Records that survive
These are the record series from Lewis 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 Deeds1833–1991
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1833–1975
- Permanent Record of Births & · County Clerk1883–1887
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1887
- Register of Births And Stillbirths · County Clerk1883–1887
- Register of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1887
Deeds and land
- Abstract & Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1833–1991
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1833–1974
- Loyalty Oaths · Recorder of Deeds1861–1865
- Taxes · Collector1865–1900
- Abstract & Index to Mortgages · Recorder of Deeds1895–1965
- Surveyor Record Index · Surveyor1902–1923
- Patent Records · Recorder of Deeds1920–1969
- Land Patents · Recorder of Deeds1969–1990
Wills and estates
- Bonds · Probate Court1833–1914
- Probate Records · Probate Court1833–1991
- Will Index · Probate Court1833–1976
- Wills & Letters · Probate Court1833–1877
- Settlements · Probate Court1834–1970
- Wills · Probate Court1834–1979
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1835–1971
- Appraisements · Probate Court1855–1885
- Inventories, Appraisements & · Probate Court1871–1885
- Letters · Probate Court1873–1913
- Inventories · Probate Court1883–1893
- Record of Decedents · Probate Court1900–1917
- Register of Embalmers · Probate Court1942
- Mentally Ill Records · Probate Court1955–1973
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Military and pensions
- Militia Enrollments · Recorder of Deeds1860–1861
- Discharge Records · Recorder of Deeds1916–1970
- Discharge Index · Recorder of Deeds1917–1970
Tax records
- Taxes · Collector1846–1900
- Assessor's Book · Collector1862–1874
Court records
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1833–1888
- County Court Records · County Clerk1833–2009
- Chancery Records · Court of Common Pleas1834–1856
- Circuit Court Case File Index · Circuit Court1880–1881
- Abstract of Judgements · Circuit Court1899–1976
- Minutes · Circuit Court1923–1953
- Docket · Justice of the Peace1930–1946
- Abstract Index to Judgements · Circuit Court1933–1971
- Index to County Court Records · County Clerk1941–1946
Schools
- County Poor Farm Records · County Clerk1862–1898
Other records
- County Poor Farm Records · County Clerk1849–1997
- Atlas · County Clerk1897–1916
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
- Lewis 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: Lewis 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, Lewis" 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 1833, 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.