Daviess County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Major Joseph Hamilton Daveiss. The County is located in the northwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Daviess County Courthouse 102 N Main Street Gallatin, MO 64640 Phone: 660-663-2641 Daviess County Website Recorder of Deeds has land records. Probate Court has probate records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Daviess 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:

Cemeteries

 * Daviess County Cemeteries has about 70 transcriptions of Daviess county cemeteries. Many of these transcriptions are current only to the 1970s. The page also includes a historical description of all known Daviess county cemeteries and directions to their location.
 * Winston Cemetery Transcriptions and Muddy Cemetery Transcriptions; more Muddy Cemetery Transcriptions and more Muddy Cemetery Transcriptions.
 * Daviess County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 2 at Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census Records

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

The 1876 State Census for Daviess county is available at Ancestry.com or on microfilm ($15) from the Missouri State Archives.

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places


 * Daviess County Churches, USGS - Login required.

Baptist
 * Daviess County, Missouri - Primitive Baptist Library in Carthage, IL
 * Grand River Baptist Church, History and list of early members - Missouri Genealogy
 * William Jewell College - William Jewell College, a major repository for Missouri Baptist records

Catholic

Methodist Gallatin
 * Missouri United Methodist Archives - Records at Central Methodist University
 * American Methodism Project - Numerous books detailing the history of Methodism, which often contain biographies of ministers. The Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South both have a wide collection of searchable books available.


 * 1871-1875 Catholic Church, Gallatin, Baptism Index 1871-1875. Batch  at FamilySearch.

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Missouri Judicial Records from the Missouri State Archives

Land and Property Records
There are two types of patents. Those issued by the state and those by the Federal Government.

The Missouri Secretary of State sponsors a site with land patents for Daviess county 1831-1969.

Patents issued by the Federal Government for land in Daviess County. Enter Missouri and your ancestor's surname. If you find a record for your ancestor you will be able to download a PDF of the patent. You should also consider ordering the associated case file.

Local Histories

 * Daviess County Historical Society lists a variety of county and family histories and other resources.
 * History of Daviess and Gentry Counties, Missouri.. By John C. Leopard. 1974. Tucson, Arizona : W.C. Cox. Available online at FamilySearch
 * The History of Daviess County, Missouri. 1882. Kansas City, Missouri : Birdsall &amp; Dean. Available online at FamilySearch
 * Memories : being a story of early times in Daviess County, Missouri. By John F. Jordin. [1904?]. Gallatin, Mo. : North Missourian Press. Available online at FamilySearch

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Historical towns of Daviess County by Arthur Paul Moser
 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * This map shows Daviess County townships and known cemeteries within each.
 * Interactive map of Daviess County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Daviess County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images.

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1911-1938  at FamilySearch — index and images

Regiments

Service men in Daviess 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 Daviess County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1941-1946 at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1816-1955 Missouri Naturalization Records — index
 * 1856-1942 Missouri, Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1942 at Ancestry — index and images

Newspapers

 * The Genealogy Department of the Daviess County Library, given a specific date, will do lookups in the newspapers listed on their website for a small fee.
 * The Archives of The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (1889-2009) provides free access to their newspapers online. Their newspapers covered local news that included residents from Daviess County communities.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1750-1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766-1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry — index and images $

Tax Records
As of Mar 2013 neither the Missouri State Archives, nor the FHL appear to have early tax lists in their microfilm collections for Daviess County. So if they exist, they are probably held by the county clerk's office at the courthouse.

Birth

 * 1817-1939 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1827-1935 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1883-1891 Daviess County Birth Index 1883-1891. Batch at FamilySearch.

Marriage

 * 1750-1920 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1776-1988 Missouri, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1836-1855 Daviess County, Missouri Marriages, 1836-55 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1837-1899 Daviess County Marriages 1837-1899
 * 1838-1881 Daviess County Marriage Books A, C and D Index 1838-1881. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1878- 1885 Daviess County Marriage Books E thru G Index 1878-1885. Batch at FamilySearch

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1883-1891 Daviess County Death Index 1883-1891. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * The Missouri Secretary of State has Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910, a few earlier. Some certificates were never completed or filed, others have creative spellings. The information is only as good as the informant could recall at the time.

Family History Centers

 * Gallatin Missouri Family History Center 211 Ash St, Gallatin, MO 64640 United States Location Map

Libraries

 * List of Missouri Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies
 * Daviess County Library Main Library 306 West Grand Gallatin, MO 64640 Phone: 660-663-3222 Website (birth and death records on microfilm 1883-1893 and local census for 1876)

Societies

 * State Historical Society of Missouri Website Website has links to the different research centers in Missouri
 * Daviess County Genealogical Society Website
 * Daviess County Historical Society Website

Websites

 * Missouri Digital Heritage. Free. digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
 * 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
 * RootsWeb resources. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * StateofUS. Free. family history resources and government records
 * Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)