Records that survive
These are the record series from Russell 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.
Deeds and land
- Record of Guardian Deed · Probate Court1904–1915
Wills and estates
- Record of Adminstrators Accounts · Probate Court1877–1912
- Record of Guardian Accounts · Probate Court1879–1919
- History of Estates · Probate Court1881–1915
- Settlement Docket · Probate Court1885–1903
- Allowance of Demand · Probate Court1888–1933
- Abstract of Claims Record · Probate Court1889–1956
- Allotment Record · Probate Court1892–1898
- Probate Case Files · Probate Court1903–1918
- Inventory, Appraisement, and Allowance Record · Probate Court1917–1934
- Records of Guardians' Letters and Bonds · Probate Court1930–1943
Court records
- Motion Docket · District Court1873–1905
- Recognizance Record · District Court1873–1930
- Execution Docket · District Court1875–1940
- Foreign Execution Docket · District Court1883–1929
- Information and Complaints · District Court1883–1929
- Subpoena Docket · District Court1888–1889
- Trial Docket · Probate Court1889–1920
- Miscellaneous Documents Related to Court Cases · County Attorney1891–1905
- Minutes--School Board Meetings · Superintendent of Public Instruction1892–1916
- Minute Docket · District Court1900–1908
- Information Record · District Court1903–1912
- Case Statement Record · District Court1912–1938
- District Court Bar Docket · County Attorney1915
- Witness Docket · District Court1920–1978
- and 2 more series in the full listing
Schools
- School Census · Superintendent of Public Instruction1906–1907
County government
- Bond Record · District Court1872–1919
- Journal and Warrant Register · County Treasurer1877–1882
- Journal · County Clerk1880
- Continuance Journal · District Court1893–1908
- Record of Bonds for Costs · District Court1893–1935
- Notaries' Bond Record · District Court1901–1928
Other records
- Ledgers · County Treasurer1877–1881
- Clerk's Record Books · Superintendent of Public Instruction1885–1902
- Clerk's Annual Reports · Superintendent of Public Instruction1915–1918
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
- Russell 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: Russell 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, Russell" 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
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.