Records that survive
These are the record series from Doniphan 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 Record · Probate Court1856–1921
- Cemetery record - Mt. Olive Cemetery, Troy · County Clerk1871–1913
- Vital statistics · County Clerk1898–1916
Deeds and land
- Abstract of Conveyances · Register of Deeds1856–1865
- Deed Record · Register of Deeds1856–1924
- Index to Book A, Vol A · Register of Deeds1856–1858
- Index to Deeds Vols A-N · Register of Deeds1856–1867
- Abstract of Lands Preempted & Sold · Register of Deeds1857–1859
- Board Of Trustees - Minutes · Highland Community College1857–1995
- Index to Deed Records · Register of Deeds1857–1908
- Land District Record · Register of Deeds1858–1868
- Land Patent Record and Index · Register of Deeds1860–1913
- Record of Liens Filed, Vol A · Register of Deeds1860–1864
- Sales of Real Estate, Petitions · Probate Court1874–1917
Wills and estates
- Probate Court Index · Probate Court1855–1991
- Probate Court Journal · Probate Court1855–1923
- Judgement - Abstracts · District/Probate Court1856–1914
- Records - Index · District/Probate Court1856–1912
- Probate Case Files · Probate Court1857–1917
- Probate Court - Abstracts · Probate Court1857–1870
- Settlement Record · Probate Court1857–1909
- Administrators Record · Probate Court1858–1919
- Record Book · District/Probate Court1858–1861
- Final Record · Probate Court1859–1872
- Inventory & Appraisment Record · Probate Court1861–1902
- Administrators, Guardians, and Executors Settlement Docket · Probate Court1868–1874
- Inventory & Appraisments--Estates · Probate Court1874–1910
- Will Records1876–1938
- and 3 more series in the full listing
Naturalization
- Naturalization index · Probate Court1881–1942
- Naturalization declaration of intention, petitions, and record · Probate Court1906–1934
- Naturalization certificate stubs · Probate Court1925–1928
Tax records
- Sales of Personal Property Record · Probate Court1875–1926
- Sales of Personal Property, Petition · Probate Court1889–1935
Court records
- Civil Appearance Dockets · District/Probate Court1858–1923
- District court journals · District/Probate Court1858–1913
- Judgment Docket · District/Probate Court1858–1926
Schools
- Scholastic census · Superintendent of Public Instruction1892–1916
Town and city records
- List of Town Lots · Register of Deeds1858–1881
County government
- Kansas Emergency Relief Committee/WPA Files · Poor Commissioner1932–1941
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
- Doniphan 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: Doniphan 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, Doniphan" 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: Created by the Kansas territorial legislature in 1855 from land not yet in any county
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.