Records that survive
These are the record series from Camden 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 Deeds1902–1916
- Marriage Licenses · Recorder of Deeds1902–1943
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1849–1925
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1849–1910
- Real Estate - Record of · Collector1903–2019
- Real Estate - Tax Book · Collector1903–2020
- Plats · City Clerk1934–1999
- Assessments and Taxes · Collector1980–1983
Wills and estates
- Wills · Probate Court1902–1933
Tax records
- Assessments · Collector1980
- Personal Property - Record of · Collector1980–2019
- Taxes · Collector1980–2020
Court records
- County Court Record · Circuit Court1906–1983
- Board Minutes · City Clerk1931–1991
- Minutes · City Clerk1965–1999
- Index to County Court Record · Collector1967
- Rezoning Cases · City Clerk1984–1993
- County Commission Record · Circuit Court1988–1996
Other records
- Camden County Clerk · County Clerk1923–2015
- Blueprints/Drawings · City Clerk1948–2001
- Blueprints/Drawings Index · City Clerk1963–2001
- Resolution Index · City Clerk1964–1999
- Resolutions · City Clerk1964–1999
- Building Permits · City Clerk1970–1979
- Easements · City Clerk1970–1999
- Ordinances · City Clerk1975–1997
- Agendas · City Clerk1977–1999
- Planning and Zoning · City Clerk1983–1989
- Board of Aldermen Records · City Clerk1993–1994
- Maps · City Clerk2001
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
- Camden 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: Camden 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, Camden" 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: Morgan County, Pulaski County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Morgan County, Pulaski County
Later formed partly from Camden County: Laclede 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.