Records that survive
These are the record series from Holt 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
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1841–1920
- Permanent Record of Births · County Clerk1883–1889
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1889
- Register of Births · County Clerk1883–1889
- Register of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1889
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1841–1900
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1841–1887
- Surveyor Records · Surveyor1849
- Swampland Sales · County Clerk1856
- Land Conveyed/trustee Income · Collector1929–1939
- Real Estate - Tax Book · Collector1960–1993
- Real Estate Taxes · Collector1960–1992
- Real Estate - Record of · Collector1967–1982
Wills and estates
- Wills · Probate Court1837–1920
- Probate Records · Probate Court1849–1887
- Settlements · Probate Court1875–1889
Military and pensions
- Soldier Registrations · County Clerk1918–1919
Tax records
- Tax Book · Collector1861
- Taxes · Collector1920–1994
- Personal Property - Record of · Collector1954–1984
- Personal Property Taxes · Collector1956–1993
- Abstract of Grand Total · Collector1977–1981
- Monthly Collections · Collector1980–1983
- Abstract of Collections · Collector1981–1994
- Merchant and Manufacturer · Collector1982
- Merchant Taxes · Collector1983–1984
- Flood Papers · Collector1984
Court records
- County Court Minutes · County Clerk1838–1978
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1841–1882
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1841–1885
- Docket · Justice Of The Peace1845–1877
- County Court Record Index · County Clerk1846–1975
- County Court Records · County Clerk1846–1975
- Holt Co. Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1846–1871
- School Board Minutes · Superintendent Of Schools1857–1971
- Circuit Court Record Index · Circuit Court1876–1898
- Board of Health Minutes · County Clerk1901–1920
- Minute and Enumeration Records · County Clerk1930
Schools
- School Enumeration Records · Superintendent Of Schools1899–1982
Other records
- Stray Records · County Clerk1841–1896
- County Poor Farm Ledger · County Clerk1873–1929
- County Poor Farm Records · County Clerk1873–1949
- State Census · County Clerk1876
- Scalp Register · County Clerk1878–1895
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
- Holt 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: Holt 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, Holt" 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
Later formed partly from Holt County: Atchison 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.