Wayne County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records 1914-1940; Clerk of the Circuit Court and Recorder has court records, marriage records, divorce and land records; Associate Circuit Court has probate records.

History


The earliest white settlements in what is now Wayne County are said to have been in 1802, when a few settlers arrived from Kentucky, with more coming into the county from North Carolina in 1806.

Prior to county formation in 1818, what became Wayne County was a part of St. Francois Township of Cape Girardeau County.

Wayne County, Missouri is one of Missouri's oldest counties. Wayne County was organized as a county of Missouri Territory on 11 December 1818 by an act of the territorial legislature. This law became effective 1 November 1813.

The county was created from parts of Cape Girardeau and Lawrence Counties. (Most of Lawrence County became part of Arkansas Territory when that territory was created by Congress in March of 1819.)

Greenville became the county seat in 1819, which was the same year in which the town was incorporated. Missouri was not admitted into the Union until 10 August 1821.

Greenville was originally known as Cedar Cabin. In 1941, the town was relocated because of the construction of Lake Wappapello. The new town was located about two miles north of the original site, on a higher elevation.

The first post office opened in Greenville 10 August 1832.

Wayne County comprised a vast area from 1825 to 1831 that is said to have been larger than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. The county was so large that, at one time, it was known as the "State of Wayne."

The county is named after Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne (1745-1796), not because of any connection to the county, but because he was a popular figure of the time.

Parent County
1818 Wayne County was created 11 December 1818 from Cape Girardeau County. County seat: Greenville

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.

thelibrary.org evolution of Wayne County borders

Record Loss
1853 or 1854 Courthouse burned, with a complete loss of records. 1866 Courthouse records were stolen. 1892 Courthouse damaged by fire December 14, 1892; some records destroyed.

Few official county records prior to 1893 survive.

When the 1893-1926 courthouse was in operation, records were scattered in various offices throughout Greenville because of lack of space. Whether this resulted in loss of some records is uncertain.

Places / Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties.

Populated Places
Cascade | Clubb | Coldwater | Greenville | Hiram | Leeper | Lodi | Lowndes | McGee | Mill Spring | Patterson | Piedmont | Shook | Silva | Wappapello | Williamsville

Neighboring Counties
Bollinger •  Butler  •  Carter  •  Iron  •  Madison  •  Reynolds  •  Stoddard

Cemeteries

 * Wayne County, Missouri Cemetery Photographs (RootsWeb)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Church

 * Tong, H.F., Historical Sketches of the Baptists of Southeast Missouri. St. Louis: National Baptist Publishing Company, 1888. (Google Books link with complete text)

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * Cramer, Rose Fulton, Wayne County, Missouri. (Google Books)
 * Douglass, Robert Sidney, History of Southeast Missouri, Vol. 1. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1912.  (Google Books)
 * History of southeast Missouri. Embracing an historical account of the counties of Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois, Perry, Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Madison, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Dunklin, Scott, Mississippi, Stoddard, Butler, Wayne and Iron. Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co., 1888.
 * Online at MissouriDigitalHeritage (Free)

Maps



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


 * Interactive map of Wayne County townships (Histopolis)


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

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 Wayne 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 Wayne County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941 - 1946 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Missouri Newspapers at the State Historical Society: Wayne County (State Historical Society of Missouri)
 * Wayne County Journal-Banner, Piedmont, Missouri
 * Wayne County, Missouri Obituaries (Newspaper Obituaries)

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
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 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
 * 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

Historical Society

 * Wayne County Historical Society Route 1, Box 1117 Piedmont, MO 63957 Phone: 573-223-7130

Websites

 * Wayne County History... (e-Reference Desk)
 * Wayne County, Missouri (Wikipedia)
 * Wayne County, Missouri Ancestry &amp; Family History (ePodunk)