McCurtain County, Oklahoma Genealogy

United States

Oklahoma

McCurtain County

 

Guide to McCurtain County, Oklahoma ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

County Facts County seat: Idabel Organized: July 16, 1907 Parent County(s): Choctaw Lands Neighboring Counties Bowie (TX)  • Choctaw  • LeFlore  • Little River (AR)  • Polk (AR)  • Pushmataha  • Red River (TX)  • Sevier (AR) See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

McCurtain County was named to honor a prominent Choctaw family, three of whom had served as principal chiefs of the tribe. The county occupies the extreme southeastern corner of the state.

County Courthouse

McCurtain County Courthouse
108 N Central Avenue
Idabel, OK 74745
Phone: 580.286-2370

Clerk Court has marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1907

McCurtain County, Oklahoma Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1908	1907	1908	1907	1907	1907	1860
Statewide registration for births and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1930.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

1907--McCurtain County was created 16 July 1907 from Choctaw Lands. See the McCurtain County entry of the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture for a brief history. County seat: Idabel Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Oklahoma - shows boundary changes for Oklahoma Counties Oklahoma Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Broken Bow	Idabel (county seat)
Towns
Garvin Haworth	Millerton Smithville	Valliant Wright City
Unincorporated communities
Battiest Bethel Bokhoma (List)	Hochatown Pickens Ringold	Rufe Tom Watson
Census-designated places
Eagletown

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of McCurtain County, Oklahoma online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com USGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project Oklahoma Gravestones Oklahoma Cemeteries Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	OKGenWeb Findagrave.com Billion Graves
See Oklahoma Cemeteries for more information

 

• McCurtain County Cemeteries at Findagrave.com

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1910	20,681	—
1920	37,905	83.3%
1930	34,759	−8.3%
1940	41,318	18.9%
1950	31,588	−23.5%
1960	25,851	−18.2%
1970	28,642	10.8%
1980	36,151	26.2%
1990	33,433	−7.5%
2000	34,402	2.9%
2010	33,151	−3.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

For tips on accessing McCurtain County, Oklahoma Genealogy census records online, see: Oklahoma Census.

Federal Census Records

Federal Censuses were taken for Oklahoma starting in 1860. For links to Federal census indexes, see Oklahoma Census.

State Census Records

• 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census 1890 - Oklahoma Historical Societ
• 1890 and 1907 Oklahoma Territorial Census, 1890 and 1907 at Ancestry — index and image ($)

Church Records

Church records vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Oklahoma denominations, view the Oklahoma Church Records Wiki page.

A brief history of Wheelock Seminary, part of the Wheelock Mission church can be found in the Chronicles of Oklahoma.

Court Records

Oklahoma Public Court Records

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups

American Indians

Census

• 1851 - 1959 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Indian Censuses and Rolls, 1851-1959 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• 1895 - 1914 U.S., Native American Citizens and Freedmen of Five Civilized Tribes, 1895-1914 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• 1898 - 1914 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• Dawes Final Rolls - Oklahoma Historical Society

Land and Property

• 1884 - 1934 Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Land Allotment Jackets for Five Civilized Tribes, 1884-1934 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• 1889 Oklahoma County Plats 1889 - Oklahoma Historical Society
• 1899 - 1907 Oklahoma Applications for Allotment, Five Civilized Tribes, 1899-1907 at FamilySearch — index and images
• For more information see Indians of Oklahoma

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Oklahoma Land and Property for additional information about early Oklahoma land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Online Land Records

• Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
• 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
  
• 1863 - 1908 - U.S. Homestead Records 1863-1908 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images
• 1889 Oklahoma County Plats, 1889 - Oklahoma Historical Society
• El Reno Homesteader Filings - Oklahoma Historical Society

For more information see Oklahoma Land and Property

Local Histories

Local histories are available for McCurtain County, Oklahoma Genealogy. County and town histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Oklahoma Local Histories.

