Fremont County, Colorado Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for explorer and presidential candidate John C. Fremont. The County has Canon City as its seat and the County was created November 1, 1861. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Fremont County Courthouse 615 Macon Rm 100 Canon City, CO 81212 Phone: 719.276.7330 Fremont County Website County Clerk has marriage and land records; Clerk district Court has divorce, probate and court records

Populated Places
The following are locations in Fremont County, Colorado:

Cities and towns

Cities and towns to be found in Fremont County include:

Cemeteries
Sources for information and tombstone photos for Fremont County, Colorado cemeteries: Colorado GravestonesPhoto Project. Lists some Fremont County cemeteries by name; includes links to the cemetery with names and links to tombstone photos. Colorado-Cemeteries.com. A site with good general information about cemeteries and tombstones, plus links to a list of Fremont County cemeteries. The Tombstone Transcription Project. This is so far (updated Jan 2014) the most complete site for Fremont County cemetery information, including photos. Note: Many if not most of the tombstone photos are copyrighted, so they cannot be copied for use without permission at websites like Ancestry.com or find-a-grave.com.

Cemeteries of Canon City, Fremont County, CO This is not an all-inclusive list. All links in this section, unless otherwise noted,to the USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project, Colorado, Fremont Co.
 * Abbey Cemetery (aka Holy Cross Abbey Cemetery)
 * Garden Park Cemetery
 * Greenwood Pioneer Cemetery Est. c.1870s
 * I.O.O.F. Cemetery Est. c.1870s. Note: Sometimes the Greenwood Cemetery and IOOF Cemetery are linked together because of their close proximity - across the street from one another.
 * Lakeside Cemetery Est. c.1877.

Other Cemeteries of Fremont County All links to Tombstone Transcription Project unless otherwise noted.
 * Cotopaxi Cemetery, Cotopaxi, Colorado
 * Hillside Cemetery, Hillside, Colorado; aka San Isabel View Cemetery.
 * Howard Cemetery, Howard, Colorado. Est. c.1874. Until 1916, known as Pleasant Valley Cemetery.
 * Lower Beaver Creek Cemetery, Penrose, Colorado. Est. c.1865.
 * Penrose Cemetery, Penrose BillionGraves . Est. 1915; aka Beaver Park Cemetery.
 * Union Highland Cemetery, Florence, Colorado. Est. 1873. Originally named "Highland"; name changed in 1930 when it was turned over to the city of Florence.
 * Upper Beaver Creek Cemetery, Florence, Colorado. Est. 1883.

State and Territory Census Records

 * 1860 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Colorado was included in the 1860 Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah Territories Censuses
 * 1870 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Colorado Territory Census
 * 1885 - Colorado State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch - Index and images
 * 1885 - Colorado State Census, 1885 at Ancestry - ($), Index and images

Federal Census Records
The 1880 Census was the first Federal Census for Colorado after it became a state in 1876. For links to Federal Census indexes, see Colorado Census. Mortality Schedules
 * 1860-1940 Colorado Census Records from 1860 to 1940 at FamilySearch.org — index/images


 * 1880 Mortality Schedule for Fremont County. This schedule is available at Ancestry.com.


 * Persons who died the year ending May 31, 1880.
 * Name; age; sex; color; whether single, married, widowed, or divorced
 * place of birth; where father born; where mother born;
 * profession, occupation, or trade;
 * month in which the person died;
 * disease or cause of death;
 * how long a resident of the county?;
 * place where disease was contracted, if not Fremont County;
 * name of attending physician.

Church Records
Online Church Records Presbyterian Church LDS Ward and Branch Records
 * 1743-1970 - U.S., Presbyterian Records, 1743-1970 at Ancestry — ($); Index and images; Dates vary for each county


 * Canon City

Court Records
Numerous records are available at Colorado Archives. To use this link scroll down the page to where it asks for Record Type. Click there and scroll down the list to the records you want and select. The next field asks for county. Select the county you want and then click on Search. You can narrow the search by adding the additional information it asks for.

Directories
Online Directories
 * 1905 - U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 at Ancestry - ($), Index and images, Florence City Directory

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records

For more information see Colorado Land and Property
 * Colorado DPA Land Records - Index only; Choose Record Type, and search either "Land Patents" or "Land Records."
 * 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 - ($), index and images
 * 1862-1908 - Denver Land Office Records, 1862-1908 at Ancestry.com - ($), index only

Local Histories
1813-1890 The county is named for explorer and presidential candidate John C. Fremont (1813-1890), called by historians the Great Pathfinder.

Crossing The Plains in 1864 and Early History of Fremont County, by William H. Callen.

