Colfax County, Nebraska Genealogy

Colfax County, Nebraska genealogy and family history research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
County Judge has marriage records from 1869, probate records from 1886 and court records from 1885. Clerk District Court has divorce records from 1881. County Clerk has land records from 1860.

Parent County
1869 Colfax County was created 15 February 1869 from Platte County. County seat: Schuyler

Description
The county and the county seat are named after the former Vice President of the United States, Schuyler Colfax.

Boundary Changes

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Nebraska - shows boundary changes for Nebraska Counties
 * Nebraska Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

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

Populated Places

 * Clarkson
 * Howells
 * Leigh
 * Richland
 * Rogers
 * Schuyler

Neighboring Counties

 * Butler
 * Cuming
 * Dodge
 * Platte
 * Saunders
 * Stanton

Cemeteries
Clarkson, Nebraska: Sousek Cemetery

Columbus Cemetery Supervisor 1060 12th Avenue, Columbus NE 402-562-4251 402-562-4251

Dodge, Nebraska: Saint Patricks Cemetery Tabor Cemetery

Howells, Nebraska: Grove Hill Cemetery S S Peter and Paul Cemetery Saint Johns Cemetery Danish Lutheran Cemetery

Schuyler, Nebraska: Dry Creek Cemetery Saint Johns Cemetery Grandview Cemetery

State Census Records

 * 1854 - 1870 - Nebraska, Compiled Census Index, 1854-1870 at Ancestry.com - index ($)
 * 1860 - 1885 - Nebraska State Census Collection 1860-1885 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)
 * 1885 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1885 - Nebraska State Census 1885 at Ancestry.com - index and images ($)

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for Nebraska starting in 1860. For links to Federal census indexes, see Nebraska Census.

Court

 * 1870 - 1990 — Nebraska Prisoner Records 1870-1990 — index only

Land
For more information see Nebraska Land and Property
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Nebraska Gazetteer - database for all known places found in 1890 and 1911 Nebraska gazetteers
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Nebraska - shows boundary changes for Nebraska Counties



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


 * Platte 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

Revolutionary War

 * 1775 - 1783 - at FamilySearch - images only
 * For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

 * 1861 - 1865 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1891 - Nebraska Resident Military Roster on June 1, 1891 at Ancestry.com - ($), Roster of Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines of the War of 1812, the Mexico War, and the War of the Rebellion, residing in Nebraska June 1, 1891
 * 1893 - Roster of Nebraska Veterans - list of veterans in 1893
 * For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

WWI

 * 1917 - 1918 - World War I Drafts 1917-1918 - index only
 * For more nationwide World War I databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Newspapers
 Nebraska Newspapers Online Nebraska Newspaper Catalogs
 * Nebraska Newspapers - contains images of newspapers throughout Nebraska
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Nebraska newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Nebraska newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Nebraska newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * Nebraska State Historical Society - catalog of known Nebraska newspapers; lists repositories that have the newspapers
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1806 – 1989 Nebraska Wills and Probate Records 1806-1989 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Marriage Records
Online Marriage Records Indexes and Images
 * 1855 - 1995 — at FamilySearch — index only
 * 1856 - 1898 — Nebraska Marriages 1856-1898 at Ancestry.com ($), index only

Societies and Libraries
County, Township and City Societies


 * Clarkson Historical Society 221 Pine St. Clarkson, NE 68629-4015 Phone: 402-892-3854 Email: [mailto:Ijperin@megavision.com Ijperin@megavision.com]

Libraries


 * Schuyler Public Library 1123 A Street Schuyler, NE 68661 Phone: 402-352-2221 Fax: 402-352-5377 Email: claycenterlibrary@gmail.com Library Director: Cheryl Green


 * Clarkson Memorial Library 316 Pine St Clarkson, NE 68629, USA Phone: 402-892-3235


 * Howells Public Library 128 N 3rd St PO Box 337 Howells, NE 68641-0337 Phone: 402-986-1210 Fax: 402-986-1210 Email: howellspubliclibrary@yahoo.com Director: Victoria Vacha

Websites

 * NEGenWeb
 * USGenWeb