Wayne County, Missouri Genealogy

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



Description
Wayne County, Missouri is one of Missouri's oldest counties. The county is named after Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne (1745-1796), not because of any connection to the county, but because he was a popular figure of the time.

Wayne County comprised a vast area from 1825 to 1831 that is said to have been larger than the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware combined. The county was so large that, at one time, it was known as the "State of Wayne."

County Courthouse
Wayne County Courthouse 109 Walnut Street Greenville, MO 63944 Phone: 573-224-3014 Wayne County Website County Clerk has birth and death records 1914-1940. Clerk of the Circuit Court and Recorder has court records, marriage records, divorce and land records. Associate Circuit Court has probate records.

Populated Places
The following are locations in Wayne County, Missouri:


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

History Timeline
The earliest white settlements in what is now Wayne County are said to have been in 1802, when a few settlers arrived from Kentucky, with more coming into the county from North Carolina in 1806.

Missouri was admitted into the Union August 10, 1821.

Cemeteries

 * Wayne County, Missouri Cemetery Photographs (RootsWeb)
 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census Records

 * 1732-1933 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church Records

 * Tong, H.F., Historical Sketches of the Baptists of Southeast Missouri. St. Louis: National Baptist Publishing Company, 1888. (Google Books link with complete text)

Court Records

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * History of Southeast Missouri, Vol. 1. By Robert Sidney Douglass. 1912. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. Available online at Google Books
 * History of Southeast Missouri. 1888. Chicago, The Goodspeed Publishing Co. Available online at MissouriDigitalHeritage
 * Wayne County, Missouri. By Rose Fulton Cramer. Available online at Google Books

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Interactive map of Wayne County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Wayne County.

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 Wayne 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 Wayne County, Missouri:

World War II

 * 1941-1946  at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Missouri Newspapers at the State Historical Society: Wayne County (State Historical Society of Missouri)
 * Wayne County Journal-Banner, Piedmont, Missouri

Obituaries

 * Wayne County, Missouri Obituaries (Newspaper Obituaries)

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

Birth

 * 1827-1935 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)

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 ($)
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)

Death

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

Societies

 * Wayne County Historical Society Route 1, Box 1117 Piedmont, MO 63957 Phone: 573-223-7130

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
 * Genealogy Trails. Free.
 * USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be images or 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 ($)