Records that survive
These are the record series from New Madrid 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
- Marriages1847–1955
- Index to Marriages1881–1964
Deeds and land
- Deeds1805–1916
- Index to Deeds1805–1903
- Swamp Land Patents · Circuit Court1857–1965
- Plats · City Clerk1925–1981
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · Probate Court1800–1883
- Probate Case File Index · Probate Court1804–1830
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1807–1940
- Will Case Files · Probate Court1821–1941
- Probate Records and Wills · Probate Court1832–1889
- Abstract of Allowances · Probate Court1843–1866
- Probate Court Records · Probate Court1843–1967
- Probate Records · Probate Court1843–1939
- Settlements · Probate Court1846–1968
- Inventories, Appraisements and · Probate Court1856–1957
- Bonds · Probate Court1860–1969
- Letters · Probate Court1860
- Notices · Probate Court1871–1903
- Wills and Letters · Probate Court1880–1923
- and 8 more series in the full listing
Military and pensions
- Military Discharge1919–1950
- Pension Applications · Probate Court1927–1951
- Blind Pension Records · Probate Court1938
Tax records
- Inheritance Tax · Probate Court1937–1953
Court records
- Territorial Record Index · Circuit Court1791–1804
- Territorial Records · Circuit Court1791–1804
- Territorial Census · Circuit Court1797
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1805–1953
- County Court Records · Circuit Court1816–1869
- County Court Record Books · Circuit Court1831–1944
- Drainage District Index · Circuit Court1897–1974
- Drainage District Records · Circuit Court1897–1974
- Docket · Probate Court1901–1927
- Little River Drainage District · Circuit Court1908–1925
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1921–1929
- Minutes · Probate Court1929–1968
- Federal Farm Program Records · Circuit Court1939
- School Board Minutes · Recorder1940–1991
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
- New Madrid 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: New Madrid 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, New Madrid" 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: One of the original districts of the District of Louisiana, before Missouri had counties
Later formed partly from New Madrid County: Pemiscot County, Scott County, Stoddard County, Wayne County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1804, 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.