Bates County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Bates 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 birth and death records 1883-1887; County Recorder has marriage records from 1860 and land records from 1840; Clerk of the Circuit Court has divorce records from 1860; Probate Judge has probate records.

Parent County
1841 Bates County was created 29 January 1841from Cass, Van Buren and Jackson Counties. Van Buren County name was changed to Cass County 19 Feb 1849. County seat: Butler

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
1861 Courthouse burned; some records were destroyed.

Places/Localities



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

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog


 * - Note: Drexel records are under Cass County in FamilySearch
 * - Note: Drexel records are under Cass County in FamilySearch
 * - Note: Drexel records are under Cass County in FamilySearch
 * - Note: Drexel records are under Cass County in FamilySearch
 * - Note: Drexel records are under Cass County in FamilySearch
 * - Note: Drexel records are under Cass County in FamilySearch

Populated Places

 * Adrian
 * Amoret
 * Butler
 * Hume

Neighboring Counties
Cass •  Henry  •  Linn County, Kansas  •  Miami County, Kansas  •  St. Clair  •  Vernon

Cemeteries

 * Bates County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1-4, 5 (Part 1), 6 (Parts 1 and 2), 7, 8 (Parts 1-3) at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Lutheran

 * Zion Lutheran Church, Rich Hill, records in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories
The old settlers' history of Bates County, Missouri from its first settlement to the first day of January, 1900 is available online free from Google Books.; and atFamilySearch (Free)


 * Atkeson, William Oscar. History of Bates County, Missouri.Topeka, Kansas : Historical Pub. Co., 1918.
 * Online at Internet Archive (Free)
 * The History of Cass and Bates counties, Missouri : containing a history of these counties, their cities, towns; biographical sketches of their citizens, general and local statistics, history of Missouri. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Map of Bates County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Bates 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 Bates 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 Bates County, Missouri:
 * - 11th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company D
 * - 60th Battalion, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company C

World War II

 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index

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 $
 * 1880 - 1911 Bates County Birth Index 1880-1911. Batches and  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 $
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $

Deaths

 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1883 - 1911 Bates County Death Index 1883-1911. Batch  at FamilySearch - free.
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Societies and Libraries

 * Bates County Genealogical Society Mailing Address: P. O. Box 501 Butler, MO 64730 Meetings are the second Saturday morning of every month at 9:30 am at the Butler MO Public Library, 100 W. Atkinson, Butler, MO


 * Bates County Museum/Historical Society 100 East Fort Scott Butler, MO 64730 Phone: 660-679-4777


 * Bates County Old Settlers’ Society Route 4 Butler, MO 64730


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