Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Morrow 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 August 2014.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Delayed Birth Records · local offices1879–1982
- Marriage Records · local offices1885–1988
- Birth Records · Morrow County Museum and local offices1905–1929
- Death Records · Morrow County Museum and local offices1905–1929
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–1990
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1861–1984
- Land Title Registers · local offices1861–1953
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1864–1967
- Mortgage Records · local offices1864–1984
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · local offices and online1879–1990
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1888–1976
- Water Rights Records · local offices1891–1984
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1892–1936
- Corner Survey Records · local offices and online1908–1988
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices and online1915–2012
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1985–2012
Wills and estates
- Probate Case Files · local offices1885–2003
- Probate Registers · local offices1885–1987
- Probate Estate Records · local offices1891–1917
Naturalization
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · local offices and online1885–1953
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · local offices and online1885–1953
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices1906–1953
Military and pensions
- Pension and Relief Records · local offices1885–1966
- Military Records · local offices1887–1967
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · local offices1884–2012
Census
- Census Records · State Archives and local offices1895–2000
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1892–1972
- Election Poll Books · local offices1900–1914
Court records
- Judgment and Execution Records · local offices1868–1954
- Attachment Records · local offices1885–1966
- Circuit Court Case Files · local offices1885–1985
- Circuit Court Dockets · local offices1885–1986
- Circuit Court Journals · local offices1885–1980
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1885–1954
- County Court Case Files · local offices1885–1897
- County Court Judicial Journals · Morrow County Museum and local offices1885–1966
- Justice Court Case Files · local offices1885–1931
- Insane Commitment Records · local offices1886–2014
- Justice Court Dockets · Morrow County Museum and local offices1892–1964
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1892–1969
Schools
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Oregon Historical Society and local offices1873–1975
- School District Records · Morrow County Museum and local offices1881–1970
Other records
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1867–1927
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1867–2014
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1874–1974
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · local offices1885–2010
- County Officials Reports · State Archives and local offices1886–1980
- Married Women's Property Registers · local offices1887–1894
- Medical Profession Registration Records · Morrow County Museum and local offices1887–1967
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1896–1923
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · local offices and online1902–2007
- County Fair Records · local offices1908–2007
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1911–1929
- Assumed Business Names Registers · local offices1915–1964
- County Budgets · local offices and online1916–2012
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1932–2012
- 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
- Morrow 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: Morrow 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 for probate, divorce, naturalization and other county records the State Archives has indexed.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Morrow" 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: Umatilla County, Wasco County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Umatilla County, Wasco County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1885, 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.