Missouri Research Tips and Strategies

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Purpose of Research Tips and Strategies Wiki Page

The Missouri Research Tips and Strategies page consists of links to specific research strategies for Missouri. It also contains general tips and other resources for finding your ancestors in this locality.

Missouri Research Strategies[edit | edit source]

Research Strategies to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in Missouri:

Finding Missouri Birth, Marriage or Death Records[edit | edit source]

Finding Missouri Records[edit | edit source]

Missouri Statewide Databases[edit | edit source]

Missouri Research Process[edit | edit source]

Missouri Research Tips[edit | edit source]

These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in Missouri:

Birth and Death information:

  • Statewide registration: Statewide registration of births and deaths began in 1863, but registration was not compulsory. Missouri required registration in each county only during the years 1883 to 1893 and since 1909. The State Vital Records office took over in 1910 and they did not achieve 90 percent registration of births until 1927 and of deaths until 1911.[1]
  • Access to records: See Missouri Vital Records for more information about birth, marriages, and deaths in Missouri.


Substitute Records:

  • Secondary source: Substitute records are used when primary sources do not exist for an event, such as birth, marriage, and deaths. Secondary sources list information about the event but they were not recorded at the time of the event and they are not an official record of the event.
  • Accuracy: Because the information about an event in substitute records was not the official recording of the event (such as, cemetery or obituary records) inaccuracy may occur. Use other substitute records to help verify information.
  • List of substitute records: See Missouri Substitute Records for more information.


Finding Parents:

  • Death records: Death records created by the state starting in 1910 required information on parents of the deceased. Information was not always provided and the accuracy of the information was limited by the grieving relatives' memory.
  • Obituaries: Official obituaries can also include the names of parents and other family members. See Missouri Newspapers and Missouri Obituaries for more information.
  • Church records: Knowing the denomination of the church the family belonged to helps in locating information about the parents. See Missouri Church Records for more information.


Census Records:

  • Check all census years: Always look for your ancestor in every possible census to learn more about them and their family members. See Missouri Census Records for more information.
  • Clues to other records: There are clues in censuses regarding immigration, naturalization, and occupation that can lead to other records.
  • Finding families: Starting in 1850, all members of the household were listed in the census. By 1880, relationship to the head of household was added.

Further Missouri Research[edit | edit source]


References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Missouri Research Outline. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, Inc., Family History Department, 1997, 18. (Accessed 20 Feb 2025). Online at: BYU University - Provo
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