Records that survive
These are the record series from Ozark 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 Deeds1858–1918
- Register of Births And Stillbirths · County Clerk1884–1890
- Permanent Record of Births · County Clerk1887
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1887–1889
Deeds and land
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1858–1886
- Abstract & Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1859–1899
- Taxes · Collector1879–1920
Wills and estates
- Inventories · Probate Court1865–1949
- Probate Records · Probate Court1865–1911
- Wills · Probate Court1865–1941
- Letters of Administration · Probate Court1872–1955
- Letters · Probate Court1872–1914
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1894–1903
- Bonds · Probate Court1907–1955
- Settlements · Probate Court1909–1956
Military and pensions
- Blind Pension Records · Probate Court1937–1944
Tax records
- Taxes · Collector1873–1886
Court records
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1858–1910
- County Court Records · County Clerk1879–1992
- Minutes · Circuit Court1888–1896
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 Ozark 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: Ozark 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, Ozark" 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: Ripley County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Ripley County
Later formed partly from Ozark County: Douglas 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.