Records that survive
These are the record series from Daviess 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 Deeds1837–1992
- Marriage Index · Recorder of Deeds1837–1955
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1838–1991
- Permanent Record of Births · County Clerk1883–1893
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1893
- Register of Births And Stillbirths · County Clerk1883–1893
- Register of Births · County Clerk1883–1893
- Register of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1893
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Records · Recorder of Deeds1823–1857
- Abstract and Index To Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1838–1997
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1838–1994
- Abstract and Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1839–1871
- Taxes · Collector1859–1881
- Mortgage Index · Recorder of Deeds1860–1892
- Mortgages · Recorder of Deeds1860–1895
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1871–1887
- Plat Book · County Clerk1888
- Plat Maps · Recorder of Deeds1898
- Oil and Gas Records · Recorder of Deeds1938–1984
Wills and estates
- Inventories · Probate Court1890–1919
- Probate Record General Index · Probate Court1890–1934
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1890–1919
- Probate Records · Probate Court1890–1925
- Settlements · Probate Court1890–1926
- Wills · Probate Court1890–1969
- Inventories and Appraisements · Probate Court1896–1936
- Notices of Publication and Final · Probate Court1899–1925
- Record of Descendents · Probate Court1901–1916
- Index to Appraisements and · Probate Court1909
Naturalization
- Naturalization Records · Circuit Court1906
- Certificate of Naturalization · Circuit Court1908
- Declaration of Intention · Circuit Court1908–1930
- Petition for Naturalization · Circuit Court1908–1930
Military and pensions
- Discharge Record Index · Recorder of Deeds1919–1991
Tax records
- Taxes · Collector1859–2006
- Assessments · Assessor1860–1877
- Taxes · County Clerk1873–1881
Court records
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1837–1885
- County Court Record Index · County Clerk1837–1946
- County Court Records · County Clerk1837–1989
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1838–1882
- Minutes · County Clerk1846–1987
- Mayor's Court Docket · Recorder of Deeds1870–1903
Other records
- Road Records · County Clerk1868–1906
- Right of Ways · County Clerk1871–1880
- Marks and Brands · County Clerk1875–1971
- State Census · County Clerk1876
- Stray Records · County Clerk1877–1890
- Dog Register · County Clerk1878–1881
- State Board of Health · County Clerk1883–1972
- Pharmacist Records · County Clerk1893–1913
- Record of Explosives · County Clerk1893
- Dentist Licenses · County Clerk1899–1926
- Osteopathy Record · County Clerk1903–1959
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
- Daviess 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: Daviess 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, Daviess" 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 1836, 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.