Shelby County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records; Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records; Probate Court has probate records; Clerk of the Magistrate Court has court records.

History
The county is named after Kentucky's First Governor Isaac Shelby (1750-1826).

Parent County
1835 Shelby County was created 2 January 1835 from Marion County. County seat: Shelbyville

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




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

Neighboring Counties
Knox •  Lewis  •  Macon  •  Marion  •  Monroe  •  Randolph

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Church
Oak Ridge Baptist and Cemetery Records, Shelby County, Missouri. Call number: 977.8323 K2w

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * History of Monroe and Shelby counties, Missouri . . . : including a history of their townships, towns and villages together with a condensed history of Missouri . . . biographical sketches of prominent citizens. St. Louis, Missouri : National Historical Co., 1884.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Bingham, William H. General history of Shelby County, Missouri. Chicago, Illinois : H. Taylor &amp; Co., 1911.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free) Call number:  977.8323 H2g

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.


 * Map of Shelby County townships (Histopolis)


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

Military

 * 1900 - 1941 at FamilySearch — images

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

Regiments

Service men in Shelby 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 Shelby County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941 - 1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Moberly newspapers from the early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Shelby County communities.
 * Newspapers.com has newspapers from Shelby County.

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

Births

 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1845 - 1867 Shelby County Birth Index 1845-1867. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1883 - 1887 Shelby County Birth Index, Volume A, 1883-1887. Batches and  at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — 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.com $
 * 1835 - 1895 Shelby County Marriage Index 1835-1895. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1887 Shelby County Death Index 1883-1887. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1910 - 1966 Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

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

Historical Society

 * Shelby County Historical Society 107 South Center Shelbina, MO Phone: 573-588-0245
 * Shelby County, MO Gen Web