Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Cape Girardeau County

County Courthouse
Cape Girardeau County Courthouse 1 Barton Square Jackson, MO 63755 Phone: 573.243.3547 County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1893 and land records 1821-1859; County Recorder has marriage records; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Probate Judge has probate records; Riversize Regional Library  has all records on microfilm

History
Cape Girardeau County predates the state of Missouri which was admitted to the union in 1821. Cape Girardeau was one of the five original districts of the Louisiana Territory from 1805-1812 and one of the five original counties of the Missouri Territory from 1812 to 1821.

Parent County
1812--Cape Girardeau County was created 1 October 1812 as an original county. County seat: Jackson

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Cape Girardeau County boundary changes at N2Genealogy.

Places/Localities

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Alexander County, Illinois
 * Bollinger
 * Perry
 * Scott
 * Stoddard
 * Union County, Illinois

Maps

 * Map of Cape Girardeau County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Cape Girardeau County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.

Civil War
Civil War service men from Cape Girardeau County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of Cape Girardeau County.


 * - 2nd Regiment, Illinois Light Artillery, Battery F.

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War Battle was fought in Cape Girardeau County


 * April 26, 1863 = Cape Girardeau

Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

Deaths

 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Cape Girardeau Missouri Family History Center

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.