Records that survive
These are the record series from Adair County that the Missouri State Archives has on microfilm, with the office that kept each and the earliest and latest years filmed. A span can include gaps.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Index to Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1841–1980
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1841–1960
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1882–1904
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1841–1969
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1842–1984
- Abstract and Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1859–1983
- Abstract & Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1862–1870
- Plats · City Clerk1911
- Oil and Gas Leases · Recorder of Deeds1938–1967
- Index to Deeds of Trust · Recorder of Deeds1959–1991
- Index to Financing Statements · Recorder of Deeds1965–1982
- Index to Deeds of Release · Recorder of Deeds1978–1984
Wills and estates
- Wills · Probate Court1874–1967
Military and pensions
- Soldier Discharges · Recorder of Deeds1919–1959
Tax records
- Poll Tax · County Clerk1897–1938
Court records
- County Court Records · County Clerk1842–1857
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1861–1899
- County Court Record · County Clerk1865–1899
- Minutes · City Clerk1866–1970
- County Court Index · County Clerk1869–1903
- School Board Minutes · Superintendent Of Schools1933–1992
Other records
- Ordinances · City Clerk1866–1972
- County Poor Farm Records · County Clerk1874–1894
- Building and Remodeling Permits · City Clerk1875–1990
- Revenue Journals · City Clerk1956–1975
- Audits · City Clerk1960–1985
- Budgets · City Clerk1960–1985
- Journals and Ledgers · City Clerk1960–1971
- Expense Control Sheets · City Clerk1975–1977
- Subdivisions · City Clerk1979–1985
- General Ledger · City Clerk1980–1989
- Budget and Financial Reports · City Clerk1986
Open the full roll-by-roll listing (PDF)
Source: Missouri State Archives, Guide to County and Municipal Records on Microfilm. Recorder of deeds records dated 1970 or later must be requested from the county. Counties kept birth and death registers under an 1883 law until its repeal in 1893, with coverage varying by county; statewide registration began in 1910.
Where to find the records
- Adair County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the recorder of deeds, the probate court and the circuit clerk, and any online record search the county offers.
- The recorder of deeds
Deeds and mortgages, and marriage records, usually from the county's beginning. Licenses were required from 1881; earlier books record the marriages themselves.
- The probate court
Wills, estates, guardianships and curatorships. Since 1979 it has been the probate division of the circuit court.
- The circuit clerk
Civil and criminal cases, divorces and, in many counties, naturalizations.
- The Missouri State Archives
In Jefferson City: microfilm of county records from Missouri's counties and the City of St. Louis, and free online databases, including death certificates from 1910 that are more than 50 years old.
- Missouri State Archives: Adair County records on microfilm (PDF)free
Every roll the state archives holds for this county, with the office, title, dates and reel number.
- Missouri Death Certificates, 1910–1975free
Search the Missouri State Archives' death certificate index by name and view the certificates.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Missouri, Adair" 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 1841, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Missouri's probate files often hold far more than a will: inventories, sale bills listing the buyers (often relatives and neighbors) and the receipts of heirs. Check the circuit court too, where heirs went to divide land.