Franklin County, Idaho Genealogy

United States &gt; Idaho &gt; Franklin County

Parent County
1913--Franklin County, Idaho was formed 20 January 1913 from Oneida and Bannock Counties. County seat: Preston

Places/Localities
The following list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

This list of places in Franklin County, Idaho was compiled from the Lists of Places in Idaho in Wikipedia and from the map of Franklin County in Virtual Earth.

Cities
Clifton | Dayton | Oxford | Preston

Brief history of Preston

Other inhabited places
Anderson | Banida | Beers | Cherryville | Cleveland | Coulam | Egypt | Fairview | Franklin | Glendale | Linrose | Mapleton | Mink Creek | Mound Valley | Riverdale | Thatcher | Thorensen | Treasureton | Weston | Whitney | Winder

Neighboring Counties
Bannock | Bear Lake | Caribou | Oneida | Cache County, Utah

Resources
Many of the older court, land, naturalization, probate, pension and vital records for Franklin County have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and at the Idaho State Historical Society's Library in Boise. Details of the county records in the Family History Library can be obtained from their online catalog or listings. More recent records are in the county courthouse in Preston.

A significant volume of the older records from this county have been moved to the Idaho State Historical Society Library (PARL) in Boise. The bulk of records transferred are from the District Court, but most of the old Probate Court estate case files are also included.

Cemeteries
There are a number of cemeteries in Franklin County. Those that have been identified are listed below, with their location and any links to abstracts of their records.

Census
For a summary of census records for the state of Idaho, see Idaho Census Records.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)
The following are local congregations (wards) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which existed in Franklin County, Idaho prior to 1950. Many of the original records of these church units are in the Historical Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the membership records covering these units from the date of their creation to about 1948 have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

Maps

 * A digital Franklin County Idaho map is available online. 
 * Map of Franklin County, Idaho is available online.

Military
World War I draft registration cards, 1917-1918, for Franklin County have been microfilmed. Copies of these records are available at the Family History Library (their microfilm number 1452214) and are also available online at Ancestry.com, for a subscription fee. The original cards are maintained in the Southeast Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in East Point, Georgia and have been microfilmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M1509.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Records of the naturalization of people born outside of the United States were often kept in the county courthouses of the respective counties of Idaho. For Franklin County, the following records have been abstracted and are available online. Many of those same records were microfilmed by the Family History Library.

Declaration of Intentions, 1913-1928

Current

 * Preston Citizen

Probate
According to the Clerk of the District Court, the estate case files from 1913 -(??) have been transferred to the Idaho State Historical Society Library in Boise (as of 2010). Several of the early Judgment volumes and the Probate minute books are probably still in the vault area on the third floor of the courthouse. The early Miscellaneous Series are also likely still there, too.

Vital Records
Marriages recorded in this county from 1876 to 1940 are available at the Western States Marriage Records Index (website). Be cautious with any birth, marriage and/or death event as being recorded in Franklin County prior to its creation in 1913. Such events should be cited in the appropriate pioneer county.

For Idaho deaths occurring from 1913 to 1956, use the Idaho Death Index (as listed on the BYU-Idaho website).

The Eastern Idaho Death Index is a good tool to find information on people who were born or died in this county but it is NOT to be considered as being comprehensive in coverage or content. It is a database stored with BYU-Idaho and can be found at http://abish.byui.edu/specialCollections/famhist/Obit/searchForm.cfm.

Websites

 * The Franklin County Idaho GenWeb Project, a member of The IDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
 * Family History Library Catalog