Records that survive
These are the record series from Worth 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 Marriage Licenses · Recorder of Deeds1855–2002
- Marriage Licenses · Recorder of Deeds1855–1971
- Marriages · Justice of the Peace1861–1873
- Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1861–1981
- Marriage Applications · Recorder of Deeds1882–1974
- Permanent Record of Births · County Clerk1883–1893
- Permanent Record of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1893
- Register of Births And Stillbirths · County Clerk1883–1893
- Register of Deaths · County Clerk1883–1893
- Index to Marriages · Recorder of Deeds1981–1997
Deeds and land
- Cemetery Plat · County Clerk1817–1994
- Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1849–1977
- Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1849–1997
- Abstract & Index to Deeds · Recorder of Deeds1853–1894
- Field Notes of Original Survey · County Clerk1860
- Swampland Sold, Enumerations, · County Clerk1861–1865
- Record of Sales of Lands · Collector1862–1875
- Sales of Delinquent Land · Collector1862–1876
- Plat of Road Commission · County Clerk1867–1889
- Swampland Patents · County Clerk1867–1882
- Taxes · Collector1869–1968
- Assessments · Collector1877
- Abstract & Index to Mortgages · Recorder of Deeds1880–1997
- Appraisements · Probate Court1899–1906
- and 1 more series in the full listing
Wills and estates
- Bonds & Letters · Probate Court1861–1978
- Probate Record Index · Probate Court1861–1949
- Probate Records · Probate Court1861–1979
- Inventories · Probate Court1872–1919
- Sale Bills · Probate Court1872–1965
- Abstract of Demands · Probate Court1873–1969
- Appraisements · Probate Court1873–1978
- Notices Publishers Affidavits · Probate Court1873–1977
- Settlements · Probate Court1873–1978
- Letters of Testamentary · Probate Court1880–1926
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1886–1898
- Wills · Probate Court1886–1997
- Irregular Instruments · Probate Court1899–1978
- Inventory & Appraisements · Probate Court1901–1934
- and 4 more series in the full listing
Naturalization
- Naturalization Records · Circuit Court1865–1906
Tax records
- Taxes · Collector1862–1968
- Taxes · County Clerk1873–1921
- Assessments · Collector1877–1913
- Warrant Register · Collector1884–1898
- Inheritance Taxes · Probate Court1925–1978
- Assessments & Taxes · Collector1951–1952
Court records
- Docket · Justice of the Peace1858–1942
- Circuit Court Case File Index · Circuit Court1861–1899
- Circuit Court Case Files · Circuit Court1861–1899
- Circuit Court Record Index · Circuit Court1861–1962
- Circuit Court Records · Circuit Court1861–1905
- Minutes · County Clerk1862–1918
- Courthouse Construction Bond · County Clerk1884–1917
- Minutes · Probate Court1898–1982
- Road Commission Minutes · County Clerk1900–1902
- Minutes · Superintendent of Schools1929–1934
Schools
- School Funds Loaned · County Clerk1867–1900
- Record of Grades and Attendance · County Clerk1882–1895
- School Funds · Superintendent of Schools1891–1929
- School Records · Superintendent of Schools1918–1922
- Enumerations · County Clerk1942–1968
- School District Funds · County Clerk1942–1968
Other records
- Loyalty Oaths · County Clerk1861–1870
- Estray Register · County Clerk1867–1916
- Warrants · County Clerk1871–1972
- Physicians & Surgeons Register · County Clerk1874–1894
- State Census · County Clerk1876
- Stray Register · County Clerk1877–1893
- Health Certificate Register · County Clerk1884–1958
- Pharmacist Register · County Clerk1893–1900
- Dentist License Register · County Clerk1897–1924
- County Ward Register · County Clerk1899–1931
- Liquor Sellers Oath & Bonds · County Clerk1899–1913
- Bridge Records · County Clerk1901–1915
- Osteopathy Records · County Clerk1903–1935
- License Register · County Clerk1904–1935
- and 2 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
- Worth 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: Worth 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, Worth" 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 1861, 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.