Livingston County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Livingston County

Guide to Livingston County Missouri genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Livingston County's civil records start the following years:

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records; Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records; Probate Court has probate records. Clerk Circuit Court has court records

History

 * Livingston County was formed in 1837 from Carroll County. Named after Hon. Edward Livingston, the 11th Secretary of State of the United States under President Andrew Jackson. History of Livingston County


 * You've heard of the "greatest thing since sliced bread. It was recently discovered that sliced bread was first offered for sale - ever - in Chillicothe, Missouri. A product of the Chillicothe Baking Company, it was sliced on a machine called the Rohwedder Bread Slicer. Invented by Iowa inventor, Otto Rohwedder, the bread slicer was put into practice in 1928 in beautiful downtown Chillicothe.

Parent County
1837--Livingston County was created 6 January 1837 from Carroll County. County seat: Chillicothe

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
For a list of record loss in Missouri counties see: Missouri Counties with Burned Courthouses

Places/Localities

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

Neighboring Counties
Caldwell • Carroll • Chariton • Daviess County • Grundy • Linn

Cemeteries

 * Find A Grave Find A Grave has 95 cemeteries listed in Livingston County. There are also pictures of several headstones.
 * Livingston County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1, 3-5 at Ancestry.com ($)

Census Records

 * A good help on Analyzing U.S. Census Data Analyzing Census data


 * An article about the Federal and State Census Records that exist for Missouri. Missouri Census


 * No State Census Records exist for Livingston County, Missouri.


 * This article was written by G. David Dilts. It deals with finding elusive ancestors in the census. He gave this presentation at the Atlanta Family History expo in 2010. Finding Elusive Ancestors

Catholic
Bedford


 * 1873 - Bedford Baptism Index 1873. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

St. Columban, Chillicothe


 * 1857-1876 - St. Columban, Chillicothe, Baptism Index 1857-1876. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1857-1885 - St. Columban, Chillicothe, Marriage Index 1857-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Utica


 * 1873 - Utica Baptism Index 1873. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Court

 * Livingston County, Missouri Deeds, 1855-57, Volumes 2, 3, 5, 6 at Ancestry.com ($)

Funeral Homes
Lindley Funeral Home


 * 910 Washington St. Chillicothe, Missouri 64601, Phone: (660) 646-4857
 * 309 Main St. Hale, Missouri 64643, Phone: (660) 565-2315
 * 102 E Main St. Laredo, Missouri 64652, Phone: (660) 286-3415
 * 120 N Main St. Tina, Missouri 64682, Phone: (660) 622-4413

Heritage Funeral Home


 * 3141 North Washington St., Chillicothe, Missouri 64601, Phone: (660) 646-6600
 * 490 W. Main, Breckenridge, Missouri 64625, Phone: (660) 644-5997

Resthaven Mortuary and Cemetery


 * 310 North Highway 65, Trenton, Missouri 64683, Phone: (660) 359-5672

Roberson Funeral Home


 * 503 So. Broadway St., Jamesport, Missouri 64648, Phone: (660) 684-6999

Slater Funeral Home


 * 412 E 9th St, Trenton, Missouri, 64683, Phone: (660) 359-3954

Whitaker-Eads Funeral Home


 * 813 Custer St, Trenton, Missouri 64683, Phone: (660) 359-3932

Land

 * Land Patent (1831-1969) From the Missouri State Archives.
 * Bureau Of Land Management Records http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/

Local Histories

 * A Past and present of Livingston County, Missouri A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement (1913) Volume 2 is available online free from Google Books. This book contains biographical sketches of Livingston County residents.


 * A History of Livingston County, Missouri (1937) The history was published by The Livingston County Centennial Committee.


 * The Livingston County Library has a web paged titled Livingston County History. The site has County History, Communitiy Histories, Biographies, and a few Genealogy links.

Maps

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Livingston County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Livingston County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.


 * Map of Livingston County Map (1896)

Military

 * This link is an index of Missouri Confederate Casualties. It is taken from the Offical Records of the Civil War in the National Archives Missouri Confederate Casualties


 * This link is for an Honor Roll of Livingston County, Missouri 1917 -1918- 1919 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~livcomo/honoroll/honorndx.html


 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Soldier's Records. These cover from the War of 1812 - World War 1

Newspapers

 * Finding Microfilmed Newspapers An article written to help find microfilmed newspapers


 * The Archives of The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (1889-2009) provides free access to their newspapers online.

Vital Records
Brief History of Vital Records in Missouri

In 1883, the Missouri General Assembly enacted legislation providing for the Board of Health to have supervision of the statewide registration of births and deaths. This supervision amounted to prescribing “such forms and recommend[ing] such legislation as shall be deemed necessary for a thorough and complete registration of vital and mortuary statistics through the state.” (Laws of the State of Missouri, 1883, page 96/section 7) The State Board of Health was charged with preparing printed forms of certificates of births and deaths; these were to be provided to the clerks of the various counties and it was the duty of the county clerks to furnish the printed forms to the persons required to file birth and death reports.

This law did not make the reporting of all births and deaths mandatory. Due to non-compliance, the General Assembly repealed the statutes relating to the registration of births and deaths in Missouri in 1893.

It was not until 1910 that the General Assembly again provided for the registration of births and deaths on a statewide basis. Approved May 6, 1909, the act was to “provide for the immediate registration of all births and deaths throughout the state of Missouri by means of certificates of births and deaths and burial or removal permits; requiring prompt returns to the central bureau of vital statistics at the capital of the state, as required to be established by the state board of health, and to insure the thorough organization and efficiency of the registration of vital statistics throughout the state, and providing certain penalties” (Laws of the State of Missouri, 1909, page 538). Pursuant to this 1909 law, all births and deaths that occur in Missouri are reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The Bureau of Vital Records maintains these birth and death records.

Births

 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Birth and Stillbirths. These are Pre-1910 Missouri Pre-1901 Birth Records


 * Familysearch.org has indexed the Missouri Births and Christenings, 1827-1935., including Livingston County Birth Volumes 1 and 2 (1847-1870) in Batch , births 1883-1884 in Batch , births 1884-1887 in Batch , and births 1887-1889 in Batch.


 * Ancestry.com ($) Birth, Marriage &amp; Death Records
 * Livingston County, Missouri Birth Records, 1883-84, 1888-91 Volume I & III at Ancestry.com ($)

Marriages

 * Name index to marriage records from the state of Missouri, 1750-1920. Microfilm copies of these records are available at the Family History Library and Family History Centers, including Livingston County Marriage Books 1 and 2 (1837-1867) in Batch , Marriage Books 3 thru 5 (1867-1885) in Batch , and Marriage Book 6 (1885) in Batch.


 * Ancestry.com ($) Birth, Marriage &amp; Death Records

Deaths

 * Missouri State Archives provides free on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.


 * Missouri State Archives provides free on-line access to Missouri Coroner's Inquest Database


 * Familysearch.org has indexed the Missouri Death and Burials, 1876-1976, including Livingston County death index 1883-1890 in Batch.


 * Ancestry.com ($) Birth, Marriage &amp; Death Records

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

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

Library
Livingston County Library 450 Locust Street Chillicothe, MO 64601 Phone: (660) 646 0547 Email: librarian@livingstoncountylibrary.org Website: http://www.livingstoncountylibrary.org/history.htm

Message Boards

 * Livingston County Message Board on RootsWeb
 * GenForum Missouri message board
 * Livingston County Message Board on My Heritage
 * Surname Message Board on FamilyHistory

Facebook Pages

 * Missouri Genealogy Research
 * Missouri Genealogy Network
 * Missouri Genealogy