Online County Histories
 * Experiments in Colorado Colonization, 1869-1872. c1926. Edited by James Field Willard and Colin B. Goodykoontz. Boulder, Colorado : University of Colorado. Online at: Hathitrust;.
 * History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado. (Includes History of Fremont County, by B. F. Rockafellow.) 1881. Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Online at: Internet Archive;.
 * Pioneers of Fremont County, Colorado. 2003. By Barbara Ahart. Canon City, Colorado : B. Ahart, 2003. Online at: ;.

Maps and Gazetteers

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

Online Collections
These collections are unique to Colorado. You will find nationwide databases for military records on U.S. Military Online Genealogy Records and Colorado Military Records.

All Veterans
 * Colorado State Archives Veterans Grave Registration Index at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Military - Grave

Civil War
 * Colorado Civil War Casualties Index at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Civil War Casualty
 * 1861-1865 - Colorado State Archives Volunteers Transcript of Record Index (1861-1865) at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Transcript of Record

Spanish-American War (1898)
 * 1898 - Colorado Volunteers in the Spanish American War, 1898 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Span-Am War Soldiers

World War I
 * 1916-1919 - Colorado State Archives Denver War Risk Insurance Applicants, 1916-1919 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, War Risk Insurance
 * 1917-1922 - Colorado State Archives World War I Civilian Service Questionnaires, 1917-1922 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, WWI Questionnaire
 * 1917-1918 - Colorado Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918 at Ancestry.com — ($), index

Vietnam War
 * 1966 & 1968 - Colorado State Archives Vietnam War Casualties - June-December 1966 & January-December 1968 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Vietnam Deaths

For further information see Colorado Military Records.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Records
 * 1868-1990 - Colorado, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1868-1990 at Ancestry ($); Index and images
 * 1876-1990 - at FamilySearch - Browseable images only; District Court records

See the FamilySearch wiki page for Colorado Naturalization and Citizenship.

Newspapers
Colorado Newspapers Online
 * Colorado Online Historical Newspapers online - in the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection by the Colorado State Library
 * Colorado Newspapers at Ancestry.com - ($)
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Colorado newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Colorado newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Colorado newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites

Colorado Newspaper Catalogs
 * 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

Microfilm of years of the Canon City Daily Record are housed at the Royal Gorge Museum and History Center. Contact them for specific years.

Periodicals

 * The Colorado Magazine was published by the Colorado Historical Society from 1923 to 1980 and contains hundreds of articles about significant Colorado and Western people and events. Since 1980, the quarterly has been titled Colorado Heritage. (Denver)
 * Pinon Whispers, published quarterly by the Southeastern Colorado Genealogy Society. (Pueblo)

Probate Records
'''Online Records
 * 1875–1974 Colorado Wills and Probate Records 1875-1974 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Tax Records

 * 1913-1943 Colorado State Archives has put the Fremont County Inheritance Tax Records Index for 1913-1943 on-line.

Birth
Birth records may become public records when 100 years have elapsed after the date of birth. EXCEPTION: The birth record of any individual who is known to be currently alive will remain confidential even if they are 100 years of age or greater.

Marriage
Online Records
 * 1809-2011 - Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2011 - Index, incomplete, list of counties included
 * 1853-2006 - at FamilySearch.org - Index and images
 * 1862-2006 - Colorado, County Marriages and State Indexes, 1862-2006 at Ancestry ($), Index and images
 * 1864-1995 - at FamilySearch - Index and images
 * 1900-1939 - Colorado, Statewide Marriage Index, 1900-1939 at Ancestry.com - ($); Browseable images of original index
 * 1874-1876 Marriage certificates and licenses, 1874-1876
 * 1925-1929 Marriage certificate index, 1925-1929

Death
Death records may become public records when 75 years have elapsed after the date of death.

Divorce
Online Records
 * 1851-1985 Colorado, Divorce Index, 1851-1985 at Ancestry - ($); Index only
 * 1900-1930 Colorado Statewide Divorce Index, 1900-1930. These records are found at FamilySearch. The index is arranged in alphabetical order.
 * 1900-1939 - at FamilySearch - Browseable images of original index

Family History Centers

 * Canon City Colorado Family History Center

Museums

 * Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center
 * Museum of Colorado Prisons
 * Florence Pioneer Museum

Websites

 * - 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
 * History Colorado Center, Denver, Colorado
 * Fremont County, Colorado Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Fremont County, Colorado Genealogy and History, part of the Genealogy Trails Group
 * Lone Pine Ancestors, a Fremont County website written and maintained by Mary Ann Thomas, copyright 2001. Some information may not be updated.
 * Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society, Pueblo, Colorado