Chariton County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1887; Circuit Court Clerk and Recorder has marriage records from 1821, divorce and court records from 1872, land records from 1827, naturalization records from 1877 and military discharge records from 1918; Circuit Court Division has probate records from 1860.

Parent County
1820 Chariton County was created 16 November 1820 from Howard County. County seat: Keytesville

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
1861 Fire destroyed all County Court records November 11, 1861. 1864 Fire destroyed the courthouse on September 20, 1864. 1973 Fire destroyed the courthouse on August 27, 1973.

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
Carrol •  Howard  •  Linn  •  Livingston  •  Macon  •  Randolph  •  Saline  •

Biographies

 * Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton and Linn Counties, Missouri Index to Biographies at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri at Ancestry.com ($)

Cemeteries

 * Chariton County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1 &amp; 2 at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * Historical, pictorial and biographical record of Chariton County, Missouri. Salisbury, Mo. : Pictorial and Biographical Publishing, 1896.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Smith, Thomas Berry. History of Chariton and Howard counties, Missouri. Topeka [Kansas] : Historical Pub., 1923.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps



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


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Chariton 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

Regiments

Service men in Chariton 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 Chariton 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 Chillicothe newspapers and Moberly newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Chariton County communities.


 * The Archives of The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (1889-2009) provides free access to their newspapers online. This is essentially the same collection of Chillicothe newspapers mentioned above for NewspaperArchive.com.

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1750 - 1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1861 - 1875 Chariton County, Missouri Wills and Administrations, 1861-75 at Ancestry.com ($)

Births

 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1883 - 1887 Chariton County Birth Index 1883-1887. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883 - 1889 Chariton County Birth Index 1883-1889. Batch 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 $
 * 1821 - 1852 Chariton County, Missouri Marriages: 1821-52 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1821 - 1895 Chariton County Marriage Index 1821-1895. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1881 - 1885 Chariton County Marriage Books 1 and 2 Index 1881-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * Marriage records of Chariton County, Missouri at Ancestry.com $

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1887 Chariton County Death Index 1883-1887. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

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