St. Charles County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  St. Charles County

History
St. Charles County predates the state of Missouri which was admitted to the union in 1821. St. Charles was one of the five original districts of the Louisiana Territory from 1805-1812 and one of the five original counties of the Missouri Territory from 1812 to 1821.

Parent County
1812--St. Charles County was created 1 October 1812 as an original county. County seat: St. Charles Court records, probate records, and deeds exist back to 1805.

Boundary Changes

 * See an interactive map of St. Charles County border changes at N2Genealogy.

Places/Localities

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Calhoun County, Illinois
 * Franklin
 * Jersey County, Illinois
 * Lincoln
 * Madison County, Illinois
 * St. Louis
 * Warren

Church
The St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church was established in St. Charles in 1791. As the population grew, additional parishes flourished in the county. Extractions of the early records are available, and provide information on baptisms, marriages and deaths. An influx of German immigrants led to the establishment of Evangelical and Lutheran churches. Records of these churches have been extracted and are available for research.

Court
A Court of Common Pleas was established in 1805. It was later replaced by a Circuit Court. Court case files from 1805 to 1845 have been indexed and microfilmed by the Missouri State Archives. Additional case files are still being processed.

Land
The land encompassed by St. Charles County was ruled by the French and then the Spanish prior to the Louisiana Purchase. Spanish land grants were given to many settlers migrating from territory of the U. S. One of the famous early settlers was Daniel Boone, who came with over 100 families in the late 18th century.

Local Histories
A history of St. Charles, Warren and Montgomery counties was published in 1885. It includes biographical information of many of the prominent citizens of that time.

Maps

 * Map of St. Charles County townships (Histopolis)


 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including St. Charles County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.

An 1875 plat map and atlas shows owners of each plat, has some biographical and historical information. There is also a 1905 plat map and atlas. The originals have been scanned by the historical society, and saved in PDF format. See their website for purchase information.

Probate
Original probate court records, probate files, and will books of the 19th century are held by the St. Charles County Historical Society. Probate files have been microfilmed by State Archives.

Deaths

 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

Societies and Libraries
The St. Charles County Historical Society has an extensive collection of materials relevant to family history. They are the repository of 19th century will books, probate records, naturalization records, and court records. They also have many compiled genealogies, and indexes to many church records and cemeteries of the county. See their website, for contact information. The society does research for a fee.