Umatilla County, Oregon Genealogy

United States

Oregon

Umatilla County

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

Oregon Online Genealogy Records

Umatilla County, Oregon
Map
Location in the state of Oregon, United States Genealogy
Location of Oregon in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	September 27, 1862
County Seat	Pendleton
Courthouse
Address	Umatilla County Courthouse 216 SE 4th Street Pendleton, Or 97801-2590 Phone: 541-276-7111 Umatilla County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for the Umatilla River. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

Umatilla County, Oregon Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1890	1862	1892	1862	1862	1862	1845
*Statewide registration for births and deaths in 1903. General compliance year unknown.

County Courthouse

County Clerk has marriage, divorce, probate, court and land records from 1862.

Umatilla County Government

County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Umatilla County Court House as of August 2010.

Umatilla County Court is structured differently. Check the County Records Inventory link for addresses for location of records (left column).

Record Loss

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

Historical Facts

27 September 1862: Umatilla county was created from Wasco County.

Named after the Umatilla River. The name Umatilla is derived from the Native American name for the river, which was first recorded as Youmalolam in the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Boundary Changes

14 October 1864: Grant

16 February 1885: Morrow County set off.

For animated maps illustrating Oregon County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oregon County Boundary Maps" (1843-1975) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Places / Localities

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator.

The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Adams Athena Echo Helix	Hermiston Milton-Freewater Pendleton Pilot Rock	Stanfield Ukiah Umatilla Weston
Unincorporated communities
Bingham Springs Cold Springs Cold Springs Junction Ferndale Gibbon Green Meadows Havana Hinkle	Holdman Lehman Springs McKay McNary Meacham Myrick Nolin	Nye Pine Grove Power City Rieth Sunnyside Tollgate Wesland
Native American communities
Umatilla
Census-designated places
Cayuse Gopher Flats Kirkpatrick	Mission Riverside	Tutuilla Umapine
Historic communities
Blakeley	Riverview
Ghost towns
Ordnance

Defunct Post Offices

• Adams: The town is about 13 miles northeast of Pendleton on Wildhorse Creek. Named for John F. Adams, part of whose homestead is now included in the town. Post Office established 9 July 1883 with William H. McCoy, postmaster. FamilySearch Catalog
• Albee: A post office with the name Snipe was established at this locality on June 17, 1881, undoubtedly taking its name from nearby Snipe Creek. John H. Clifford was postmaster. On Apr. 17, 1882, the name was changed to Alba and in 1887 a plat for the community was filed using the same form. Alba is the Latin word for white. Sometime near the turn of the century the place became known as Albee for the Albee brothers, well-known locak stockmen, and on July 30, 1907 the name of the post office was changed to conform. Like many other small communities in eastern Oregon, has suffered the ravages of time begining with the depression of the 1930s and accelerating during World War II. The post office was closed on Oct. 31, 1943. All that remains are a few weatherbeaten buildings on private property. FamilySearch Catalog

Indian Reservation

Umatilla (Confederated Tribes of Umatilla - specifically Sahaptin-speaking Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla tribes)

Neighboring Counties

Grant | Morrow | Union | Wallowa | Washington counties: Benton | Columbia | Walla Walla

Trivia Tidbits

Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. Trivia Tidbits

Resources

Biography

Trivia Tidbits: Little biographic bits associated with the names of non-population localities.

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
ORGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
ORGenWeb Archives		FamilySearch Places
Tombstone Project
ORInterment
ORGravestones
Billion Graves
See Oregon Cemeteries for more information.

• Oregon Metro
• Oregon Genealogy Cemeteries

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	2,916	—
1880	9,607	229.5%
1890	13,381	39.3%
1900	18,049	34.9%
1910	20,309	12.5%
1920	25,946	27.8%
1930	24,399	−6.0%
1940	26,030	6.7%
1950	41,703	60.2%
1960	44,352	6.4%
1970	44,923	1.3%
1980	58,861	31.0%
1990	59,249	0.7%
2000	70,548	19.1%
2010	75,889	7.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Church History and Records

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

History

• Historic sketches of Walla Walla, Whitman, Columbia and Garfield Counties, Washington Territory, and Umatilla County, Oregon (If the link does not work, go to ancestry.com ($), click Search, select Card Catalog, paste Title into search box, click Search)

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Umatilla County, Oregon Genealogy for European and African American settlers included:

• Columbia River
• Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon

Military

Civil War

• 1861-1865 - Oregon, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index

World War I

• 1919-1920 - Oregon, World War I, County Military Service Records, 1919-1920 at FamilySearch — index
• 1921-1938 - Oregon, World War I, Veteran State Aid Applications, 1921-1938 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Probate Records

Online Records

• 1833 – 1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Rivers and Waterways

Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. Rivers and Waterways

Vital Records

The Family History Library has copies of some records such as:

Umatilla County record of deaths 1907-1929, certificates of death 1913-1944

See also How to order Oregon Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Oregon Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.

Birth Records

• 1842-1917 Oregon, Oregon State Archives, Births, 1842-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images (*); Also at: Ancestry
• 1860 - 1952 Oregon Births, 1860-1952 at FamilySearch — index

Delayed Birth Certificates

Birth Registers

Marriage Records

• 1826-1975 - Oregon, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
• 1842-1917 Oregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1917 at Ancestry - index and images ($); Also at: FamilySearch
• 1849-1884; 1991-2006 - Oregon Marriage Index, 1849-1884; 1991-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
• 1906-1968 Oregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1968 at Ancestry - index and images ($)
• Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
• Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection

Societies, Libraries and Museums

Umatilla County Historical Society
108 S W Frazer
PO Box 253
Pendleton 97801
541-276-0012
Website
Facebook Page

Umatilla County Library District
425 S Main St
Pendleton OR 97801
541-276-6449

Family History Centers

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Boardman Oregon Family History Center
• Elgin Oregon Family History Center
• Enterprise Oregon Family History Center
• Hermiston Oregon Family History Center
• La Grande Oregon Family History Center
• Pendleton Oregon Family History Center
• Walla Walla Washington Family History Center

• The Genealogical Forum of Oregon - an affiliate library
• Oregon Genealogical Society - an affiliate library

Websites

• Umatilla County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• The Umatilla County GenWeb Project, part of The ORGenWeb Project
• Linkpendium
• USGenWeb Project
• USGenWeb Project backup site
• FamilySearch FamilySearch Catalog

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

Due to contractual agreements, some images and/or databases on FamilySearch.org may only be viewed at a Family History Center or FamilySearch Affiliate Library.

FamilySearch affiliate libraries may have access to center-only databases, but do not always have all services normally provided by a family history center.