Buffalo County, Nebraska Genealogy

United States Nebraska  Buffalo County

Buffalo County, Nebraska genealogy and family history research page. Guide to genealogy, history, and courthouse sources including birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, wills, deeds and land records, Civil War records, family histories, cemeteries, churches, tax records, newspapers, and obituaries.

County Courthouse
Buffalo County Courthouse 1512 Central Ave PO Box 1270 Kearney NE 68848 Phone: 308-236-1270 County Vital Records Telephone: (308)236-1226

County Clerk has marriage records from 1872. County Judge has probate and court records from 1872. Clerk District Court has divorce records. Reg of Deeds has land records.

Parent County
1855--Buffalo County was created 14 March 1855 as an original county. County seat: Kearney

Boundary Changes
The records are in the county record office.

Populated Places
Cities and Villages


 * Amherst
 * Buda
 * Elm Creek
 * Gibbon
 * Kearney
 * Miller
 * Pleasanton
 * Ravenna
 * Riverdale
 * Shelton

Buffalo County is also divided into some 26 townships

Neighboring Counties

 * Adams
 * Custer
 * Dawson
 * Hall
 * Howard
 * Kearney
 * Phelps
 * Sherman

Cemeteries

 * Buffalo County Cemeteries. Most of the county's cemeteries have been inventoried since around the year 2000 and posted on Rootsweb. There is an alphabetical list of burials, also a list by cemetery. Each Cemetery is listed by name, code, and township and range.
 * The cemetery for the Immanuel Lutheran Church is located about 3 miles Northwest of the town of Amherst. It's a small cemetery. Many of the headstones are for people of German descent.

Court
Buffalo County houses a District Court and a County Court. The District Court issues writs and orders, collects and disperses child support fees, keeps court records, and records court proceedings.The County Court handles probate, civil, criminal and traffic cases.


 * Buffalo County District Court PO Box 520 Kearney, Nebraska 68848 Telephone (308)236-1246 Website: http://www.buffalogov.org/offices/ClerkDistrictCourt/
 * County Court of Buffalo County 1512 Central Ave, PO Box 520 Kearney, Nebraska 68848 Telephone: (308)236-1229 Website: http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/county-court/county-court-website/buffalopub.htm

Land

 * Buffalo County Register of Deeds PO Box 1270 Kearney, Nebraska 68848 In Nebraska counties with more than 20,000 inhabitants, there is a separate office for the Register of Deeds. The Register of Deeds website has an alphabetical index to Buffalo County Land Patents compiled by the agency.

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European and African American settlers included:


 * Platte River
 * Oregon Trail 1830s to 1890s from western Missouri to Oregon City, Oregon
 * California Trail 1846 to 1869 from western Missouri to northern California
 * Mormon Trail 1846 to 1869 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Probate
Probate records are held and created by the Buffalo County Court listed in the County section on this page.

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of Buffalo County probate records 1906-1956 housed by the North Platte Genealogical Society in North Platte, Nebraska. As of April 2010 the society has an internet address but no web content.

Online Probate Records
 * 1806 – 1989 Nebraska Wills and Probate Records 1806-1989 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Points of Interest

 * Trails and Rails Museumin Kearney, Nebraska

Vital Records
The Family History Library has microfilm copies of Buffalo County marriage records 1896-1993 housed in the Nebraska State Historical Society and the Buffalo County Courthouse.

Societies and Libraries

 * Buffalo County Historical Society PO Box 523 Kearney, Nebraska 68848 Telephone: (308)234-3041 The Trails and Rails Museum at 710 West 11th St. in Kearney houses their collection. The Society's archives have county atlases for various years, family papers from a few families, family histories, marriage records beginning 1872, probate records from 1872, newspapers published in Kearney and Shelton, naturalization records, school census records, Kearney water company records from 1887-1893, and more.
 * Fort Kearney Genealogical Society PO Box 22 Kearney, Nebraska The Fort Kearney Genealogical Society was organized in 1978. It has in its own collection, or has access to early school records, cemetery inventories, census and Soundex records, microfilms of the Kearney HUB and other county newpapers, land patents, marriages, delayed birth records naturalizations, early probates, etc. It publishes a quarterly journal titled Buffalo Chips, They are happy to do look-ups in their own archives and libraries and at the courthouse.
 * Ravenna Historical Society 105 Aba Ave Ravenna, Nebraska 68869

Family History Centers

 * Kearney Nebraska 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.