Montana, Chouteau County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Montana Chouteau County

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of an index and images of Chouteau County records held at various repositories. Records located in the Museum of the Northern Plains (River Plains Society) include voter registers, school district records, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church records, Riverside Cemetery records and newspapers clippings of births, marriages and deaths. Records held by the Chouteau County Courthouse include birth, death, probate, naturalization, deeds and school census records. This collection covers the years 1876 to 2011.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Montana marriages click here.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The records may contain any of the following pieces of information:


 * Individual names
 * Birth dates and places
 * Death dates and places
 * Marriage dates and places
 * Relationships
 * Residences

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate age of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of the event.
 * The type of event.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select Browse through images on the initial collection page ⇒Select the Record Category ⇒Select the Record Type, Volume, and Year Range which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

With either search keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate the birth date.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of birth of each partner to find a couple's birth records and parents' names.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of birth to find the family in census records.
 * Use the residence and names to locate church and land records.
 * Use the parents' birth places to find former residences and to establish a migration pattern for the family.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * The name of the officiator may be a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county.
 * The name of the undertaker, mortuary, or cemetery could lead you to funeral records which often include the names and residences of other family members.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes created by local genealogical and historical societies.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Citing this Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection Citation

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: