Linn County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
County Clerk has incomplete birth and death records 1883-1888; County Recorder has marriage and land records from 1842; Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records 1837; Probate Office has probate records from 1840.

Parent County
1837 Linn County was created 6 January 1837 from Chariton County. County seat: Linneus

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 Missouri Counties.

Neighboring Counties
Adair •  Chariton  •  Grundy  •  Livingston  •  Macon  •  Sullivan

Biographies

 * Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton and Linn Counties, Missouri Index to Biographies at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketchePortrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri : containing biographical sketche at Ancestry.com ($)

Cemeteries

 * Rootsweb has a great list of Linn County cemeteries with directions: Rootsweb Linn County Cemeteries


 * Linn County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 2 &amp; 8 at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories
The history of Linn county, Missouri: An encyclopedia of useful information (1882) is available online free.


 * Prunty. Brookfield, past and present. S.l. : s.n.], 1905?.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * "Compendium of history and biography of Linn County, Missouri...". Chicago : H. Taylor, 1912.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * The History of Linn County, Missouri : history of the state of Missouri and its chief cities ... a reliable history of Linn County ... biographical sketches. Kansas City, Missouri : Birdsall &amp; Dean, 1882.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Ellsberry, Elizabeth Prather. Linn County, Missouri, list of settlers of 1837-1840, deed book A-1837- 1844, list of landowners in county in 1876, nativity, land locations, year of settlement.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.


 * Map of Linn County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Linn County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.

Military

 * 1900 - 1941 at FamilySearch — images

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

Regiments

Service men in Linn 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 Linn County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941 - 1946 at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * The Archives of The Chillicothe Constitution Tribune (1889-2009) provides free access to their newspapers online. Their newspapers covered local news that included residents from Linn County communities.

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1750 - 1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1820 - 1878 Linn County, Missouri Wills, 1820-78 at Ancestry.com ($)

Births

 * 1817 - 1907 Linn County Birth Index 1817-1907. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1857 - 1885 Linn County Birth Index, Volumes 2A and 2B, 1857-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1875 - 1887 Linn County Birth Index, Volume 1, etc., 1875-1887. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1776-1988 - Missouri, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1842 - 1857 Marriage records, 1842-1857, of Linn County, Missouri at Ancestry.com $
 * 1842 - 1870 Linn County, Missouri Marriages: 1842-70 at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1857 - 1885 Linn County Marriage Books 2A and 2B Index 1857-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1881 - 1885 Linn County Marriage Book 1 Index 1881-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1887 Linn County Death Index 1883-1887. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

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

Historical Society
Linn County Historical Society-Tillmanhouse Museum 303 North Livingston Street P.O. Box 394 Brookfield, MO 64658 Phone: 660-258-7160 Facebook