Lewis County, Missouri Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Clerk of the Circuit Court has marriage, divorce and land records; Probate Judge has probate and court records.

Parent County
1833 Lewis County was created 2 January 1833 from Marion County. County seat: Monticello

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




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

Neighboring Counties
Adams County, Illinois •  Clark  •  Hancock County, Illinois  •  Knox  •  Marion  •  Shelby

Biographies

 * Family Biographies from The History of Lewis County, Missouri (1887) published by Goodspeed are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.
 * US Biographies Project

Cemeteries

 * Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census

 * 1732-1933 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Court

 * 1800 - 1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * History of Lewis, Clark, Knox and Scotland Counties, Missouri : from the earliest time to the present...family records.... St. Louis : Goodspeed, 1887.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Lewis County townships (Histopolis)
 * Map of 1904 Lewis County, Missouri (My Genealogy Hound)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Lewis 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
 * 1911 - 1938 at FamilySearch — index and images

Regiments

Service men in Lewis 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 Lewis County, Missouri:

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 $
 * 1832 - 1866 Lewis County Birth Index, Volumes 1 thru 3, 1832-1866. Batch 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 $
 * 1833 - 1877 Lewis County Marriage Books 1 thru 3 Index 1833-1877. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1877 - 1885 Lewis County Marriage Books 4 and 5 Index 1877-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

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

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

Historical Societies
Lewis County Historical Society 102 N 4th St Canton, MO 63435‎ Phone: 573-288-5713

Libraries
Lewis County Public Libraries - Libraries located in Lewis County have resources for genealogy and researching family history.