Malheur County, Oregon Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Malheur River, which runs through the county. "Malheur" is French for misfortune or tragedy. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has marriage, probate, and land records from 1887.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Oregon County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oregon County Boundary Maps" (1843-1975) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

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

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator

The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Baker | Grant | Harney | Idaho counties: Canyon | Owyhee | Payette | Washington | Humboldt, Nevada

Trivia Tidbits
Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. Trivia Tidbits

Biography
Trivia Tidbits: Little biographic bits associated with the names of non-population localities.

Census

 * 1890
 * 1900
 * 1910
 * 1920
 * 1930

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European and African American settlers included:


 * Snake River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon

Civil War

 * 1861-1865 - at FamilySearch — index

World War I

 * 1921-1938 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Probate Records
Online Records
 * 1833 – 1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Rivers and Waterways
Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. Rivers and Waterways

Vital Records
Many early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index.

See also How to order Oregon Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Oregon Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Birth Records

 * 1860 - 1952 - at FamilySearch — index

Delayed Birth Certificates

Birth Registers

Marriage Records

 * 1) 1826-1975 - Oregon, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 2) Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
 * 3) Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection

Societies, Libraries and Museums
Malheur County Historical Society 1186 SW Sixth Ave Ontario, OR 97914-3310

Malheur Country Historical Society PO Box 691 Ontario 97914 E-mail:[mailto:malheurcountryhist@gmail.com malheurcountryhist@gmail.com] Website


 * Nyssa Oregon Family History Center
 * Ontario Oregon Family History Center

Websites

 * Malheur County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Malheur County GenWeb Project, part of The ORGenWeb Project
 * Linkpendium
 * USGenWeb Archives
 * USGenWeb Archives (backup site]