Stevens County, Washington Genealogy

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showing location of Stevens County

County Courthouse

Located in Colville (originally founded as Pinkney City) [1] at 215 S. Oak, Colville, WA, 99114. Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Information line 509-684-7512.

Auditor Office holds records including military discharges, County Commissioner's minutes, homesteads, land records, mining transactions, etc. (Note: some records were transferred to the State Regional Archives at Cheney.

Court Clerk Office holds records for divorce, naturalization, and court cases.

History

Parent County

• 1863--Stevens County was created 20 January 1863 from Walla Walla County.  County seat: Colville

Boundary Changes

The Territorial Legislature created Stevens County on January 20,1863. It comprised almost all of Eastern Washington including the area east of the Cascade Mountains, northern Idaho, and part of Montana. Stevens County was named for Isaac Ingalls Stevens, the first governor and delegate to Congress.

In 1864, the Territorial Legislature annexed Spokane county to Stevens county, this vast area included what is now Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens and Whitman counties, it encompassed over 25,000 square miles. The breakup of Stevens County began in 1871, with the creation of Whitman County, followed by the re-creation of Spokane County in 1879, Okanogan County in 1888, Ferry County in 1899, and Pend Oreille County in 1911. What remained was the Stevens County we have today.

Places / Localities

Indian Reservation

The Spokane Indian Reservation is located in southwestern Stevens County.

Neighboring Counties

• Ferry (to the west)
• Lincoln (to the southwest)
• Pend Oreille (to the east)
• Spokane (to the south)
• British Columbia, Canada (to the north)

Resources

Cemeteries

Addy Cemetery, located in Addy, WA. Two enumerations are available one at USGenWeb extraction by Candy Grubb October 10, 1997 and the other at Internment.net extraction by Maggie Rail August 25, 2000

Assembly of God Church Cemetery located in the West-End of the Spokane Indian Reservation, Wellpinit area. Extraction contributed by Bud Engelhardt, July 2000.

Fifty-six more cemeteries are listed at US GenWeb Stevens County Cemeteries listing

Church

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Colville 260 E. Juniper, Colville, WA 99114.

Land

Original homestead records are available at the Bureau of Land Management Federal Land Records Website. The first general land office patent was granted May 1884.

Naturalization

Washington State Digital Archives has digitized various types of naturalization-related records, including declarations of intentions, delayed birth files, naturalization affidavits, notifications of application for admission to US citizenship, orders fixing naturalization terms, petitions and records, petitions, receipts for certificates of citizenship, record of final decrees of citizenship and record of petitions dockets. Depending on the county, records range from 1854-1988.

Newspapers

Colville Examiner 1907-1920 is available online thanks to the Washington State Library, Library of Congress, and the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Statesman-Examiner is published weekly in Colville.

The Chewelah Independent has been published weekly since 1903. Information about the newspaper is available from the Chewelah Chamber of Commerce website.

Schools

All schools in Stevens County are under the Northeast Washington Educational Service District 101 located at Regal Center 4202 S. Regal Street, Spokane, WA 99223-7738, phone number (p.) 509-789-3800

Current School Districts are:

Chewelah SD #36 Chewelah p. 509-685-6800

Columbia SD #206 Hunters p. 509-722-3311

Colville SD #115Colville p. 509-684-7857

Deer Park SD #414 Deer Park p. 509-464-5507

Evergreen SD #205 Gifford p. 509-722-6084

Kettle Falls SD #212 Kettle Falls p. 509-738-6625

Loon Lake SD #183 Loon Lake p. 509-233-2212

Mary Walker SD #207 Springdale p. 509-258-4534

Nine Mile Falls SD #325 Nine Mile Falls 340-4300

Orient SD #65 Orient p. 509-684-6873

Summit Valley SD #202 Addy p. 509-935-6362

ESD 101 records at the Washington State Archives at Cheney include item EA801-36-14 Pioneer Interviews (Stevens County)for 1933-47; item EA801-36-1 School Census (Stevens County)school census records for 1915-32, and other early school records.

Vital Records

• Marriages from 3 Jun 1859 to 15 Feb 1891 are available at the Western States Marriage Index website.
• Washington Death Certificates 1907-1960 A free internet index to the 1907-1960 death certificates can be found at FamilySearch Record Search, no images are available. A transcribed death certificate may contain such information as name of the deceased, date and place of death, age, gender, birth date and birth place, mother’s maiden name and name of spouse, place of residence, occupation and certificate numbers.

Societies and Libraries

The Northeast Washington Genealogical Society assists those researching in Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Stevens County. Classes and meetings are held the second Wednesday of the month. Mailing address is Northeast Washington Genealogical Society, c/o Colville Public Library, 195 S Oak, Colville, WA 99114.

The Libraries of Stevens County (formerly the Stevens County Rural Library District) has branches in Chewelah, Colville, Hunters, Kettle Falls, Lakeside, Loon Lake, Northport, Springdale, and a station at Onion Creek.

The Stevens County Historical Society at 700 N Wynne St. P.O. Box 25, Colville, WA 99114 maintains the Keller House and Stevens County Museum.

Web Sites

• Family History Library Catalog

• NortheastWashington Genealogical Society

• Eastern Washington Genealogical Society

• Washington State Genealogical Society

• Stevens County Historical Society