Cole County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Captain Stephen Cole. The County is located in the center area of the state.

County Courthouse
Cole County Courthouse 301 E High Street Jefferson City, MO 65101 Phone: 573-634-9106 Cole County Website Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records from 1821. Probate Judge has probate records from 1821. Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records from 1821.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Cole County, MO, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Biographies

 * All of the family biographies from the History of Cole County, (1889) by Goodspeed Publishing Company are available free online at My Genealogy Hound.

Cemeteries

 * The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has burial records for Jefferson City and other Cemeteries around the country.
 * Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson City National Cemetery, 1861-2010 at Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Lutheran


 * St. Paul Lutheran Church, Lohman, records in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1820-1927 Cole County, Missouri, U.S., Circuit Court Case Files, 1820-1927 at Ancestry — images ($)

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records

Local Histories

 * History of Cole, Moniteau, Morgan, Benton, Miller, Maries and Osage Counties, Missouri. 1889. Chicago : Goodspeed Pub. Co. Online at: FamilySearch; and at Missouri Digital History
 * History of Missouri's Counties, County Seats, and Courthouse Squares. 1983. by Marian M. Ohman. Missouri: Missouri State Library. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * State of Missouri: an autobiography. 1904. by Walter Williams. Columbia, Mo: Press of E. W. Stephens. Online at: Missouri Digital History

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Maps of townships (Histopolis)
 * Missouri As It Is In 1867. 1867. by Nathan II. Parker. Philadelpia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * The University of Digital Library has digital copies of county plat books (ca. 1930) for all counties including Cole County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Cole County, with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)
 * Standard Atlas of Cole County, Missouri at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images - How to Use this Collection

Civil War
Online Records


 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1911-1938  at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Regiments

Service men in Cole 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 Cole County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1941-1946  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1843-1991 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * Chronicling America a list of 1836 to 1922 Cole County newspapers with their descriptions and where they are held.
 * Daily Capital News (Jefferson City, Missouri) at Ancestry ($)
 * Jefferson City Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) at Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri Digital Newspaper Project at Missouri State Historical Society
 * News and Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri) at Ancestry ($)
 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Jefferson City newspapers from the early 1900's that covered local news on Cole County residents as well as residents from surrounding counties.
 * The State Historical Society of Missouri digitized newspapers from Cole County - you must sort by Cole County

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1750-1988 at FamilySearch — images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1766-1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry — index & images ($)

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Birth

 * Pre-1910 Missouri Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index.
 * 1817-1939 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1827-1935  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images $
 * 1865-1874 Cole County 1865-1874. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1883 Cole County 1883. Batch  at FamilySearch.
 * 1883-1906 Cole County, Missouri Births, 1883-1906 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1885 Cole County 1885. Batch  at FamilySearch.
 * 1920-2015 Missouri, Birth Index, 1920-2015 at Reclaim the Records — index; Also at: MyHeritage ($)

Marriage

 * 1750-1920  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1776-1988 Missouri, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1800-1991  at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1821-1851 Cole County, Missouri Marriages: 1821-51 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1821-1865 Cole County A and B Index 1821-1865. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1881-1885 Cole County 1 and 2 Index 1881-1885. Batch at FamilySearch.

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1871-1899 Cole County, Missouri Obituaries, 1871-99 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1883-1906 Cole County Death Index 1883-1906. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1883-1906 Cole County, Missouri Deaths, 1883-1906 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index and images.
 * 1924-1930 Cole County, Missouri Deaths, 1924-1930 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1968-2022 Missouri, Death Index, 1968-2015 at Reclaim the Records — index; Also at: MyHeritage ($); Ancestry ($)
 * State provides on-line access to Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

FamilySearch Centers

 * Jefferson City Missouri FamilySearch Center

Libraries

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

Societies

 * Cole County Historical Society and Museum 109 Madison Street Jefferson City, MO 65101 Phone: 573-635-1850 Email: [mailto:cchs@socket.net cchs@socket.net] Website Facebook


 * Cole County Genealogy Facebook

Websites

 * Missouri Digital Heritage. Free. Digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
 * Cole County Genealogy Research.  Free. Data and sources of data for researching Cole County genealogy.
 * MOGenWeb. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
 * USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * . Free. - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)