Genealogy

Library Resources

• HeritageQuest
  Search the US census 1790-1950, selected Revolutionary War Records, a variety of local and family histories plus articles of interest to genealogy researchers.
• Ancestry.com Library Edition
  Available inside the library only.
• Show-Me the World Interlibrary Loan
  Search for print or microfilm indexes, county histories, newspaper microfilm, family histories etc. in libraries, archives and historical societies throughout the United States.

Guides to Getting Started

• Genealogy.com: Getting Started
• History at Home Genealogy Guide
• LDS FamilySearch.org

Birth, Marriage & Death Records

• Boone County Records
  Certified copies of marriage licenses are available from the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the license was obtained. The Boone County Recorder of Deeds has an online search for marriage licenses issued since 1973. Please note: there is a registration process in order to access these records.
• Callaway County Records
  Contact the Recorder’s Office for marriage and death certificates (fees required for some access).
• Columbia/Boone County Health Department
  Obtain copies of birth certificates from Missouri birth records 1920 to the present and copies of death certificates from Missouri death records from 1980 to the current year (fees required for some access).
• Missouri Birth & Death Records Database, Pre-1910
  From the Missouri Office of the Secretary of State, this searchable database contains over 185,000 abstracts of the birth, stillbirth and death records recorded before 1910.
• Missouri Death Certificates: 1910-1973
  From the Missouri Office of the Secretary of State Archives, this database is an incomplete, but ongoing project.
• Missouri Vital Records
  Request certified copies of Missouri birth, death, marriage and divorce records from the Department of Health and Senior Services Bureau of Vital Records. (A search fee must accompany all requests for copies of vital records.)
• Online Death Indexes
  A directory of online death indexes by state and county.
• Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
  The SSDI provides information on millions of deceased individuals with United States social security numbers whose deaths were reported to the SSA.
• State Archives
  Contact information for the archives of each state, compiled by the National Archives.
• State Historical Society of Missouri Newspaper Collection
  Request copies of birth, death and marriage notices found in Missouri newspapers (fee charged per request).
• Vital Records by State
  The National Center for Health Statistics has links to Vital Records websites for each state (fees vary by state).

Cemetery, Obituary & Tombstone Records

(See also library resource links at the top.)

• NewsBank
  Full-text articles from Missouri newspapers including the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Updated daily.
• African American Cemeteries Online
  A collection of resources and records for finding tombstone records for African American families.
• Callaway County Cemetery Records Index
  Indexed by the Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society.
• The Missouri Digital Newspaper Project
  This resource of the State Historical Society of Missouri allows you to search for obituaries and death notices in a number of digitized Missouri newspapers including The Columbia Missourian for the years 1929 through 1985.
• National Gravesite Locator
  Search for the burial location of veterans and their family members in VA National cemeteries, state veteran’s cemeteries, other military and Dept. of Interior cemeteries and veterans buried in private cemeteries with a government grave marker.
• State Historical Society of Missouri Newspaper Collection
  This collection of Missouri newspapers is available in 1,270 bound volumes and on over 56 million pages of microfilm. Three hundred current newspapers, from every Missouri county, are added to the collection each week.
• The Tombstone Transcription Project — Boone County
• The Tombstone Transcription Project — Callaway County

Census

(See also library resource links at the top, particularly Ancestry.com.)

• Data.census.gov
  Access the U.S. Census Bureau’s data and digital content from one centralized place.
• The National Archives Census of Ireland 1901 & 1911

Judicial, Military & Land Records

(See also library resource links at the top.)

• Civil War Research
  Information from the National Parks Service on obtaining service and pension records for both Union and Confederate soldiers.
• Land Records
  The Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office site provides access to more than five million Federal land title records for Eastern Public Land States, issued between 1788 and the present.
• Military Personnel Records
  Military personnel health and medical records of discharged and deceased veterans of all services during the 20th century. (Records prior to WWI are in the National Archives, Washington D.C.)
• Missouri Judicial, Land and Military Records
  Judicial records, land records including the Missouri Land Patents Database, military records, penitentiary records and many other collections relating to state history.
• National Archives
  Describes the military records holdings of the National Archives with guidelines on how to use records for genealogy research.

Immigration Records

(See also library resource links at the top.)

• Ellis Island
  Search passenger records for immigrants arriving at Ellis Island from 1820-1957.
• Family Search
  America’s first immigration center has free access to a database of information on 11 million immigrants who entered the United States 1820-1892.
• Naturalization Indexes
  Searchable naturalization indexes and records organized by state. Some require payment.

Organizations

• Boone County Historical Society
  The Society operates the Boone County Historical Museum and partners with the City of Columbia to manage Maplewood as an historic house museum.
• Genealogical Society of Boone County and Central Missouri
  Maintains an index of Boone County Cemeteries and other sources for Boone County history.
• Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society
  Documents the history and development of Callaway County with links to areas of historic interest and articles on famous local individuals, places and events.
• LDS Family History Center
  4708 Highlands Parkway, Columbia, MO 65203, (314) 669-3048
• Missouri State Archives
  The official repository for state records of permanent and historical value.
• Missouri State Genealogical Association
  Source for state history and genealogy resources such as a surname list and research links.
• National Archives & Records Administration
  Only a small percentage of the National Archives’ collection is available for research online. NARA microfilm may be located and borrowed through an interlibrary loan request.
• State Historical Society of Missouri
  The main historical research and genealogical library in the state is active in preserving and making the history of the state accessible to its citizens. Find research request information.

Other Helpful Websites

• AfriGeneas: African American Genealogy
  Devoted to African American Genealogy with links to related sites including the DNA Ancestry Project.
• Cyndi’s List
  A huge compendium of worldwide genealogy and family history websites.
• FamilySearch.org
  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a large, free searchable archive.
• USGenWeb Archives
  This huge, free cooperative project is a place where volunteers share their own research. It is organized by state (Missouri) and county level (Boone, Callaway).