Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Marion County's records, with where each is kept now (the State Archives, a county office, or a local museum or library) and the earliest and latest years. A span can include gaps. The county's inventory was taken in September 2014.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Marriage Records · local offices and online1849–1967
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices and online1865–1983
- Birth Records · State Archives and local offices1871–1932
- Death Records · State Archives and local offices1907–1929
Deeds and land
- Federal Land Grant Records · State Archives, local offices and online1846–1985
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices1850–2012
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–1998
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1851–1987
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices and online1854–1989
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives and local offices1854–1990
- Mortgage Records · local offices and online1855–1976
- Mining Claim Records · State Archives, local offices and online1860–1998
- Water Rights Records · local offices1879–1977
- Foreclosure Records · State Archives and Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives1886–1921
- Land Title Registers · local offices1906–1971
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1981–2011
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · State Archives, local offices and online1843–2010
- Probate Registers · State Archives, local offices and online1843–1988
- Dower Records · local offices1856–1865
- Probate Estate Records · State Archives and local offices1859–1927
Naturalization
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · State Archives, local offices and online1841–1975
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · State Archives1849–1972
- Naturalization Certificates · State Archives, local offices and online1854–1975
Military and pensions
- Pension and Relief Records · State Archives, local offices and online1862–1941
- Military Records · State Archives and local offices1891–1976
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · State Archives, Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives, Oregon Historical Society, local offices and online1848–2012
Census
- Census Records · State Archives, Oregon Historical Society and online1845–1905
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1864–1974
- Election Poll Books · State Archives, Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1878–1924
Court records
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1848–1984
- Circuit Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1848–1986
- Circuit Court Journals · State Archives and local offices1849–1984
- County Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1853–1979
- Judgment and Execution Records · State Archives, Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives and local offices1854–1940
- Justice Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1855–1979
- Attachment Records · State Archives and local offices1856–1920
- Justice Court Dockets · State Archives and local offices1866–1956
- County Court Judicial Journals · State Archives and local offices1874–1957
- Prisoner Registers · Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives and local offices1884–1967
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1888–1961
- Insane Commitment Records · State Archives and local offices1927–2010
Schools
- Superintendent of Schools Records · State Archives, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1854–1981
- School District Records · State Archives, Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives (District 71-Liberty School Records), Willamette Heritage Center Library and Archives (Other School District Records), Oregon Historical Society and local offices1856–1989
Other records
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · State Archives, local offices and online1843–2012
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · State Archives, Oregon Historical Society, local offices and online1846–2011
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · State Archives and local offices1850–1976
- Road and Bridge Records · State Archives, local offices and online1854–2013
- Married Women's Property Registers · State Archives and local offices1859–1897
- County Officials Reports · local offices1861–1990
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1862–2009
- Medical Profession Registration Records · State Archives1887–1981
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1895–1961
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1898–1951
- County Budgets · State Archives, local offices and online1906–2014
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1911–1963
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1913–1980
- County Fair Records · local offices and online1934–2013
- and 5 more series in the full listing
See the full inventory at the Oregon State Archives
Source: Oregon State Archives, Oregon Historical County Records Guide. Records can move after an inventory is taken, so ask before you visit. Oregon began statewide registration of births and deaths in 1903.
Where to find the records
- Marion County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk and the circuit court, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk
Deeds and other land records, and marriage licenses and records.
- The circuit court
Civil and criminal cases, divorces, adoptions and, in most counties, wills and estates. In a few counties the county court still handles probate, and elsewhere older probate records may carry the county court's name.
- The Oregon State Archives
In Salem: older county records moved from the courthouses (many probate, court and naturalization files), the Oregon Historical Records Index, and the records of the provisional and territorial governments.
- Oregon State Archives: Marion County records inventoryfree
Every record series the archives inventoried for this county, with each volume's years and where it's kept.
- Oregon Historical Records Indexfree
Search by name. Indexed for Marion County: census entries, 1865 and 1895; divorce case files, 1852–1921; married women's property register entries, 1859–1897; naturalizations, 1841–1904; widow's pensions, 1913–1916; probate case files, 1843–1908.
- Provisional and Territorial Records Guide: Marion Countyfree
The county's early history and the records of its first years, before statehood in 1859, that survive at the State Archives.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Marion" 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 four original districts created by Oregon's Provisional Government in 1843, as Champoeg District
Later formed partly from Marion County: Linn County, Wasco County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1843, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Settlers who reached Oregon by December 1, 1855 could claim land under the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 and its amendments; the earliest arrivals could claim the most. The claim files, at the National Archives, often give a settler's birth date and birthplace and the date and place of a marriage, because a married couple could claim twice as much land. Earlier provisional government land claims (1845–1849) are at the Oregon State Archives.