Records that survive
These are the record series from Franklin 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 Deeds1819–1921
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1819–1921
- Birth Records · County Clerk1863–1892
- Permanent Record of Births · County Clerk1883
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1887
- Register of Births And Stillbirths · County Clerk1883
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1819–1969
- Surveyor Records · County Clerk1819–1913
- Real Estate - Tax Book · Collector1832–1933
- Taxes · Collector1839–1872
- Swamp Land Records · County Clerk1859–1928
- Abstract and Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1870–1879
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1879–1887
- Assessments · Collector1880–1933
- Deeds · County Clerk1884–1886
- Cemetery Deeds · County Clerk1885–1992
- Real Estate - Record of · Collector1901
- Assessments and Taxes · Collector1934–1988
- Board of Trustees Minutes · County Clerk1968–1999
- Plats and Plans · City Clerk1985–1988
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Wills and estates
- Probate Case File Index · Probate Court1813–1955
- Probate Case Files · Probate Court1813–1900
- Bonds · Probate Court1819–1927
- Wills · Probate Court1819–1970
- Inventories, Appraisements and · Probate Court1856–1888
- Probate Records · Probate Court1868–1928
- Letters · Probate Court1869–1924
- Settlements · Probate Court1870–1912
- Will Index · Probate Court1905–1964
- Index to Probate Records and · Probate Court1940
- General Index to Estate Files · Probate Court1956–1970
- General Index to Recorded · Probate Court1982–2000
Naturalization
- Naturalization Index · Circuit Court1821–1871
- Naturalizations · Circuit Court1840–1956
- Naturalization Certificates · Circuit Court1897–1922
Tax records
- Taxes · Collector1821–1905
- Coroner Inquests · Collector1863–1969
- Assessments · Collector1872–1902
- Merchant and Manufacturer · Collector1888–1949
- Licenses · County Clerk1912–1954
- Taxes · County Clerk1913–1933
Court records
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1819–1899
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1820–1900
- County Court Records · County Clerk1820–1939
- County Court Minutes · County Clerk1821–1996
- County Court Minute Index · County Clerk1831–1945
- Minutes · County Clerk1835–1999
- Chancery Records · Circuit Court1836–1853
- Execution Docket · Circuit Court1840–1863
- Minutes · City Clerk1841–2015
- Petitions · County Clerk1844–1864
- Minute Index · County Clerk1853–1945
- Transcript Records · Circuit Court1853–1867
- Franklin County Circuit Court · Circuit Court1854–1899
- Docket · Probate Court1869–1954
- and 9 more series in the full listing
Schools
- School Records · County Clerk1843–1982
- Register of School Funds and · Superintendent Of Schools1861
- Annual School Enumeration · Superintendent Of Schools1954
Other records
- Cemetery Records · City Clerk1800–2003
- Road and Bridge Files · County Clerk1819–1997
- Bonds · County Clerk1820–1865
- Indentures · County Clerk1828–1878
- Licenses · County Clerk1833–1943
- Road Commission Index · County Clerk1835–1881
- Strays · County Clerk1835–1971
- Public Relief Records · County Clerk1846–1946
- Roads · County Clerk1857–1915
- Ordinances · City Clerk1859–2015
- State Census · County Clerk1868–1876
- City Charter · City Clerk1873
- Ordinances and Resolutions · City Clerk1873–1996
- Maps · County Clerk1878–1945
- and 26 more series in the full listing
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
- Franklin 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: Franklin 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, Franklin" 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: St. Louis County
Check the parent county for earlier records: St. Louis County
Later formed partly from Franklin County: Gasconade County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1819, 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.