Lawrence County, Missouri Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for James Lawrence. The County is located in the southwestern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Lawrence County Courthouse PO Box 309 Mount Vernon, MO 65712 Phone: 417-466-2638 Lawrence County Website Recorder of Deeds has marriage and land records from 1846. Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce and court records from 1846. Probate Judge has probate records from 1846.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Lawrence 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

 * Family Biographies from The History of Lawrence County, Missouri (1889) published by Goodspeed are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census Records

 * 1732-1933 at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Catholic Sacred Heart, Verona


 * 1874-1876 Sacred Heart, Verona, Baptism Index 1874-1876. Batch at FamilySearch.

Court Records

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

Local Histories

 * History of Missouri's Counties, County Seats, and Courthouse Squares. 1983. by Marian M. Ohman. Missouri: Missouri State Library. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * History of Newton, Lawrence, Barry, and McDonald Counties, Missouri. 1888. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * Ozark region, Its History and Its People. Volume 1. 1917. Springfield, Missouri: Interstate Historical Society.
 * Volume 1. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * Volume 2. Online at: Missouri Digital History
 * Volume 3. Online at: Missouri Digital History History of Lawrence County Missouri


 * 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)
 * Map of Lawrence County 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 Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Lawrence County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Lawrence County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)
 * An Illustrated Historical Atlas of Lawrence County, Missouri at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- 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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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

Newspapers

 * Missouri Digital Newspaper Project at Missouri State Historical Society
 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Joplin newspapers and Neosho newspapers from the early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Lawrence County communities.

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 and 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.

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
 * 1827-1876 Lawrence County Birth Index, Volumes A thru D, 1827-1876. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1827-1935  at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1920-2015 Missouri, Birth Index, 1920-2015 at MyHeritage — index, ($)
 * 1920-2015 Reclaim the Records: Missouri Birth Index at Archive.org - images of index

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 ($)
 * 1845-1868 Lawrence County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1845-1868. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1869-1885 Lawrence County Marriage Books C and D Index 1869-1881. Batches and  at FamilySearch.

Death

 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1910-1960 Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1969 at Missouri Digital Heritage - index and images.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * 1968-2015 Missouri, Death Index, 1968-2015 at MyHeritage — index, ($)

Family History Centers
Aurora Missouri Family History Center

Societies

 * Lawrence County Historical Society P.O. Box 406 Mount Vernon, MO 65712 Phone: 417-466-2422 Email: [mailto:lawrencecountyhistoricalsociety@yahoo.com lawrencecountyhistoricalsociety@yahoo.com] Website FaceBook

Websites

 * Missouri Digital Heritage. Free. digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
 * 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
 * RootsWeb resources. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
 * Linkpendium. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * CyndisList. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
 * StateofUS. Free. family history resources and government records
 * Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)