Records that survive
These are the record series from Cowley 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 Applications And Affidavits · District Court1976–1981
Deeds and land
- Riverside Plat - Arkansas City - Cowley County · Cities1887
- Educational Surveys · Superintendent of Public Instruction1957–1960
Schools
- Clerks Record Upper Timber Creek School District · Superintendent of Public Instruction1879–1955
- Education Materials · Superintendent of Public Instruction1941–1964
- Textbook Committee Correspondence and Notes · Superintendent of Public Instruction1951–1962
- Principal's Building Reports · Superintendent of Public Instruction1956–1966
- School Boards · Superintendent of Public Instruction1956–1965
- Unification Reports · Superintendent of Public Instruction1958–1964
Town and city records
- Clerks Account Books · Township Clerk1933–1948
County government
- Treasurer's Bond Oaths · Superintendent of Public Instruction1950–1956
- Budget Reports · Superintendent of Public Instruction1951–1966
- Planning Board Reports · Superintendent of Public Instruction1958–1964
Other records
- Reorganization Reports · Superintendent of Public Instruction1921–1952
- State Government Correspondence · Superintendent of Public Instruction1951–1967
- Papers Of Walter Bynum · Superintendent of Public Instruction1956–1964
- Federal Government Correspondence · Superintendent of Public Instruction1959–1965
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
- Cowley 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: Cowley 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, Cowley" 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: Butler County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Butler County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1867, 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.