Fremont County, Colorado Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for explorer and presidential candidate John C. Fremont. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Fremont County Courthouse 615 Macon Rm 100 Canon City, CO 81212 Phone: 719-276-7330 Fremont County Website County Clerk has marriage and land records; Clerk district Court has divorce, probate and court records

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:

Other links to Cities and towns found in Fremont County include:

State and Territory Census Records

 * 1860 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Colorado was included in the 1860 Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Utah Territories Censuses - How to Use this Collection
 * 1870 - at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images; Colorado Territory Census - How to Use this Collection
 * 1885 - at FamilySearch - Index and images
 * 1885 - Colorado State Census, 1885 at Ancestry - ($), Index and images

Federal Census Records
The 1880 Census was the first Federal Census for Colorado after it became a state in 1876. For links to Federal Census indexes, see Colorado Census. Mortality Schedules
 * 1860-1940 Colorado Census Records from 1860 to 1940 at FamilySearch.org — index/images


 * 1880 Mortality Schedule for Fremont County. This schedule is available at Ancestry.com.


 * Persons who died the year ending May 31, 1880.
 * Name; age; sex; color; whether single, married, widowed, or divorced
 * place of birth; where father born; where mother born;
 * profession, occupation, or trade;
 * month in which the person died;
 * disease or cause of death;
 * how long a resident of the county?;
 * place where disease was contracted, if not Fremont County;
 * name of attending physician.

Church Records
Online Church Records
 * 1692-1942 - at FamilySearch — index - How to Use this Collection

Presbyterian Church Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * 1743-1970 - U.S., Presbyterian Records, 1743-1970 at Ancestry — ($); Index and images; Dates vary for each county

List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Canon City
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Numerous records are available at Colorado Archives. To use this link scroll down the page to where it asks for Record Type. Click there and scroll down the list to the records you want and select. The next field asks for county. Select the county you want and then click on Search. You can narrow the search by adding the additional information it asks for.

Directories
Online Directories
 * 1905 - U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 at Ancestry - ($), Index and images, Florence City Directory

Funeral Homes

 * Harwood Cremation and Funeral Services in Canon City
 * Holt Family Funeral Home in Florence

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records

For more information see Colorado Land and Property
 * Colorado DPA Land Records - Index only; Choose Record Type, and search either "Land Patents" or "Land Records."
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796-1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1863-1908 - U.S. Homestead Records 1863-1908 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images
 * 1862-1908 - Denver Land Office Records, 1862-1908 at Ancestry.com - ($), index only

Local Histories
1813-1890 The county is named for explorer and presidential candidate John C. Fremont (1813-1890), called by historians the Great Pathfinder.

Crossing The Plains in 1864 and Early History of Fremont County, by William H. Callen.

Online County Histories
 * Experiments in Colorado Colonization, 1869-1872. c1926. Edited by James Field Willard and Colin B. Goodykoontz. Boulder, Colorado : University of Colorado. Online at: Hathitrust;.
 * History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado. (Includes History of Fremont County, by B. F. Rockafellow.) 1881. Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Online at: Internet Archive;.
 * Pioneers of Fremont County, Colorado. 2003. By Barbara Ahart. Canon City, Colorado : B. Ahart, 2003. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library;.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Colorado - shows boundary changes for Colorado Counties
 * Colorado Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Online Collections
These collections are unique to Colorado. You will find nationwide databases for military records on U.S. Military Online Genealogy Records and Colorado Military Records.

All Veterans
 * Colorado State Archives Veterans Grave Registration Index at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Military - Grave

Civil War
 * Colorado Civil War Casualties Index at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Civil War Casualty
 * 1861-1865 - Colorado State Archives Volunteers Transcript of Record Index (1861-1865) at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Transcript of Record

Spanish-American War (1898)
 * 1898 - Colorado Volunteers in the Spanish American War, 1898 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Span-Am War Soldiers

World War I
 * 1916-1919 - Colorado State Archives Denver War Risk Insurance Applicants, 1916-1919 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, War Risk Insurance
 * 1917-1922 - Colorado State Archives World War I Civilian Service Questionnaires, 1917-1922 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, WWI Questionnaire
 * 1917-1918 - Colorado Soldiers in WWI, 1917-1918 at Ancestry.com — ($), index

World War II
 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images - How to Use this Collection

Vietnam War
 * 1966 & 1968 - Colorado State Archives Vietnam War Casualties - June-December 1966 & January-December 1968 - at the Colorado State Archives website - Index only; In the Record Type field, select, Vietnam Deaths

For further information see Colorado Military Records.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Records
 * 1868-1990 - Colorado, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1868-1990 at Ancestry ($); Index and images
 * 1876-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images; District Court records - How to Use this Collection

See the FamilySearch wiki page for Colorado Naturalization and Citizenship.

