Oregon, Marion County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States  Oregon Marion County

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes birth, marriage, land and property, probate, naturalization, tax and old age pension records from the Marion County Clerk. It cover the years 1849 to 1976.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Oregon marriages click here.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The record content varies by record type. It may include any of the following pieces of information:


 * Name of primary individual
 * Event date
 * Event place
 * Residence
 * Age
 * Sex
 * Names of parents
 * Biographical information about parents such as date and place of birth
 * Names of heirs, such as spouse, children, other relatives, or friends
 * Names of the executor, administrator, or guardian
 * Names of witnesses
 * Dates the documents were written and recorded (used to approximate event dates since a will was usually written near the time of death)
 * Description and value of property or land
 * Occupation

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least one of the following:
 * The name of the individual or individuals.
 * The birth date or place of the individual.
 * The type of event.
 * The approximate date the event occurred.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Pagethen: ⇒ Select the Record type, year range, volume.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Oregon, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Oregon Archives and Libraries.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation:

Image citation: