Records that survive
These are the record series from Brown County in the Kansas Historical Society's catalog of county government records, with the office that kept each and the earliest and latest years. Most are microfilm copies at the State Archives in Topeka. A span can include gaps.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · District/Probate Court1857–1952
- Cemetery Records · Register of Deeds1879–1975
- Birth, Death, Marriage, and Contagious Disease Records · County Clerk1885–1889
Deeds and land
- Deed Record · Register of Deeds1857–1942
- Land District Record · Register of Deeds1857–1859
- Index to Deeds · Register of Deeds1858–1905
- Numerical Index - Land Ownership · Register of Deeds1858–1993
- Sales of Real Estate · District/Probate Court1870–1920
Wills and estates
- Probate Index · District/Probate Court1858–1981
- Docket of Executor, Administrator, Guardians with Date & Final Amounts · District/Probate Court1859–1886
- Estates Index · District/Probate Court1859–1950
- Probate Final Record · District/Probate Court1860–1881
- Will Record · District/Probate Court1861–1920
- Inventories & Appraisements · District/Probate Court1869–1922
- Administrators, Executors & Guardians Record · District/Probate Court1870–1887
- Administrators Bonds & Letters · District/Probate Court1877–1920
- Inventory and Appraisal of Estates - Minors · District/Probate Court1882–1935
- Guardians Letters & Bonds · District/Probate Court1884–1918
- Probate Journals · District/Probate Court1885–1919
- District 13 - Willow Grove School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1901–1910
- Proof of Wills · District/Probate Court1912–1917
Naturalization
- Naturalization Declaration of Intention · District/Probate Court1873–1904
- Naturalization Record Index · District/Probate Court1873–1942
- Naturalization Petition and Record · District/Probate Court1904–1921
- Naturalization Certificates · District/Probate Court1907–1928
- Naturalization Petitions · District/Probate Court1927–1942
- Naturalization Petitions Granted · District/Probate Court1929–1954
Tax records
- Sales of Personal Property · District/Probate Court1869–1928
Court records
- Civil Appearance Dockets · District/Probate Court1859–1905
- District Court General Index · District/Probate Court1859–1932
- District Court Journals · District/Probate Court1859–1906
- Civil Docket · Justice of the Peace1873–1904
Schools
- District 1-Carson School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1869–1910
- District 12 - Terrapin School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1874–1882
- District 10 - Pleasant Valley School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1888–1917
- District 35 - Heckler School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1888–1920
- District 43 - Turner School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1892–1910
- District 62 - Baker School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1892–1902
- District 52 - Franklin School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1893–1899
- District 39 - Franklin School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1901–1921
- District 15 - Stary Point School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1903–1917
- District 37 - Victory School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1903–1910
- District 28 - Mulberry School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1904–1909
- District 13 - Padonia School · Superintendent of Public Instruction1905–1910
Elections and voters
- Poll Books1902
Census
- Census Record - 1880 · County Clerk1880
Other records
- Stray Record · Justice of the Peace1876–1898
See the full list at the Kansas Historical Society
Source: Kansas Historical Society, catalog of county government records (the county searches on its County Records On Microfilm page). Most of the film was made by the Genealogical Society of Utah, so FamilySearch may have it too. Kansas began statewide registration of births and deaths in 1911.
Where to find the records
- Brown County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the register of deeds, the probate court, the clerk of the district court and the county clerk, and any online record search the county offers.
- The register of deeds
Deeds, mortgages and other land records, usually from the county's beginning.
- The probate court
Wills, estates, guardianships and, for most years, marriage licenses. Since court unification in 1977 the probate court has been part of the district court, so ask the clerk of the district court for these records.
- The clerk of the district court
Civil and criminal cases, divorces and, in many counties, naturalizations.
- The county clerk
Tax rolls and the county commissioners' journals.
- The Kansas State Archives (Kansas Historical Society)
In Topeka: microfilm of county records, the Kansas state censuses and newspapers from across the state.
- Kansas Historical Society: Brown County recordsfree
Every county record series in the Society's catalog, with the office, dates and a description of each.
- Kansas Historical Society: County Records On Microfilmfree
How to use or borrow the county microfilm, with links to each county's list.
- Kansas Historical Society: Kansas censusesfree
The territorial and state censuses, what each one asks, and where to find them and their indexes.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Kansas, Brown" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Land not yet in any county; attached to Doniphan County for civil and military business until it was organized
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1855, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Kansas took its own census every ten years from 1865 to 1925, halfway between the federal ones. A state census can place a family in a county and township in a year the federal census misses, and most of them (all but 1865) also ask where a family came from before Kansas.