McCurtain County, Oklahoma Genealogy

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

Description
McCurtain County was named to honor a prominent Choctaw family, three of whom had served as principal chiefs of the tribe. The county occupies the extreme southeastern corner of the state.

County Courthouse
McCurtain County Courthouse 108 N Central Avenue Idabel, OK 74745 Phone: 580.286-2370 Clerk Court has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1907

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cemeteries

 * 1949-1969  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * McCurtain County Cemeteries at Findagrave.com

Census Records
Federal Census Records

Federal Censuses were taken for Oklahoma starting in 1860. For links to Federal census indexes, see Oklahoma Census.

State Census Records


 * 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census 1890 - Oklahoma Historical Societ
 * 1890 and 1907 Oklahoma Territorial Census, 1890 and 1907 at Ancestry — index and image ($)

Church Records

 * 1897-1984  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images - incomplete

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

A brief history of Wheelock Seminary, part of the Wheelock Mission church can be found in the Chronicles of Oklahoma.

Court Records
Oklahoma Public Court Records

American Indians
Cemetery
 * 1901-1994  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Census
 * 1851-1959 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1895-1914 U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895-1914 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1898-1914 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * Dawes Final Rolls - Oklahoma Historical Society

Land and Property
 * 1884-1934 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Land Allotment Jackets for Five Civilized Tribes, 1884-1934 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
 * 1889 Oklahoma County Plats 1889 - Oklahoma Historical Society
 * 1898-1914  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1899-1907  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * For more information see Indians of Oklahoma

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records

For more information see Oklahoma Land and Property
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796-1907 U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1863-1908 U.S. Homestead Records 1863-1908 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images
 * 1889 Oklahoma County Plats, 1889 - Oklahoma Historical Society
 * El Reno Homesteader Filings - Oklahoma Historical Society

Local Histories
McCurtain County and Southeast Oklahoma: History, Biography, Statistics, a Complete Church, Lodge, School, Professional, Business and Trade Directory of the County

The Choctaw Freedmen and the Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, Valliant, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, now called the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial...

Maps and Gazetteers

 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Oklahoma - shows boundary changes for Oklahoma Counties
 * Maps n More - county and township maps.
 * Oklahoma Civil War Map of Battles
 * Map of 1922 McCurtain County, Oklahoma with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)

Military Records
Also see: Oklahoma Military Records

Revolutionary War

 * 1775-1783  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

 * 1879-1920  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * Oklahoma, Confederate Pension Index, 1915-1955 at Ancestry — index (free)
 * For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

World War I

 * For more nationwide World War I databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

World War II

 * 1940-1945  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * Oklahoma Military Deaths - Oklahoma Historical Society
 * For more nationwide World War II databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

The Oklahoma section of the book World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces is available at the National Archives website. Soldiers from McCurtain County are listed here and here.

The State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel from: Oklahoma is also available. It is not broken out by county, however. Note: Casualities include the wounded in addition to those killed.

Newspapers
Oklahoma Newspapers Online Oklahoma Newspaper Catalogs
 * Oklahoma Digital Newspaper Project at Oklahoma Historical Society
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Oklahoma newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Oklahoma newspapers; searching tips
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Oklahoma newspapers
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * Oklahoma State Historical Society - catalog of known Oklahoma newspapers; lists repositories that have the newspapers
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

Historic Newspapers (no longer published)

Here are the known McCurtain County newspapers, along with where they were published and their years of publication. See the Chronicling America and Worldcatwebsites for libraries and institutions that may hold copies or microfilm.