McCurtain County and Southeast Oklahoma: History, Biography, Statistics, a Complete Church, Lodge, School, Professional, Business and Trade Directory of the County

The Choctaw Freedmen and the Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, Valliant, McCurtain County, Oklahoma, now called the Alice Lee Elliott Memorial...

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Interactive Formation Boundary Map of Oklahoma - shows boundary changes for Oklahoma Counties
• Maps n More - county and township maps.
• Oklahoma Civil War Map of Battles
• Map of 1922 McCurtain County, Oklahoma with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)
  

Military Records

Also see: Oklahoma Military Records

Revolutionary War

• 1775 - 1783 - United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783 at FamilySearch - images only
  
• For more nationwide Revolutionary War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

Civil War

• Oklahoma, Confederate Pension Index, 1915-1955 at Ancestry — index (free)
• For more nationwide Civil War databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

World War I

• For more nationwide World War I databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

World War II

• 1940-1945 - Oklahoma, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Oklahoma Military Deaths - Oklahoma Historical Society
• For more nationwide World War II databases, see US Military Online Genealogy Records.

The Oklahoma section of the book World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces is available at the National Archives website. Soldiers from McCurtain County are listed here and here.

The State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel from: Oklahoma is also available. It is not broken out by county, however. Note: Casualities include the wounded in addition to those killed.

Newspapers

Oklahoma Newspapers Online

• GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of Oklahoma newspapers
• Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of Nebraska newspapers
• Chronicling America - contains images of some Oklahoma newspapers; searching tips
• Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites

Oklahoma Newspaper Catalogs

• Oklahoma State Historical Society - catalog of known Oklahoma newspapers; lists repositories that have the newspapers
• U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as McCurtain County, Oklahoma Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• Do a McCurtain County, Oklahoma Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

Historic Newspapers (no longer published)

Here are the known McCurtain County newspapers, along with where they were published and their years of publication. See the Chronicling America and Worldcat websites for libraries and institutions that may hold copies or microfilm.

• Acme News, Broken Bow, 1912-1913
• American Socialist, Garvin, 1910-191?
• B B Developer, Broken Bow, 1911-1913
• Beacon-Times, Idabel, 1911-191?
• Broken Bow News and McCurtain County News-Graphic, Broken Bow, 1973-1976
• Broken Bow News, Broken Bow, 1913-1973
• Broken Bow News-Graphic, Broken Bow, 1976-1976
• Challenger, Valliant, 1968-1981
• Daily Beacon-Times, Idabel, 1913-191?
• Democrat Record and Beacon-Times, Idabel, 1914-1915
• Democrat-Record, Idabel, 1910-1914
• Democrat-Record, Idabel, 1915-191?
• Garvin Graphic, Garvin, 1903-1919
• Garvin Pioneer, Garvin, 190?-191?
• Haworth Herald, Haworth, 1912-192?
• Idabel News, Idabel, 1919-1922
• Idabel Signal, Idabel, 1905-190?
• Little Dixie Beacon, Idabel, 1967-19??
• McCurtain County American, Smithville, 1907-190?
• McCurtain County Beacon, Idabel, 1911-1911
• McCurtain County Journal, Valliant, 1981-1983
• McCurtain County Record, Valliant, 19??-195?
• McCurtain Daily Gazette, Idabel, 1969-1972
• McCurtain Democrat, Idabel, 1922-194?
• McCurtain Gazette, Idabel, 1907-1969
• McCurtain Gazette, Idabel, 1972-1978
• McCurtain Record, Valliant, 1908-1910
• McCurtain Weekly Gazette, Idabel, 1969-1972
• Methodist Herald, Broken Bow, 1921-1921
• Millerton Progress, Millerton, 1908-1910
• Millerton Progress-News, Millerton, 190?-1908
• The-Signal, Idabel, 1905-1905
• Valliant News, Valliant, 1904-190?
• Valliant Times, Valliant, 1910-1911
• Valliant Tribune, Valliant, 1911-194?

