Buchanan County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Description
The county was named for James Buchanan. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Buchanan County Courthouse 5th and Jules St. Joseph, MO 64501 Phone: 816-271-1412 Buchanan County Website Register of Deeds has marriage records. Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records. Probate Judge has probate records. Magistrate Court has court records. County Assessor has land records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Buchanan County, MO, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Biographies

 * Buchanan and Clinton Counties, Missouri Biographical Record at Ancestry ($)
 * Portrait and biographical record of Buchanan and Clinton Counties, Missouri at Ancestry ($)

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Catholic Cathedral, St. Joseph


 * 1856-1876 Cathedral, St. Joseph, Baptism Index 1856-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1846-1876 Cathedral, St. Joseph, Marriage Index 1846-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph


 * 1860-1876 Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph, Baptism Index 1860-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1860-1885 Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph, Marriage Index 1860-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

St. Joseph's, Easton


 * 1868-1876 St. Joseph's, Easton, Baptism Index 1868-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1868-1885 St. Joseph's, Easton, Marriage Index 1868-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

St. Patrick's, St. Joseph


 * 1869-1876 St. Patrick's, St. Joseph, Baptism Index 1869-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1869-1885 St. Patrick's, St. Joseph, Marriage Index 1869-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

German Kesler Settlement, German Congregation


 * 1847-1876 Kesler Settlement, German Congregation, Baptism Index 1847-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Lutheran St. Joseph's Lutheran Church


 * Records of St. Joseph's Lutheran Church in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * St. Joseph

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Directories

 * St. Joseph, Missouri Directories, 1887-90 at Ancestry ($)
 * St. Joseph, Missouri City Directory, 1890 at Ancestry ($)
 * Buchanan County, Missouri Directories, 1902, 1904-06 at Ancestry ($)

Land and Property Records
Deed records are available from 1839 to the present. They are archived at the Recorder of Deeds Office in the Courthouse.

Online Land Indexes and Records

Local Histories

 * Buchanan County, Missouri History. 1881. St. Joseph, Missouri: Union Historical Company. Online at: Ancestry; and at Missouri Digital History
 * Daily News' History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. 1898. By Christian Ludwig Rutt. n.d.: Press of Lon Hardman. Online at: FamilySearch; and at Missouri Digital History
 * History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. 1915. By The History Publishing Company. St. Joseph, Missouri: Midland Printing Company. Online at: FamilySearch; and at Missouri Digital History
 * History of Buchanan County and the city of St. Joseph and representative citizens, 1826 to 1904. 1904. By Christian Ludwig Rutt. Chicago, Illinois: Biographical Publishing Company. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * History of Missouri's Counties, County Seats, and Courthouse Squares. 1983. by Marian M. Ohman. Missouri: Missouri State Library. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * Portrait and biographical record of Buchanan and Clinton counties, Missouri. 1893. Chicago: Chapman Bros. Online at: Google Books; and at Missouri Digital History
 * State of Missouri: an autobiography. 1904. By Walter Williams. Columbia, Mo: Press of E. W. Stephens. Online at: Missouri Digital History

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Buchanan County townships (Histopolis)
 * Missouri As It Is In 1867. 1867. by Nathan II. Parker. Philadelpia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Buchanan County.
 * Map of 1904 Buchanan County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)
 * An illustrated historical atlas map of Buchanan County, Mo at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Buchanan County, Missouri for European and African American settlers included:


 * Missouri 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

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images - How to Use this Collection

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1911-1938  at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

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

World War II

 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1941-1946  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1816-1955 Buchanan County Naturalization Records - Missouri State Archives.
 * 1843-1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * Missouri Digital Newspaper Project at Missouri State Historical Society

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1750-1988 at FamilySearch — images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1766-1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry — index and images $
 * 1839-1857 Abstracts of wills and administrations from books "A" and "B", 1839-1857. Hodges, Nadine. Kansas City, Missouri : Hodges &amp; Woodruff, 1969. Available online at FamilySearch (Free)

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

Tax Records

 * Buchanan County, Missouri Taxpayers, 1887-90 at Ancestry ($)
 * Buchanan County, Missouri Taxpayers, 1891-95, 1901 at Ancestry ($)

Birth

 * Pre-1910 Missouri Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index.
 * 1817-1939 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1827-1935  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1837-1871 Buchanan County Birth Volumes A thru C Index 1837-1871. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images $
 * Pre-1910 Buchanan birth records at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * 1920-2015 Missouri, Birth Index, 1920-2015 at Reclaim the Records — index; Also at: MyHeritage ($)

Marriage

 * 1750-1920  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1776-1988 Missouri, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1800-1991  at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry $
 * 1839-1855 Buchanan County, Missouri Marriages: 1839-55 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1839-1874 Buchanan County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1839-1874. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index $
 * 1874-1883 Buchanan County Marriage Books D and E Index 1874-1883. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883-1885 Buchanan County Marriage Books F and G Index 1883-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images $
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1883-1893 Buchanan County Death Index 1883-1893. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index and images.
 * Pre-1910 Buchanan death records at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * 1968-2022 Missouri, Death Index, 1968-2015 at Reclaim the Records — index; Also at: MyHeritage ($); Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

FamilySearch Centers

 * St Joseph Missouri FamilySearch Center

Libraries

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

Societies

 * Northwest Missouri Genealogical Society P.O. Box 382 St. Joseph, MO 64502 Phone: 816-233-0524 Website


 * Saint Joseph Historical Society 219 E Poulin St St. Joseph, MO 64501 Phone: 816-232-5861 Website

Websites

 * Missouri Digital Heritage. Free. digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
 * Buchanan County MO Genealogy Research. Contains information for researching genealogy in Buchanan County MO, Census, bios, obituary, birth, death, marriage, maps, and other records
 * MOGenWeb. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
 * USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * . Free. - 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
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)