Cherokee County, Oklahoma Genealogy Records

Selected record inventories for Cherokee County, their listed years, and where to ask for access.

Selected inventory review: 2026-11-02. Selected newspaper catalog metadata checked for state and county attribution. Publication dates do not establish complete issue holdings or online access. Library of Congress newspaper directory

Formed: 1907
County seat: Tahlequah

Cherokee CountyToday's boundaries · U.S. Census Bureau

Listed record inventories

Selected holdings and indexes for Cherokee County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.

Record type

Newspapers

A Wreath of Cherokee Rose Buds (Park Hill, Okla.)1854-1857
Cherokee Advocate (Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation [Okla.])1844-1906
Cherokee Advocate (Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation [Okla.])1877-18??
Cherokee County Democrat (Tahlequah, Okla.)1912-1920
Cherokee County Democrat-Star (Tahlequah, Okla.)1930-1948
Cherokee Orphan Asylum Press (Orphan Asylum [Salina], C.N. [Okla.])1880-188?
Cherokee Rose Buds (Park Hill, Okla.)1848-1854
Cherokee Telephone (Tahlequah, Ind. Ter. [Okla.])1890-1894
Democratic Leader (Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Okla.)1921-1922
Indian Arrow (Vinita, I.T. [Okla.])1888-1894
Indian Sentinel (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1895-1902
Indian Sentinel (Webbers Falls, Indian Territory [Okla.])1890-1893
Tahlequah Bazoo (Tahlequah, I.T. [Okla.])1888-18??
Tahlequah Citizen (Tahlequah, Okla.)1931-1948
Tahlequah Courier (Tahlequah, Ind. Ter. [Okla.])1893-1893
Tahlequah Daily Arrow (Tahlequah, Okla.)1909-1915
Tahlequah Telegram (Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Okla.)1913-191?
The Arrow (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1895-1896
The Arrow-Democrat (Tahlequah, Okla.)1920-1928
The Arrow-Telephone (Tahlequah, I.T. [Okla.])1894-1894
The Daily Sentinel (Tahlequah, Ind. Ter. [Okla.])1899-????
The Daily Telephone (Tahlequah, I.T. [Okla.])1889-1889
The Hulbert Times (Hulbert, Cherokee County, Okla.)1914-191?
The Morning Sun (Tahlequah, I.T. [Okla.])1893-1893
The New Cherokee Advocate (Tahlequah, Okla.)1950-195?
The Republican (Tahlequah, Ind. Ter. [Okla.])1899-????
The Sequoyah Memorial (Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation [Okla.])1855-185?
The Tahlequah Arrow (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1896-1912
The Tahlequah Arrow (Tahlequah, Okla.)1916-1920
The Tahlequah Herald (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1902-1912
The Tahlequah Leader (Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Okla.)1922-192?
The Tahlequah Leader (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1904-1905
The Tahlequah Star-Citizen (Tahlequah, Okla.)1948-1970
The Tahlequah Sun (Tahlequah, Okla.)1909-1920
The Tahlequah Telephone (Tahlequah, Ind. Terr. [Okla.])1887-1888
The Telephone (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1888-1890
The Telephone (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1894-1894
The Telephone (Tahlequah, Indian Territory [Okla.])1895-1895
The Weekly Capital (Tahlequah, I.T. [Okla.])1896-1896

See the repository's descriptions and search options

Repository access note: Selected newspaper titles cataloged by the Library of Congress with explicit county geography. Priority is given to titles beginning by 1950; up to five later titles are included where no earlier dated title is listed for that county. Dates describe publication history, not the issues available at a library. Multiple format records with the same title, place and dates are grouped. The catalog may describe paper, microfilm or online resources. Open ends and the word Current reflect the catalog description; confirm present availability and exact holdings with the libraries listed on the linked record.

Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.

Where to find the records

Find Cherokee 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 county clerk, the court clerk and the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The county clerk
Deeds and other land records.
The court clerk
Marriage licenses, probate (wills and estates), divorces and court cases.
The Oklahoma Historical Society
In Oklahoma City: Native American records, including Dawes Commission records, and county records and newspapers.
Oklahoma Historical Society Research Centerfree
The state historical society's research center in Oklahoma City: Native American records, county records and newspapers.
FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oklahoma, Cherokee" 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: Created at statehood in 1907 from land of the former Indian Territory

Cherokee as created in 1907Where its land was the day beforeToday's boundaryBoundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1907, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.

Research tip

Before statehood in 1907, Oklahoma was two territories: Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory. For Native American ancestors, the Dawes rolls and enrollment cards at the National Archives and the Oklahoma Historical Society are key.