1861 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1839 - 1880 Benton County Marriage Books A and B Index 1839-1880. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1890 Benton County Death Index 1883-1890. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Societies and Libraries

 * Benton County Historical Society PO Box 1082 Warsaw, MO 65355 Phone: 660-438-2304


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