Records that survive
These are the record series from Ford 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 Licenses · Probate Court1874–1903
- Marriage Affidavit · Probate Court1877–1903
Deeds and land
- Index To Final Receipts · Register of Deeds1880–1900
- Index To Government Land Patents · Register of Deeds1881–1912
- Real Estate Sales Bills · Probate Court1886–1914
- Sale Of Real Estate · Probate Court1888–1922
- Sale of Real Estate -- Sheriff Sale1890–1896
Wills and estates
- Administrators Bonds · Probate Court1881–1931
- Guardianship And Bonds · Probate Court1881–1930
- Inventory And Appraisements · Probate Court1881–1922
- General Index · Probate Court1885–1891
- Petitions For Letters Of Administrators And Guardians · Probate Court1886–1912
- Letters Of Testamentary And Executors Bonds · Probate Court1888–1939
- Legacies and Successors--Inventory and Appraisement · Probate Court1911–1912
Naturalization
- Declarations Of Intention · District Court1874–1929
- Final Record -- Naturalization · District Court1874–1906
- Declarations Of Intention--Index · District Court1905–1929
- Petition And Record for Naturalization · District Court1908–1929
- Certificates Of Naturalization · District Court1909–1929
Court records
- Petition For Druggist Permit · District Court1885–1887
- Decree Of Confirmation · District Court1886–1910
- Civil Dockets · Justice of the Peace1891–1903
- Criminal Docket · Justice of the Peace1893–1903
- Justice's Docket · Justice of the Peace1897
- Juvenile Court - Neglect Report1974
County government
- Ford County Commissioners journals1873–1904
- Journals · District Court1874–1891
- Record Of Bonds For Cost · District Court1886–1907
Other records
- Organizational census1872
- Detention Facility - Blueprints · County Engineer1984
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
- Ford 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: Ford 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, Ford" 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: Marion County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Marion County
Later formed partly from Ford County: Clark County, Gray County, Meade 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.