Records that survive
These are the record series from Osage 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 Court1861–1917
- Marriage License Records1867–1935
- Marriage Affidavit Record · Probate Court1889–1934
- Death Register · Register of Deeds1909–1918
- Marriage Affidavits and License Records1935–1954
Deeds and land
- Deed and Mortgage Records1858–1874
- Tax Sale Deed Records1866–1922
- Powers of Attorney · Register of Deeds1871–1899
- Deed Records1875–1901
- Record of Sales of Real Estate - Administrators1881–1930
- Record of Sales of Real Estate - Guardians · Probate Court1882–1929
Wills and estates
- Inventory and Appraisement Records · Probate Court1858–1919
- Will Records1861–1922
- Probate Court Journal · Probate Court1867–1919
- Administrators' Letters and Bonds · Probate Court1877–1931
- Guardians' Letters and Bonds1877–1931
- Annual Settlement of Estates1882–1927
- Final Accounts - Administrators · Probate Court1889–1920
- Record of Final Settlements - Guardians · Probate Court1889–1922
Naturalization
- Declarations of Intention · District Court1870–1950
- Naturalization Petitions and Records · District Court1879–1944
- Naturalization Certificate Stubs1907–1929
- Citizenship Petitions Granted or Denied1929–1944
Court records
- Journal of Court Proceedings1861–1919
- Civil Appearance Dockets · District Court1862–1921
- Civil Docket · Justice of the Peace1870–1877
- Rapp School District Clerk's Record Book & Annual Meeting Minutes · Superintendent of Public Instruction1872–1902
- Civil and Criminal Dockets · Justice of the Peace1877–1937
- Road Commissioners Meeting Minutes · Road Commissioners1885–1901
Schools
- School Register · Superintendent of Public Instruction1876–1881
- Rapp School Registers · Superintendent of Public Instruction1907–1959
- Scholastic Census · Superintendent of Public Instruction1909–1922
County government
- County Railroad Bonds · County Clerk1869–1873
- Journal · County Treasurer1948–1952
Other records
- Indices1859–1903
- Miscellaneous Records1874–1900
- Record Books · Clerk1882–1908
- Material Concerning the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway · County Clerk1894
- Bank Statements and Correspondence · County Treasurer1919–1939
- Record Books · Treasurer1935–1941
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
- Osage 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: Osage 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, Osage" 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 Shawnee 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.