 * Acme News, Broken Bow, 1912-1913
 * American Socialist, Garvin, 1910-191?
 * B B Developer, Broken Bow, 1911-1913
 * Beacon-Times, Idabel, 1911-191?
 * Broken Bow News and McCurtain County News-Graphic, Broken Bow, 1973-1976
 * Broken Bow News, Broken Bow, 1913-1973
 * Broken Bow News-Graphic, Broken Bow, 1976-1976
 * Challenger, Valliant, 1968-1981
 * Daily Beacon-Times, Idabel, 1913-191?
 * Democrat Record and Beacon-Times, Idabel, 1914-1915
 * Democrat-Record, Idabel, 1910-1914
 * Democrat-Record, Idabel, 1915-191?
 * Garvin Graphic, Garvin, 1903-1919
 * Garvin Pioneer, Garvin, 190?-191?
 * Haworth Herald, Haworth, 1912-192?
 * Idabel News, Idabel, 1919-1922
 * Idabel Signal, Idabel, 1905-190?
 * Little Dixie Beacon, Idabel, 1967-19??
 * McCurtain County American, Smithville, 1907-190?
 * McCurtain County Beacon, Idabel, 1911-1911
 * McCurtain County Journal, Valliant, 1981-1983
 * McCurtain County Record, Valliant, 19??-195?
 * McCurtain Daily Gazette, Idabel, 1969-1972
 * McCurtain Democrat, Idabel, 1922-194?
 * McCurtain Gazette, Idabel, 1907-1969
 * McCurtain Gazette, Idabel, 1972-1978
 * McCurtain Record, Valliant, 1908-1910
 * McCurtain Weekly Gazette, Idabel, 1969-1972
 * Methodist Herald, Broken Bow, 1921-1921
 * Millerton Progress, Millerton, 1908-1910
 * Millerton Progress-News, Millerton, 190?-1908
 * The-Signal, Idabel, 1905-1905
 * Valliant News, Valliant, 1904-190?
 * Valliant Times, Valliant, 1910-1911
 * Valliant Tribune, Valliant, 1911-194?

'''Historic Newspapers available online

The website Gateway to Oklahoma History has digitized a few issues of McCurtain County newspapers from the early 1900s, including:


 * McCurtain Gazette, Idabel, Oklahoma
 * Millerton Progress, Millerton, Oklahoma
 * Millerton Progress-News, Millerton, Oklahoma

'''Current Newspapers


 * Broken Bow News, Broken Bow, 1976-Current
 * Southeast Times, Broken Bow, 1988-Current
 * McCurtain Daily Gazette, Idabel, 1978-Current
 * McCurtain Sunday Gazette and Broken Bow News, Idabel, 1977-Current
 * Valliant Leader, Valliant, 1983-Current. A few issues of the Valliant Leader from 2005-2007 have been digitized by Google Newspapers.

Probate Records
'''Online Records
 * 1801–2008 Oklahoma Wills and Probate Records 1801-2008 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1887–2008  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images only (by county)

School Records

 * 1895-1936  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Birth
Online Birth Records Indexes and Images
 * Early Oklahoma Birth Records

Marriage
Online Marriage Records Indexes and Images


 * 1790-1998 Oklahoma, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1841-1927 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Marriage, Citizenship and Census Records, 1841-1927 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1870-1930  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index Only
 * 1870-1930 Oklahoma, Select Marriages, 1870-1930 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1870-1930 Oklahoma, Marriages, 1870-1930 at My Heritage index ($)
 * 1889-1951 Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Marriage Index, 1889-1951
 * 1890-1995  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * OKGenWeb Oklahoma Marriages

Death
Online Death Records Indexes and Images
 * Obituaries Listed in the Oklahoman - Oklahoma Historical Society — index only
 * 1864-1941  at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index and images - incomplete
 * 1935-2014 U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry  incomplete ($}

Divorce
Online Divorce Records Indexes and Images
 * 1923-1942 Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Divorce Index, 1923-1942

FamilySearch Centers

 * Mena Arkansas FamilySearch Center
 * Paris Texas FamilySearch Center


 * Donald W. Reynolds Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
The Southeastern Public Library System of Oklahoma serves several counties, including McCurtain.


 * Broken Bow Public Library
 * Idabel Public Library
 * Mattie Terry Public Library (Valliant)

Museums
McCurtain County Veteran's Memorial Museum, Idabel

Museum of the Red River, Idabel

Societies
McCurtain County Genealogical Society PO Box 1832 Idabel 74745 Website

McCurtain County Historical Society 302 S. E. Adams Idabel, OK 74745 580-212-3639 Facebook

The Kiamichi Country Genealogy Society (Broken Bow) has published the newsletter Kiamichian since 1990. See worldcat.org for libraries' holdings and PERSI (within HeritageQuest) for a catalog of their subjects.

McCurtain County Genealogical Society has published the newsletter Intikba since 1985. See worldcat.org for libraries' holdings and PERSI (within HeritageQuest) for a catalog of their subjects.

Websites

 * McCurtain County OKGenWeb
 * Gateway to Oklahoma History
 * Indian Pioneer Collection- University of Oklahoma
 * Linkpendium: Oklahoma: McCurtain County
 * OKGenWeb: McCurtain County
 * - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records