Records that survive
These are the record series in the Oregon State Archives' inventory of Sherman 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 June 2019.
Marriages, births and deaths
- Delayed Birth Records · State Archives and local offices1857–1983
- Marriage Records · local offices1889–1987
- Birth Records · State Archives and local offices1904–1941
- Death Records · State Archives and local offices1905–1952
Deeds and land
- Surveyor Field Notes and Plats · local offices and online1850–2006
- Deeds and Indexes · local offices1859–1989
- Federal Land Grant Records · local offices and online1860–1998
- Mining Claim Records · local offices and online1860–1998
- Mortgage Records · local offices1860–1988
- Road Maps and Survey Notes · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1876–1967
- Foreclosure Records · local offices1892–1917
- Land Title Registers · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1900–1951
- Water Rights Records · local offices1904–1987
- Tax Lot Cards · local offices1909
- Land Subdivision Records · local offices1912–2010
- Corner Survey Records · local offices1984–2018
Wills and estates
- Probate Registers · local offices1888–2018
- Probate Estate Records · local offices1903–1938
- Probate Case Files · local offices1974–2018
Naturalization
- Naturalization Certificates · local offices1889–1929
- Naturalization Petitions and Orders · local offices1889–1945
- Naturalization Declarations of Intention · local offices1890–1948
Military and pensions
- Military Records · local offices1896–1988
- Pension and Relief Records · local offices1914–1935
Tax records
- Assessment and Tax Rolls · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1888–2017
Elections and voters
- Election Voting Abstracts · local offices1892–1964
- Election Poll Books · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1900–1924
Court records
- Judgment and Execution Records · local offices1870–1976
- Adoption Records · local offices1889–2001
- Attachment Records · local offices1889–1960
- Circuit Court Case Files · State Archives and local offices1889–1989
- Circuit Court Dockets · local offices1889–1987
- Circuit Court Journals · local offices1889–1989
- County Court Judicial Journals · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1889–1935
- Insane Commitment Records · local offices1889–2002
- Prisoner Registers · local offices1891–2003
- Justice Court Case Files · local offices1892–1940
- Coroner and Inquest Records · local offices1899–1936
- Justice Court Dockets · local offices1904–1941
Schools
- Superintendent of Schools Records · Sherman County Historical Museum, Oregon Historical Society and local offices1888–1977
- School District Records · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1898–1995
Other records
- Road and Bridge Records · local offices1876–2015
- Clerk and Recorder Miscellaneous Recordings · local offices1889–1987
- County Commissioners Administrative Journals · local offices and online1889–2016
- Marks and Brands Records · local offices1889–1941
- Married Women's Property Registers · local offices1889–1896
- Medical Profession Registration Records · local offices1889–1970
- Maps, Plans, and Drawings · Sherman County Historical Museum, local offices and online1900–2009
- Animal Bounty Records · local offices1902–1933
- County Officials Reports · local offices1903–1969
- County Budgets · local offices and online1914–2017
- County Commissioners Orders, Ordinances, and Resolutions · local offices and online1914–2016
- Farm Name Registration Records · local offices1914–1924
- County Fair Records · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1916–2017
- Aerial Photographs · Sherman County Historical Museum and local offices1937–1987
- 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
- Sherman 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: Sherman 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 Sherman County: deaths, 1916–1941; delayed births, 1857–1910.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Oregon, Sherman" 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: Wasco County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Wasco County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1889, 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.