Records that survive
These are the record series from Mississippi 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
- Marriage Licenses · Recorder of Deeds1845–1950
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1845–1951
- Marriage Licenses · Probate Court1941–1942
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1823–1952
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1823–1904
- School Land Sales · Recorder of Deeds1846–1865
- Swampland Patents · County Clerk1857–1914
- Service Records · Recorder of Deeds1918–1919
- Conveyance of Right of Way · County Clerk1929–1934
- Record of Land Sales · County Clerk1935–1971
Wills and estates
- Letters · Probate Court1845–1871
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1845–1872
- Probate Records · Probate Court1845–1985
- Claims · Probate Court1846–1870
- Settlements · Probate Court1847–1970
- Bonds · Probate Court1848–1956
- Probate Case File Index · Probate Court1848–1977
- Probate Case Files · Probate Court1848–1977
- Wills · Probate Court1852–1991
- Letters of Administration · Probate Court1853–1955
- Inventories · Probate Court1859–1927
- Inventories & Appraisements · Probate Court1866–1970
- Notices · Probate Court1867–1871
- Appraisements · Probate Court1873–1918
- and 8 more series in the full listing
Military and pensions
- Discharge Record Index · Recorder of Deeds1918–1994
- Soldier Discharges · Recorder of Deeds1918–1919
Tax records
- Inheritance Tax · Probate Court1921–1924
- Assessments · County Assessor1945–1983
Court records
- Circuit Court Case File Index · Circuit Court1845–1889
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1845–1978
- Circuit Court Record Index · Circuit Court1845–1976
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1845–1951
- County Court Minutes · County Clerk1845–1981
- Common Executions · Probate Court1856–1857
- County Court Record Index · County Clerk1867–1939
- County Court Records · County Clerk1867–1992
- Execution Docket · Probate Court1872–1899
- Claims Docket · Probate Court1893–1919
- Orders Publication · Probate Court1893–1956
- Motion Docket · Probate Court1894–1902
- Case File Index · Justice of the Peace1939–1942
- Case Files · Justice of the Peace1939–1942
Schools
- School District Files · Public School District1840–1880
- Miscellaneous School Districts · Superintendent of Schools1897
- Register of School Bonds · County Clerk1900–1912
- Grade Book-examinations · Superintendent of Schools1901–1909
- School Enumerations · Superintendent of Schools1923–1962
Other records
- Post Office · County Clerk1832
- Coroner Inquests · Coroner1845–1993
- Physicians & Surgeons Filings · County Clerk1874–1896
- Road Records · County Clerk1887–1919
- Board of Equalization · County Clerk1894–1992
- Bonds & Commissions · County Clerk1894–1918
- Dentist Certificates · County Clerk1897–1959
- Osteopathy Diplomas · County Clerk1898–1919
- Ditch Record Index · County Clerk1899–1923
- Ditch Records · County Clerk1899–1923
- State Board of Health · County Clerk1899–1966
- Pharmacists Certificates · County Clerk1900–1917
- Road Contracts & Specification · County Clerk1930
- Notary Commission & Bond · County Clerk1953–1988
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
- Find Mississippi County's official website
We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the recorder of deeds, the probate court and the circuit clerk.
- 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: Mississippi 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, Mississippi" 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: Scott County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Scott County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1842, 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.