Newspapers
Colorado Newspapers Online
 * Colorado Online Historical Newspapers online - in the Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection by the Colorado State Library
 * Colorado Newspapers at Ancestry.com - ($)
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Colorado newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Colorado newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some Colorado newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites

Colorado Newspaper Catalogs
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

Microfilm of years of the Canon City Daily Record are housed at the Royal Gorge Museum and History Center. Contact them for specific years.
 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

Other Records
Pension Records
 * 1933-1936 Fremont County Old Age Pensions 1933-1936 at Colorado State Archives - index, select record type for search

Periodicals

 * The Colorado Magazine was published by the Colorado Historical Society from 1923 to 1980 and contains hundreds of articles about significant Colorado and Western people and events. Since 1980, the quarterly has been titled Colorado Heritage. (Denver)
 * Pinon Whispers, published quarterly by the Southeastern Colorado Genealogy Society. (Pueblo)

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1875–1974 Colorado Wills and Probate Records 1875-1974 at Ancestry.com — index and images ($)

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.

Tax Records

 * 1913-1943 Colorado State Archives has put the Fremont County Inheritance Tax Records Index for 1913-1943 on-line.

Birth
Birth records may become public records when 100 years have elapsed after the date of birth. EXCEPTION: The birth record of any individual who is known to be currently alive will remain confidential even if they are 100 years of age or greater.

Marriage
Online Records
 * 1784-2007 - Colorado, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1809-2011 - Western States Marriage Index, 1809-2011 - Index, incomplete, list of counties included
 * 1853-2006 - at FamilySearch.org - Index and images - How to Use this Collection
 * 1858-1939 Colorado Marriages 1858-1939 at Denver Public Library - index
 * 1862-2006 - Colorado, County Marriages and State Indexes, 1862-2006 at Ancestry ($), Index and images
 * 1864-1995 - at FamilySearch - Index and images
 * 1900-1939 - Colorado, Statewide Marriage Index, 1900-1939 at Ancestry.com - ($); Browseable images of original index - How to Use this Collection
 * 1874-1876 Marriage certificates and licenses, 1874-1876
 * 1925-1929 Marriage certificate index, 1925-1929
 * 1975 - 2004 Colorado, Marriages, 1975 - 2004 at MyHeritage - index and images ($)

Death
Death records may become public records when 75 years have elapsed after the date of death.

Divorce
Online Records
 * 1851-1985 Colorado, Divorce Index, 1851-1985 at Ancestry - ($); Index only
 * 1861-1941 Denver Public Library Colorado Divorce Index 1861-1941 at Denver Public Library - index
 * 1878 - 2004 Colorado, Divorces, 1878 - 2004 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1900-1930 . These records are found at FamilySearch. The index is arranged in alphabetical order.
 * 1900-1939 - at FamilySearch - Browseable images of original index - How to Use this Collection

Family History Centers

 * Canon City Colorado Family History Center

Libraries
Canon City Public Library 516 Macon Ave Canon City, CO 81212 719-269-9020 Email: [mailto:ccpl@canoncity.org ccpl@canoncity.org] Website Facebook Cotopaxi School/Community Library 345 County Road 12 Cotopaxi, CO 81223 719-942-4131 Website John C. Fremont Library District (Florence) 130 Church Ave Florence, CO 81226 719-784-4649 Email: [mailto:tabby.selakovich@jcfld.org tabby.selakovich@jcfld.org] Website Facebook Penrose Community Library District 35 7th Avenue Penrose, Colorado 81240 719-372-6017 Website

Museums

 * Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center
 * Museum of Colorado Prisons
 * Florence Pioneer Museum

Societies

 * Fremont County Historical Society PO Box 965 Canon City, CO  81212 719-285-8284 Email: [mailto:FCHS@fremontheritage.com FCHS@fremontheritage.com] Website

Websites

 * History Colorado Center, Denver, Colorado
 * Fremont County, Colorado Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Fremont County, Colorado Genealogy and History, part of the Genealogy Trails Group
 * Lone Pine Ancestors, a Fremont County website written and maintained by Mary Ann Thomas, copyright 2001. Some information may not be updated.
 * Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society, Pueblo, Colorado
 * - 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