Benton County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri  Benton County

Guide to Benton 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 from 1883 and marriage records from 1839; Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Probate Court has probate Court has probate records; Recorder has Deeds and land records

Parent County
1835--Benton County was created 3 January 1835 from Pettis and St. Clair Counties. County seat: Warsaw

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
For a list of record loss in Missouri counties see: Missouri Counties with Burned Courthouses

Places/Localities



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

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places

 * Cole Camp
 * Edwards
 * Mora
 * Warsaw

Neighboring Counties
Camden •  Henry  •  Hickory  •  Morgan  •  Pettis  •  St. Clair

Court

 * 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

 * A sketch of the history of Benton County, Missouri by James Henry Lay (1876), only 76 pages, is available online free from Google Books.
 * Biographies from The History of Benton County, Missouri (1889) published by Goodspeed are available free on the My Genealogy Hound website.

Maps

 * Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Map of Benton County townships (Histopolis)
 * The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Benton County. The city of St. Louis is not included in this collection.
 * Map of 1904 Benton County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

Civil War

 * - 7th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company A :- 7th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company B :- 7th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company C :- 7th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company D :- 16th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company A :- 5th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company C :- 61st Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company I :- 8th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company F :- 8th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company K

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Sedalia newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that sometimes included Benton County residents.

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 $
 * 1849-1865 - Benton County Birth Volumes 1 and 2 Index 1849-1865. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1883-1892 - Benton County Birth Index 1883-1892. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

 * 1802 - 1969 at FamilySearch.org — index/images
 * 1750 - 1920 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1805 - 2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at [http://home.ancestry.com/
 * 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry.com — index $
 * 1839-1880 - Benton County Marriage Books A and B Index 1839-1880. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * 1873-1885 - Benton County Marriage Books C thru E Index 1873-1885. Batch at FamilySearch - free.
 * Marriage records, Benton County, Missouri, 1839-1861 at Ancestry.com ($)

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.
 * 1883-1890 - Benton County Death Index 1883-1890. Batch at FamilySearch - free.

Societies and Libraries
Benton County Historical Society, PO Box 1082, Warsaw MO 65355; Telephone: 1 660-438-2304


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