Washington, County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Washington

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of various records including official actions, probate records, indexes, etc. The records are from various counties in Washington State, from 1803 to 2010. The counties will be added to the collection as their records are available. Browse the collection to determine current record and county coverage. The following counties are available in the collection at this time:


 * Adams
 * Asotin
 * Benton
 * Chelan
 * Columbia
 * Douglas
 * Franklin
 * Grant
 * Kittitas
 * Klickitat
 * Lincoln
 * Okanogan
 * Pend Oreille
 * Pierce
 * Spokane
 * Stevens
 * Walla Walla
 * Whitman
 * Yakima

The Washington State Archives maintains the state and local records considered to be permanently valuable. The individual records were made to establish legal rights and to help track the population for health and taxation purposes. The state collection was created to insure that the records are retained and archived properly. The information is generally reliable, but depends upon the reliability of the informant. Some transcription errors may have occurred.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Washington State marriages, click here.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The county records generally include the following information:


 * Date of the event, transaction, or recording with the county
 * Names of individual, witnesses, family members, and sometimes neighbors *Ages
 * Relationships
 * Residences
 * Occupations
 * Signature or mark
 * Legal descriptions of land
 * Amount of money exchanged as part of business transactions

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the individual or individuals such as the names of the soldier, the deceased, or grantor and grantees.
 * The type of event.
 * The approximate date the event occurred.
 * The place where the event occurred.
 * The names of family members and their relationships.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select the "Browse" link in the initial collection page ⇒Select the "County" category ⇒Select the "Record Type, Date Range and Volume" category which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date.
 * Use the names along with the residences to find church and census records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military records.
 * The name of the officiator at a christening, marriage, or burial may be a clue to their religion or area of residence in the county.
 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname as the bride or groom; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have been born, married, or died in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family or even the second marriage of a parent. Repeat this process for each new generation you identify.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Earlier records may not contain as much information as the records created after the late 1800s.
 * There is also some variation in the information given from one record to another record.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of individual counties and nearby states.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

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