Wayne County, Missouri Genealogy

United States

Missouri

Wayne County

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

County Facts County seat: Greenville Organized: December 11, 1818 Parent County(s): Cape Girardeau Neighboring Counties Bollinger  • Butler  • Carter  • Iron  • Madison  • Reynolds  • Stoddard See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

Anthony Wayne

County Information

Description

The county was named for Anthony Wayne. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse

Wayne County Courthouse
109 Walnut Street
Greenville, MO 63944
Phone: 573-224-3014
Wayne County Website

County Clerk has birth and death records 1914-1940.
Clerk of the Circuit Court and Recorder has court records, marriage records, divorce and land records.
Associate Circuit Court has probate records.

Wayne County, Missouri 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
1914	1892	1914	1893	1849	1813	1830
Statewide registration started in 1910 for births and deaths. General compliance for births by 1927 and deaths by 1911.

Record Loss

1853 or 1854 Courthouse burned, with a complete loss of records. 1866 Courthouse records were stolen. 1892 Courthouse damaged by fire December 14, 1892; some records destroyed. Few official county records prior to 1893 survive. When the 1893-1926 courthouse was in operation, records were scattered in various offices throughout Greenville because of lack of space. Whether this resulted in loss of some records is uncertain. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill. Online at: Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle. Online at: Tennessee Genealogy Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Boundary Changes

1818 Wayne County was created December 11, 1818 from Cape Girardeau County by an act of the territorial legislature. This law became effective November 1, 1813. Prior to county formation in 1818, what became Wayne County was a part of St. Francois Township of Cape Girardeau County. The county was created from parts of Cape Girardeau and Lawrence Counties. (Most of Lawrence County became part of Arkansas Territory when that territory was created by Congress in March of 1819.) County seat: Greenville became the county seat in 1819, the same year the town was incorporated. Greenville was originally known as Cedar Cabin. In 1941, the town was relocated because of the construction of Lake Wappapello. The new town was located about two miles north of the original site, on a higher elevation. The first post office opened in Greenville August 10, 1832. 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. Springfield-Greene County Library: evolution of Wayne County borders

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places in Wayne County, MO, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTownLocator.
The State Historical Society of Missouri has information on historical Missouri place names for all 114 Missouri Counties.
The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Greenville county seat	Piedmont	Williamsville
Villages
Mill Spring
Unincorporated communities
Brunot Bull Run Camp Burbank Burch Cascade Clubb Coldwater Dees Town	Gads Hill Gaylor Gravelton Hiram Ladero Leeper Lodi	Lowndes McGee Patterson Shook Silva Virginia Settlement Wappapello
Townships
Benton Black River Cedar Creek Cowan	Jefferson Logan Lost Creek	Mill Spring Saint Francois Williams
Ghost towns
Barlow Chaonia Damon Keener Cave	Kerrigan Kime Kyles Ojibway	Platow Taskee Station Upalika

History Timeline

The earliest white settlements in what is now Wayne County are said to have been in 1802, when a few settlers arrived from Kentucky, with more coming into the county from North Carolina in 1806.

Missouri was admitted into the Union August 10, 1821.

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Wayne County, Missouri online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Findagrave.com MOGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project MOInterment MOGravestones EPodunk Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com Billion Graves
See Missouri Cemeteries for more information

• Wayne County, Missouri Cemetery Photographs (RootsWeb)
• Missouri Cemeteries Missouri Access Genealogy

Census Records

• 1732-1933 Missouri State and Territorial Census Records, 1732-1933 at FamilySearch — index and images

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

Church Records

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.

• Tong, H.F., Historical Sketches of the Baptists of Southeast Missouri. St. Louis: National Baptist Publishing Company, 1888. (Google Books link with complete text)

Court Records

• 1800-1991 Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images

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 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

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

• History of Southeast Missouri, Vol. 1. By Robert Sidney Douglass. 1912. Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company. Available online at Google Books
• History of Southeast Missouri. 1888. Chicago, The Goodspeed Publishing Co. Available online at MissouriDigitalHeritage
• Wayne County, Missouri. By Rose Fulton Cramer. Available online at Google Books

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Missouri (1804-1889)
• Interactive map of Wayne County townships (Histopolis)
• The University of Missouri Digital Library has digital copies of Missouri county plat books (ca. 1930) for all Missouri counties including Wayne County.

Military Records

• 1900-1941 Missouri, Pre-WWII Adjutant General Enlistment Contracts, 1900-1941 at FamilySearch — images

Civil War

Online Records

• 1861-1865 Missouri, Civil War Service Records of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1865 Missouri, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
• 1911-1938 Missouri, Confederate Pension Applications and Soldiers Home Applications, 1911-1938 at FamilySearch — index and images

Regiments
Service men in Wayne County, Missouri served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Wayne County, Missouri:

- 23rd Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company I - 31st Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company D - 31st Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company H - 31st Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company K - 2nd Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company C

- 5th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (2nd Organization) (Union), Company H - 68th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company F - 68th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company G - 6th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry (Union), Company F - 8th Regiment, Missouri Cavalry - Confederate, Company C

World War II

• 1940-1945 Missouri, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1945 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1941-1946 Missouri, Reports of Separation Notices, 1941-1946 at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1800-1991 Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

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

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

• Missouri Newspapers at the State Historical Society: Wayne County (State Historical Society of Missouri)
• Wayne County Journal-Banner, Piedmont, Missouri

Obituaries

• Wayne County, Missouri Obituaries (Newspaper Obituaries)

Probate Records

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 — index and images ($)

Tax Records

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.

Birth

• 1817-1939 Missouri Births, 1817-1939 at FamilySearch — index
• 1827-1935 Missouri, Births and Christenings, 1827-1935 at FamilySearch — index
• 1851-1910 Missouri Birth Records, 1851-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)

Marriage

• 1750-1920 Missouri, Marriages, 1750-1920 at FamilySearch — index
• 1776-1988 Missouri, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1800-1991 Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1805-2002 Missouri, Marriage Records, 1805-2002 at Ancestry ($)
• 1850 Missouri Marriages to 1850 at Ancestry — index ($)

Death

• 1834-1910 Missouri, Death Records, 1834-1910 at Ancestry — index/images ($)
• 1867-1976 Missouri, Deaths and Burials, 1867-1976 at FamilySearch — index
• 1883-1930 Missouri Deaths, 1883-1930 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Missouri State Archives provides on-line access to Missouri Death Certificates more than 50 yrs old starting in 1910.

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

Societies

• Wayne County Historical Society
  Route 1, Box 1117
  Piedmont, MO 63957
  Phone: 573-223-7130

Websites

• 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
• Genealogy Trails. Free.
• USGenWeb Archives. Free. Data may be submitted by individuals or may be images or transcriptions
• FamilySearch Catalog . Free. - 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
• 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
• Missouri Genealogy. Free. Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)