Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy

Guide to Cooper 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 Sarshell Cooper, frontier settler who was killed by Native Americans near Arrow Rock in 1814. The County is located in the center area of the state.

County Courthouse
Cooper County Courthouse 200 Main Street PO Box 123 Boonville, MO 65233-0123 Phone: 660-882-2626 Cooper County Website County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1893 and burial records. Circuit Clerk has marriage, divorce, court and naturalization records from 1819, and land records from 1812. Associate Circuit Court has probate records from 1828.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places in Cooper 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:

Cemeteries

 * Cooper County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1-12 at Ancestry ($)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Genealogy Cemeteries

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Catholic St. Peter and Paul, Boonville


 * 1850-1876 St. Peter and Paul, Boonville, Baptism Index 1850-1876. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1851-1876 St. Peter and Paul, Boonville, Marriage Index 1851-1857, 1867-1876. Batch at FamilySearch.

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * A History of Cooper County, Missouri. By Levens and Drake. 1876. Available online at Google Books.
 * History of Cooper County, Missouri. By William Foreman Johnson. 1919. Topeka, Kansas : Historical Pub. Co. Available online at FamilySearch
 * History of Howard and Cooper Counties, Missouri. By National Historical Company. 1883. St. Louis : National Historical Co. Available online at FamilySearch
 * Melton's History of Cooper County, Missouri. By Elston Joseph Melton. 1987. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Available online at FamilySearch
 * Short Historical Sketches of Boonville and Vicinity. By J. B. Barnes. 1928. Boonville, Mo. : [Boonville Advertiser?]. Available online at FamilySearch

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Cooper County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Cooper County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Cooper County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)
 * Illustrated atlas map of Cooper County, Mo at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * Illustrated Historical Atlas of Cooper County, Missouri at Missouri Digital Heritage
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images

Civil War
Online Records
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1865  at FamilySearch — index
 * 1911-1938 at FamilySearch — index and images

Regiments

Service men in Cooper 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 Cooper County, Missouri:

Civil War Battle The following Civil War Battle was fought in Cooper County:


 * June 17, 1861 Boonville also known as First Battle of Boonville
 * Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1941-1946 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Jefferson City newspapers and Sedalia newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's covering local news that included residents from Cooper County communities.

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1750-1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766-1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1820-1870 Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) &amp; Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry ($)

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
 * 1819-1867 Cooper County Birth Index, Volumes A thru C, 1819-1867. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1827-1935 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1868-1872 Cooper County Birth Index, Volume E, 1868-1872. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1883-1884 Cooper County Birth Index 1883-1884. Batch at FamilySearch
 * 1920-2015 Reclaim the Records: Missouri Birth Index at Archive.org - images of index

Marriage

 * 1750-1920 at FamilySearch — 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 ($)
 * 1819-1850 Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) &amp; Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry ($)
 * 1819-1867 Cooper County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1819-1867. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * 1867-1883 Cooper County Marriage Book E Index 1867-1883. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 1881-1885 Cooper County Marriage Books 1 thru 3 Index 1881-1885. Batch at FamilySearch.

Death

 * 1820-1870 Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) &amp; Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry ($)
 * 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
 * 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1883-1884 Cooper County Death Index 1883-1884. Batch at FamilySearch.
 * 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.

Libraries

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

Societies

 * Boonslick Historical Society Of Cooper And Howard Counties P.O. Box 324 Boonville, MO 65233
 * Cooper County Historical Society &amp; Research Center P.O. Box 51 111 Roe Street Pilot Grove, MO 65276 Phone: 660-834-3582 Website

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 ($)