Buchanan County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Buchanan County

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

County Courthouse
Register of Deeds has marriage records; Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records; Probate Judge has probate records; Magistrate Court has court records; County Assessor has land records.



An order was made to erect the first courthouse for Buchanan County, Missouri on 04 January 1841. The building was to be completed by July 1841. The site of the first county seat was in the village of Sparta.undefinedThe contractor who built the simple courthouse was Guilford Moultray and the men, who made the initial plans for the building were George W. Nixon and William Fowler. This building was a temporary structure. On 09 November 1842 the County Court approved a second order for a more permanent structure. This order was for a court house to be built in Sparta which was near the center of Buchanan County, however, there was discension concerning this location. The residents who lived in the larger town of St. Joseph which was platted in 1843 were vying for the courthouse to be moved to this city. They presented a petition with the signatures of more than 3/5 of the tax-payers of the county requesting that the county seat be moved to St. Joseph and the new courthouse be built there instead of the more central village of Sparta. On 04 July 1843 a report drafted by three men, who were appointed as commissioners by the Justices of the County Court was filed with the State of Missouri stating that an election should be held on 05 August 1843 to decide the permanent location of the county seat. Residents of each township were to decide if the new courthouse should be built in what is now St. Joseph, but at that time was known as Blacksnake Hills. It took the residents about three years to make the final decision to move the courthouse. The site of the new courthouse was donated by Joseph Robidoux.

History
Buchanan County was added to the state of Missouri with the Platte Purchase which was finalized in the year 1837. Prior to that it was part of the Indian lands and only a few white settlers and fur trappers occupied the region. One of the earliest was Joseph Robidoux, III who was a trader and fur trapper, who settled in the hills above the Missouri River at what is now known as St. Joseph, Missouri. He apparently, first arrived in the area about 1800 when he was 17 years old. He and his associates had ventured out into the frontier to try to establish a trading relationship with the local Native Americans (the Blacksnake, Missouri, Otoe, Joway, Iowa and other tribes).

In these early years, Joe Robidoux did not establish a permanent residence in what later became St. Joseph. Instead, he traveled up and down the Missouri Valley from St. Louis, Missouri to Council Bluffs, Iowa bartering and trading with the Native Americans. In later years, Robidoux became an employer of the American Fur Company and established a permanent residence. The area was known as Blacksnake Hills.

By 1834 white settlers began to enter the area illegally and began squatting on land. Their main intent was to take acquire land. Since this area was not yet part of the United States they could not legally obtain title to their land and it was the duty of the U.S. military to see to it that they did not invade the area. One of the military leaders in charge of this agency was General Andrew Hughes, who did not like to enforce the policy of no squatters in the area.

Parent County
1838 Buchanan County was created 31 December 1838 from the Platte Purchase. When originally formed in 1838, the county was named Roberts County, after settler Hiram Roberts; it was renamed in 1839 for James Buchanan, then a U.S. Senator and later President of the United States. County seat: St. Joseph

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 114 Missouri Counties.

Populated Places

 * St. Joseph

Neighboring Counties
Andrew •  Atchison County, Kansas  •  Clinton  •  Dekalb  •  Doniphan County, Kansas  •  Platte

Biographies

 * Buchanan and Clinton Counties, Missouri Biographical Record at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Portrait and biographical record of Buchanan and Clinton Counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketches of prominent and at Ancestry.com ($)

Cemeteries
The following link will take you to the MOGenWeb site containing information about Buchanan County cemeteries:Rootsweb Missouri, Buchanan Cemeteries

Index and list of tombstones and cemetery records in the FHL;

item 1


 * The following link will take you to Find A Grave. This is a list of 151 cemeteries in Buchanan County. Many have photos of the tombstones. Find A Grave

Catholic
Cathedral, St. Joseph


 * 1856 - 1876 Cathedral, St. Joseph, Baptism Index 1856-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1846 - 1876 Cathedral, St. Joseph, Marriage Index 1846-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph


 * 1860 - 1876 Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph, Baptism Index 1860-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1860 - 1885 Immaculate Conception, St. Joseph, Marriage Index 1860-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

St. Joseph's, Easton


 * 1868 - 1876 St. Joseph's, Easton, Baptism Index 1868-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1868 - 1885 St. Joseph's, Easton, Marriage Index 1868-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

St. Patrick's, St. Joseph


 * 1869 - 1876 St. Patrick's, St. Joseph, Baptism Index 1869-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1869 - 1885 St. Patrick's, St. Joseph, Marriage Index 1869-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * St. Joseph

German
Kesler Settlement, German Congregation


 * 1847 - 1876 Kesler Settlement, German Congregation, Baptism Index 1847-1876. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.

Lutheran
St. Joseph's Lutheran Church


 * Records of St. Joseph's Lutheran Church in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

City Directories

 * St. Joseph, Missouri Directories, 1887-90 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * St. Joseph, Missouri City Directory, 1890 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Buchanan County, Missouri Directories, 1902, 1904-06 at Ancestry.com ($)

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1816 - 1955 Buchanan County Naturalization Records - Missouri State Archives.

Land
Deed records are available from 1839 to the present. They are archived at the Recorder of Deeds Office in the Courthouse.

Local Histories
A Portrait and biographical record of Buchanan and Clinton counties, Missouri containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens... (1893) is available online free from Google Books. The first part of the book contains biographies of the U.S. presidents. The second part, starting on p.111, contains biographies Buchanan and Clinton county residents.


 * Buchanan County, Missouri History at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Hodges, Nadine. Abstracts of wills and administrations from books "A" and "B", 1839-1857.Kansas City, Missouri : Hodges &amp; Woodruff, 1969.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Rutt, Christian Ludwig. The Daily News' history of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo., from the time of the Platte Purchase to the end of the year 1898, : preceeded by a short history of Missouri, supplemented by biographical sketches. [St. Joseph, Missouri] : St. Joseph Pub. Co., [1898].
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * History of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. : from the time of the Platte Purchase to...1915, preceded by a short history of Missouri, supplemented by biographical sketches. St. Joseph, Missouri : History Pub. Co., [1915?].
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Buchanan County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Buchanan County.
 * Map of 1904 Buchanan County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

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


 * Missouri River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Military

 * 1900 - 1941 at FamilySearch — images

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

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at | FamilySearch — index

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

Taxation

 * Buchanan County, Missouri Taxpayers, 1887-90 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Buchanan County, Missouri Taxpayers, 1891-95, 1901 at Ancestry.com ($)

Births

 * 1827 - 1935  at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1837 - 1871 Buchanan County Birth Volumes A thru C Index 1837-1871. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * Buchanan birth records, can be found also in the State Records.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1839 - 1855 Buchanan County, Missouri Marriages: 1839-55 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1839 - 1874 Buchanan County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1839-1874. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1874 - 1883 Buchanan County Marriage Books D and E Index 1874-1883. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883 - 1885 Buchanan County Marriage Books F and G Index 1883-1885. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * Buchanan marriage records, can be found also in the State Records.

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1893 Buchanan County Death Index 1883-1893. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * Buchanan death records, can be found also in the State Records.

Census Records

 * 1840
 * 1850
 * 1860
 * 1870

Societies and Libraries

 * Northwest Missouri Genealogical Society 412 Felix Street Saint Joseph, MO 64501 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 382 Saint Joseph, MO 64502 Phone: 816-233-0524


 * Saint Joseph Historical Society P.O. Box 246 Third and Poulin Streets St. Joseph, MO 64502 Phone: 816-232-5861


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

Family History Centers



 * St Joseph Missouri Family History Center 7 N Carriage Dr, St Joseph, MO 64506 United States Location Map