Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy

United States Missouri Cooper County

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

	Missouri Online Records

Cooper County, Missouri
Map
Location of Missouri in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	December 17, 1818
County Seat	Boonville
Courthouse
Address	Cooper County Courthouse 200 Main Street PO Box 123 Boonville, MO 65233-0123 Phone: 660.882.2626 Cooper County Website

County Information

Cooper County, Missouri Record Dates

Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth	Marriage	Death	Census	Land	Probate
1883	1819	1883	1830	1819	1819

County Court House

 

County Clerk has birth and death records 1883-1893
and burial records; Circuit Clerk has marriage,
divorce, court and naturalization records from 1819
and land records from 1812; Associate Circuit Court
has probate record from 1828

History

Parent County

1818--Cooper County was created 17 December 1818 from Howard County. County seat: Boonville

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

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog

• Blackwater
• Boonville
• Chouteau Springs
• Pilot Grove
• Pleasant Grove
• Speed

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

Neighboring Counties

Boone  • Howard  • Moniteau  • Morgan  • Pettis  • Saline

Resources

Census

For tips on accessing Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy census records online, see: Missouri Census.

Church

Church records and the information they provide 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 Missouri denominations, view the Missouri Church Records wiki page.

Catholic

St. Peter and Paul, Boonville

• 1850-1876 - St. Peter and Paul, Boonville, Baptism Index 1850-1876. Batch C511771 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1851-1876 - St. Peter and Paul, Boonville, Marriage Index 1851-1857, 1867-1876. Batch M511771 at FamilySearch - free.

Court

• 1800-1991 Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) & Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry.com ($)

Land

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 Missouri Land and Property for information about records of land transfers from the government to private ownership. After that transfer, transactions were usually recorded and are currently housed at the county courthouse.

Local Histories

A history of Cooper County, Missouri from the first visit by white men, in February, 1804, to the fifth day of July, 1876 by Levens and Drake (1876) is available online free from Google Books.

• National Historical Company. History of Howard and Cooper counties, Missouri : written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of its townships, towns, and villages : together with a condensed history of Missouri, a reliable and detailed history of Howard and Cooper counties-- its pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens, general and local statistics of great value, incidents and reminiscences. St. Louis : National Historical Co., 1883.
  • Online at Family Search (Free)
• Johnson, William Foreman. History of Cooper County, Missouri. Topeka, Kansas : Historical Pub. Co., 1919.
  • Online at FamilySearch (Free)
• Melton, Elston Joseph. Melton's history of Cooper County, Missouri, an account from early times to the present. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1987.
  • Online at FamilySearch (Free)
• Barnes, J. B. Short historical sketches of Boonville and vicinity. Boonville, Mo. : [Boonville Advertiser?], 1928.
  • Online at Family Search (Free)

Maps

• Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
• Map of Cooper County townships (Histopolis)
  

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

• Map of 1904 Cooper County with numerous small settlements (My Genealogy Hound)

Military

Civil War

- 13th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company E
:- 29th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company A
:- 29th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company F
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company A
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company B
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company C
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company D
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company E
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company F
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company G
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company H
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company I
:- 52nd Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Detached Company
:- 5th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company A
:- 5th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company B
:- 5th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company F
:- 9th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company I

Civil War Battle

The following Civil War Battle was fought in Cooper County

June 17, 1861 = Boonville also known as First Battle of Boonville

Map showing Civil War battles in Missouri

Newspapers

• Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Jefferson City newspapers and Sedalia newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's covering local news that included residents from Cooper County communities.
  

Probate

Probate records include wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. For further information, see United States Probate Records.

In Missouri, probate records have usually been recorded by the clerks of the probate courts, but in some counties the common pleas or circuit courts handled this function. They are frequently indexed.

Online Probate Records

• 1750 – 1988 Missouri Probate Records 1750-1998 at FamilySearch — images
• 1766 - 1988 Missouri Wills and Probate Records 1766-1988 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Taxation

Taxes were levied on free white males over 21 and slaves aged 21 to 60. These persons are referred to as "polls." Tax listings, or digests, of a county generally list the taxable landowners and other polls and the amount of tax. The records for each county are divided by militia district. For more information see the wiki page Missouri Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths. For additional guidance on researching and using vital records, see United States Vital Records or How to order Missouri Vital Records.

St. Louis and Kansas City recorded births and deaths starting as early as 1850 for deaths and 1870 for births.  The Missouri Department of Health began keeping birth and death records in 1909. County records vary by year and the county. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Missouri Vital Records State Department of Health, the County Clerk's office or order electronically online.

Births

• 1827 - 1935 Missouri, Births and Christenings, 1827-1935 at FamilySearch.org — index
• 1851 - 1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry.com — index/images $
• 1819-1867 - Cooper County Birth Index, Volumes A thru C, 1819-1867. Batch C514821 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1868-1872 - Cooper County Birth Index, Volume E, 1868-1872. Batch C514822 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1883-1884 - Cooper County Birth Index 1883-1884. Batch C514825 at FamilySearch - free.

Marriages

• 1800-1991 Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1750-1920 Missouri, Marriages, 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 $
• 1819-1867 - Cooper County Marriage Books A thru C Index 1819-1867. Batch M514821 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1867-1883 - Cooper County Marriage Book E Index 1867-1883. Batch M514822 at FamilySearch - free.
• 1881-1885 - Cooper County Marriage Books 1 thru 3 Index 1881-1885. Batch M514823 at FamilySearch - free.
• Cooper County, Missouri: Marriages (1819-1850) & Wills (1820-1870) at Ancestry.com ($)

Deaths

• 1867 - 1976 Missouri, Deaths and Burials, 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.
  
• 1883-1884 - Cooper County Death Index 1883-1884. Batch B514827 at FamilySearch - free.

• Cooper County, Missouri, Cemetery Records, Vol. 1-12 at Ancestry.com ($)

Genealogy Societies, Archives and Libraries

• Boonslick Historical Society Of Cooper And Howard Counties
  P.O. Box 324
  Boonville 65233

• Cooper County Historical Society & Research Center
  P. O. Box 51
  111 Roe Street
  Pilot Grove, Missouri, 65276
  (660) 834-3582

• List of Missouri Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

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. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.

Web Sites

Sites with online indexes or images of records
Missouri Digital Heritage	Free	digital images of many types of records from institutions across the State
MOGenWeb	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
USGenWeb Archives	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions

Sites that search for links pertaining to Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy
RootsWeb resources	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
Linkpendium	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
CyndisList	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
StateofUS	Free	family history resources and government records

Major catalogs for hard copy collections of Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy Books, microfilm, or manuscripts of genealogical records
FamilySearch catalog	Select topics. To select towns, add a comma to the search box.
WorldCat	To find nearby libraries that have specific items, see WorldCat Online Catalog.
Allen County Public Library	located in Indiana They are heavily involved in digitizing.
Missouri State Archives Library	catalog; from this page you must search "Cooper County"
See also local libraries and Missouri Archives and Libraries

Social networking sites pertaining to Cooper County, Missouri Genealogy
Google+	Missouri Genealogy Network Community
Facebook	list of groups from "Missouri Genealogy" search
Ancestry.com	Cooper County Message Board

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

Family History Library