Carter County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records; Probate Court has probate records from 1859.

Parent County
1859 Carter County was created 10 March 1859 from Ripley and Shannon Counties. County seat: Van Buren

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

 * The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties.

Neighboring Counties
Butler •  Oregon  •  Reynolds  •  Ripley  •  Shannon  •  Wayne

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps



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


 * Interactive map of Carter County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Carter County.

Military

 * 1900 - 1941  at FamilySearch — images

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

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Carter County, vital record abstracts from Carter County newspapers (Missouri State Historical Society)

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1750 - 1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Births

 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $

Some Pre-1910 Birth Records are available online at Missouri State Archives. Birth Records - Over 250 reels of microfilm containing birth and death records from 1883 to 1893 are available at the Archives for research. To learn more about researching birth and death records from this period, contact the Archives using email: [mailto:archref@sos.mo.gov archref@sos.mo.gov]

Marriages

 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1861 - 1885 - Carter County Marriage Book A Index 1861-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

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

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * West Carter County Genealogy Society P.O. Box 309 Van Buren, MO 63965 Phone: 573-323-4315


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