Cape Girardeau County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Cape Girardeau County

Guide to Cape Girardeau County, Missouri ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1893 and land records 1821-1859; County Recorder has marriage records; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Probate Judge has probate records; Riversize Regional Library has all records on microfilm

History
Cape Girardeau County predates the state of Missouri which was admitted to the union in 1821. Cape Girardeau 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--Cape Girardeau County was created 1 October 1812 as an original county. County seat: Jackson

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Missouri county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Missouri County Boundary Maps" (1804-1889) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
Courthouse was destroyed by fire July 18, 1870.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog




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

Neighboring Counties
Alexander County, Illinois •  Bollinger  •  Perry  •  Scott  •  Stoddard  •  Union County, Illinois

Cemeteries

 * Cape Girardeau and Adjoining Counties, Missouri, Cemetery Records at Ancestry.com ($)

Evangelical
Christ Evangelical Church


 * 1891-1914 - Christ Evangelical Church Baptism Index 1891-1914. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1900-1914 - Christ Evangelical Church Marriage Index 1900-1914. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Emmanuel Evangelical Church, Jackson


 * 1884-1909 - Emmanuel Evangelical Church, Jackson, Baptism Index 1884-1909. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1884-1910 - Emmanuel Evangelical Church, Jackson, Marriage Index 1884-1910. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

St. James Evangelical Church, Tilsit


 * 1892-1973 - St. James Evangelical Church, Tilsit, Baptism Index 1892-1973. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1892-1970 - St. James Evangelical Church, Tilsit, Marriage Index 1892-1970. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Salem Evangelical Church


 * 1874-1898 - Salem Evangelical Church Baptism Index 1874-1898. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1874-1895 - Salem Evangelical Church Marriage Index 1874-1895. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Court

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * History of southeast Missouri. Embracing an historical account of the counties of Ste. Genevieve, St. Francois, Perry, Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Madison, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Dunklin, Scott, Mississippi, Stoddard, Butler, Wayne and Iron. Chicago, The Goodspeed publishing co., 1888.
 * Online at MissouriDigitalHeritage (Free)

Maps



 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Map of Cape Girardeau County townships (Histopolis)


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


 * Map of 1904 Cape Girardeau County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

Civil War
Civil War service men from Cape Girardeau County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of Cape Girardeau County.


 * - 2nd Regiment, Illinois Light Artillery, Battery F.


 * - 12th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company C :- 12th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company D :- 29th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company B :- 29th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company G :- 2nd Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company C :- 30th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company I :- 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company B :- 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company D :- 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company F :- 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company G :- 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company K :- 13th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company K :- 12th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company A :- 3rd Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company K :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company A :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company B :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company C :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company D :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company F :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company H :- 56th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company I :- 5th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company K :- 8th Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company A :- 8th Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company E :- 8th Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company F :- 8th Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company G :- 8th Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company H :- Engineer Regiment of the West, Missouri Volunteers (Union), Company G

Civil War Battle
The following Civil War Battle was fought in Cape Girardeau County


 * April 26, 1863 = Cape Girardeau

Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1750 – 1988 at FamilySearch — images
 * 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Births

 * 1827 - 1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * 1866-1871 - Cape Girardeau County Birth Index, Volume D, 1866-1871. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1802-1969 at FamilySearch.org — index/images
 * 1750-1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com $
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1805-1868 - Cape Girardeau County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1805-1868. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1868-1885 - Cape Girardeau County Marriage Books D and E Index 1868-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Deaths

 * 1867 - 1976 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1834 - 1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
 * Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.
 * 1883-1893 - Cape Girardeau County Death Index 1883-1893. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

 * Cape Girardeau County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 389, 204 S Union Ave, Jackson, MO 63755 Phone: (573) 243-8141


 * Cape Girardeau County Historical Society, P.O. Box 251, Jackson, MO 63755


 * List of Missouri Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers



 * Cape Girardeau Missouri Family History Center 1048 W Cape Rock Dr, Cape Girardeau MO 63701-2707 United States Location Map