Records that survive
These are the record series from Jefferson 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 Deeds1825–1991
- Commissions & Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1826–1838
- Marriage Certificates · Recorder of Deeds1836–1950
- Marriage Licenses · Recorder of Deeds1836–1878
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1838–1965
- Index to Marriage Certificates · Recorder of Deeds1840–1882
- Marriage Licenses & Applications · Recorder of Deeds1879–1981
- Permanent Record of Births · County Clerk1883–1892
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1892
- Register of Births And Stillbirths · County Clerk1883–1890
- Register of Births · County Clerk1890–1892
- Marriages Solemnized · Justice of the Peace1918–1946
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1819–1908
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1819–1904
- Taxes · Collector1857–1997
- Board of Trustees Minutes · City Clerk1871–1952
- Assessments · Collector1873–1997
- Taxes · City Collector1896–1947
- City Clerk Files · City Clerk1991–1994
Wills and estates
- Probate Records · Probate Court1822–1929
- Bonds · Probate Court1826–1895
- Inventories · Probate Court1850–1930
- Settlements · Probate Court1850–1939
- Administration Records · Probate Court1858–1910
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1869–1945
- Wills · Probate Court1872–1933
- Appraisements · Probate Court1914–1922
- City Clerk Files · City Clerk1993–1997
Naturalization
- Declaration of Intention · Circuit Court1910–1939
- Naturalizations · Circuit Court1911–1929
Military and pensions
- Discharge Index · Recorder of Deeds1919–2000
- Discharge Records · Recorder of Deeds1919–1965
Tax records
- Taxes · Collector1870–1997
- Assessments · Collector1877–1997
- Taxes · City Collector1900–1947
- Licenses · Collector1906–1980
- Collector's Accounts · Collector1913–1918
- Taxes · County Assessor1914–1994
Court records
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1819–1952
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1820–1888
- County Ct/comm Records · County Clerk1825–1839
- Chancery Records · Court of Common Pleas1826–1851
- Circuit Court Record Index · Circuit Court1831–1886
- Board Minutes · Public School District1883–1994
- Board Minutes · Superintendent of Schools1917–1993
- Minutes · City Clerk1931–1996
- Board of Alderman Minutes · City Collector1969–1984
Schools
- School Fund · Collector1890–1891
- Hillsboro School Records · Superintendent of Schools1909–1921
- Audited Financial Statements · Public School District1966–1994
Other records
- County Ct/comm Records · County Clerk1821–1994
- Road Records · County Clerk1841–1991
- Estray Records · County Clerk1870–1946
- Cash Account Book · City Treasurer1872–1942
- Doctors Certificates · County Clerk1883–1993
- Ordinances · City Clerk1910–1996
- Embalmers Register · County Clerk1913–1930
- County Ct/comm Record Index · County Clerk1940–1988
- Annual Budgets · City Clerk1956–1997
- Audits · City Clerk1956–1995
- Sewer Districts Records · City Clerk1959–1995
- Book Dedication Records · County Clerk1965
- City Clerk Files · City Clerk1966–1997
- Scrapbooks · City Clerk1969–1995
- and 6 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
- Jefferson 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: Jefferson 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, Jefferson" 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, Ste. Genevieve County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: St. Louis County, Ste. Genevieve County
Later formed partly from Jefferson County: St. Francois 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.