Ray County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Ray County

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1884; Recorder Deeds has marriage and land records; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court recrods; Probate Judge has probate records. (Records of interest to genealogists obtainable from Ray County Historical Society, Richmond, Missouri 64085)

Parent County
1820--Ray County was created 16 November 1820 from Howard County. County seat: Richmond

Boundary Changes

 * See an interactive map of Ray County border changes at N2Genealogy.

Places/Localities

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Caldwell
 * Carroll
 * Clay
 * Clinton
 * Jackson
 * Lafayette

Cemeteries
Compendium Resources:


 * Cemetery Records Ray County, Missouri Genealogy Trails

Individual Cemeteries:


 * Shotwell Cemetery, Richmond BillionGraves
 * Sunny Slope Cemetery, Richmond
 * Woodland Cemetery, Richmond
 * Odell Cemetery (also known as Roe Baptist Church cemetery)

Three of the cemeteries in this county, Shotwell, Sunny Slope, and Richmond, are on the north side of Highway 10 (Main Street) and are all together almost as if they were all one cemetery.


 * The Hardin Cemetery Disaster - The Flood of 1993 (Hearthstone Legacy)

Church
New Hope Church, near Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, was the first church of any faith to organized (1820) in this county. (Transcript of records at Primitive Baptist Library in Carthage, Illinois.)


 * "Churches of Ray county, Missouri" Ray County Genealogical Association.
 * Church and Family History Assistance for Ray County, Missouri Primative Baptist Family History website. (1847-1877 Crooked River Church records recently donated.)

Court
Many of your ancestors may be found in the "more genealogically obscure" court records as defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses, or jurors. Court records can establish family relationships and places of residence, occupations, and other family history information. See Missouri Court Records for a discussion of court types and their jurisdictions.

For the top court records sought by genealogists, see Vital Records · Wills and Probate · Land · Naturalization

Circuit Court

 * Woods, Fred D. Name Index to the First Twenty Years of Ray County, Missouri, Circuit Court records, 1820-1840 FHL
 * The Missouri State Archives has the index (1821-1872) to the circuit court records, and Vols A-O (1821-1882) in microfilm.
 * Missouri, Ray County Circuit Court. Court Records, 1821-1882; Index to Court records, 1821-1888. FHL

County Court
The Missouri State Archives has Vol A (1820-1837) Minutes (County Clerk) on microfilm.

Court of Common Pleas
The Missouri State Archives has the Common Plea Index, Vol A, 1867-1874 and the Common Pleas book, Vol A, 1867-1870 on microfilm.

Justice of the Peace
Docket, 1836-1851 is available at the Missouri State Archives.

Local Histories

 * Google has scanned the book "History of Ray County, Mo." as the book is now in the public domain. It was written in 1881 and can be found at books.google.com/books.


 * Also Google has the book "A History of Northwest Missouri" written in 1915, also in the public domain. This book has history on Ray county and neigboring counties.  It can be found at books.google.com/books.

Maps

 * Map of Ray County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Ray County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Ray County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

Indian Wars (Black Hawk 1832, Seminole War 1837, Osage War 1837, Mormon War, Heatherly War 1836)

 * Service Records
 * Pensions and Claims, 1892-1926

See Missouri Military Records: Indian Wars or Military Records (Missouri State Archives)

1846-1848 Mexican War
''Some Ray county residents served in the Santa Fe Battalion of the Missouri Mounted Volunteers. (This unit compiled its own record.)''


 * Service Records
 * Pensions and Claims, 1887-1926

See Missouri Military Records: Mexican War 1846-1848.

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Chillicothe newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Ray County communities.

Probate Records
A unique aspect of Ray county wills is that the people who legally should be referred to as executors are referred to as administrators. ''The Ray County Courthouse houses the orginial probate records from 1821. All dates have associated packets.''

Ray county, Probate Court. Wills, Letters &amp; Bonds, 1821-1915. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Bonds, Vol B, 1836-1844. Missouri State Archives Microfilm Reel Number C 5780.

Ray county, Probate Court. Letters of Admministration, 1836-1884. Missouri State Arcives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Inventories/appraise/sale Bill, Vol B, 1853-1863. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Inventories,Appraisements &amp; Sale Bills, Vol D-FI, 1859-1886. Missouri State Archives microfilm

Ray county, Probate Court. Notices &amp; Affidavits, Vol A, 1862-1877. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Minutes, 1867-1869. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Record of Estates, Vol 1, Allen-Zuklin. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Ray county, Probate Court. Record of Estates-guardians, Vol 1, Adams-Yates. Missouri State Archives microfilm.

Taxation

 * [1821] ."Ray County Assessor's List for 1821" Ray county, Missouri USGenweb. Which cites as it's source: "Missouri Pioneer Book" Volume 2 February 1968, p. 39-41, compiled and published by Miss Nadine Hodges &amp; Mrs John Vineyard &amp; Mrs Howard W. Woodruff.
 * [1831] "Poll Book of Elections &amp; Voter Registrations" Ray County Genealogical Assoication
 * Cowles, Edgar M. Resident taxpayers of Ray County, Mo., comprising the names and occupation of all resident taxpayers in the county, arranged alphabetically, according to post-office addresses. (Hardin? Mo., c1894). See Library of Congress F472.R2 C87.
 * Missouri State Archives has microfilmed taxation sources starting in the 1900s.

Births

 * 1858-1868 - Ray County Birth Index 1858-1868. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883-1890 - Ray County Birth Index 1883-1890. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri, Ray county, County Clerk. Permanant Record of Births, Vol 1, 1883-1889 is available at the Missouri State Archives on microfilm. Reel Number C 25631.
 * Missouri, Ray county, County Clerk. Register of Births and Stillbirths, Vol 1, 1883-1890 is available at the Missouri State Archives on microfilm. Reel Number C 5754.

Marriages

 * 1820-1880 - Ray County Marriage Index 1820-1880. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1880-1885 - Ray County Marriage Index 1880-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * "Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2020" Ancestry.com $ Index and Images. Some years have no entries for Ray County.

Deaths

 * 1883-1890 - Ray County Death Index 1883-1890. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri, Ray county, County Clerk. Permanent Record of Deaths, Vol 1, 1883-1889 is available at the Missouri State Archives on microfilm. Reel Number C 5754.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Wood Heights Missouri Family History Center

Genealogical Societies

 * Ray County Genealogical Society homepage. Facebook page.

Web Sites

 * "Ray County Genealogy: A Missouri GenWeb Project"