Records that survive
These are the record series from Nemaha 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
- Divorce case files · District/Probate Court1857–1917
- Divorce case index · District/Probate Court1857–1917
- Marriages · Probate Court1861–1951
- Cemetery indexes · Register of Deeds1874–1992
- Vital Statistics Registers1885–1911
- Marriage Affidavits · Probate Court1887–1890
Deeds and land
- Deed and Mortgage Records · Register of Deeds1858–1931
- Indices · Register of Deeds1858–1901
- Record of Sales of Real Estate and Property · District Court1861–1936
- Miscellaneous Records · Register of Deeds1886–1951
Wills and estates
- Docket of Executors, Administrators, and Guardians and Index · Probate Court1857–1883
- General Index · Probate Court1857–1913
- Inventory, Appraisal, and Allowance Records · District Court1857–1937
- Probate Case Files and Index · District/Probate Court1857–1947
- Probate Court Journals · Probate Court1857–1922
- Record of Guardians Letters and Bonds · Probate Court1859–1936
- Record of Executors Bonds and Letters · District Court1860–1922
- Will Records and Index · Probate Court1860–1925
- Abstracts of Claims against Estates · Probate Court1863–1965
- Administrators settlements · District/Probate Court1863–1877
- Administrators record of bonds and letters · District/Probate Court1885–1918
- Administrators, Executors, and Guardians Accounts · District/Probate Court1886–1921
- Estate record · District/Probate Court1887–1888
- Probate Court Docket · District/Probate Court1888–1924
Naturalization
- Declarations of Intention · District Court1858–1871
- Index for Naturalization · District Court1859–1929
- Certificates of Naturalization · District Court1871–1929
- Applications for Admission to Citizenship · District Court1926–1946
- Citizenship Petition and Correspondence · District Court1929–1946
Court records
- Record of Accounts When Due · District Court1857–1945
- Appearance Dockets -- Civil · District Court1859–1973
- Journal of Daily Court Proceedings · District Court1861–1977
- Police Court Docket · City Court1874–1900
- Record of Orders and Receipts · District/Probate Court1890–1892
- Petition and Record · District Court1903–1913
- Sabetha City Council Minutes · City Council1912–1950
- Police Docket · Police Court1926–1964
- Civil Docket · Justice of the Peace1949–1967
- Criminal Docket · Justice of the Peace1949–1967
Schools
- Record of Nemaha County Teachers Employed · Superintendent of Public Instruction1883–1921
- Record of school district boundaries · Superintendent of Public Instruction1886–1951
- Record of Common School Graduates · Superintendent of Public Instruction1889–1917
- Scholastic census records · Superintendent of Public Instruction1923–1968
- School Records · Superintendent of Public Instruction1939–1961
Other records
- Numerical Indices1858–1973
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
- Nemaha 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: Nemaha 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, Nemaha" 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.