Historic Newspapers available online

The website Gateway to Oklahoma History has digitized a few issues of McCurtain County newspapers from the early 1900s, including:

• McCurtain Gazette, Idabel, Oklahoma
• Millerton Progress, Millerton, Oklahoma
• Millerton Progress-News, Millerton, Oklahoma
  

Current Newspapers

• Broken Bow News, Broken Bow, 1976-Current
• Southeast Times, Broken Bow, 1988-Current
• McCurtain Daily Gazette, Idabel, 1978-Current
• McCurtain Sunday Gazette and Broken Bow News, Idabel, 1977-Current
• Valliant Leader, Valliant, 1983-Current. A few issues of the Valliant Leader from 2005-2007 have been digitized by Google Newspapers.
  

Probate Records

In most counties in Oklahoma, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Oklahoma - McCurtain - Probate records.

Online Records

• 1801 – 2008 Oklahoma Wills and Probate Records 1801-2008 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1887 – 2008 Oklahoma Probate Records, 1887-2008 at FamilySearch — images
  

School Records

• 1895 - 1936 Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1936 at FamilySearch — index and images

Tax Records

Oklahoma tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. There may be gaps of several years in the records.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. See the CDC Where to Write website for information on acquiring copies of these records.

Birth

Online Birth Records Indexes and Images

• Early Oklahoma Birth Records

Marriage

Online Marriage Records Indexes and Images

• 1790 - 1998 - Oklahoma, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1841 - 1927 - Oklahoma and Indian Territory, Marriage, Citizenship and Census Records, 1841-1927 at Ancestry ($)
• 1852 - 1948 - Oklahoma, Church Marriages, 1852-1948 at FamilySearch — index
• 1870 - 1930 - Oklahoma Marriages, 1870-1930 at FamilySearch Index only.
• 1870 - 1930 - Oklahoma, Select Marriages, 1870-1930 at Ancestry — index ($)
• 1870 - 1930 - Oklahoma, Marriages, 1870-1930 at My Heritage index ($)
• 1889 - 1951 - Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Marriage Index, 1889-1951
• 1890 - 1995 - Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995 at FamilySearch Index and images
• OKGenWeb Oklahoma Marriages

Death

Online Death Records Indexes and Images

• Obituaries Listed in the Oklahoman - Oklahoma Historical Society — index only
• United States Social Security Death Index
• 1935 - 2014 - U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 at Ancestry ($)
• 1936 - 2007 - U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry incomplete ($}

Divorce

Online Divorce Records Indexes and Images

• 1923 - 1942 - Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Divorce Index, 1923-1942

Research Facilities

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

to Family History Centers Introduction to Family History Centers

Libraries

The Southeastern Public Library System of Oklahoma serves several counties, including McCurtain.

• Broken Bow Public Library
• Idabel Public Library
• Mattie Terry Public Library (Valliant)
  

Museums

McCurtain County Veteran's Memorial Museum, Idabel

Museum of the Red River, Idabel

Societies

Mccurtain County Genealogical Society
PO Box 1832
Idabel 74745
Website

McCurtain County Historical Society
302 S. E. Adams
Idabel, OK. 74745
Telephone: 580-212-3639
E-mail:ksivard@hotmail.com
Website

The Kiamichi Country Genealogy Society (Broken Bow) has published the newsletter Kiamichian since 1990. See worldcat.org for libraries' holdings and PERSI (within HeritageQuest) for a catalog of their subjects.

McCurtain County Genealogical Society has published the newsletter Intikba since 1985. See worldcat.org for libraries' holdings and PERSI (within HeritageQuest) for a catalog of their subjects.

McCurtain County Historical Society (also see their Facebookpage.)

Websites

• McCurtain County OKGenWeb
• Gateway to Oklahoma History
• Indian Pioneer Collection- University of Oklahoma
  
• Linkpendium: Oklahoma: McCurtain County
  
• OKGenWeb: McCurtain County
  
• FamilySearch Catalog - The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.