Mo.
In a census birthplace column, Mo. is the abbreviation for Missouri.
Mo. is an older abbreviation of Missouri, used long before the two letter postal codes. Census takers were allowed to abbreviate state names in the place of birth column, so abbreviated state names are common in the birthplace column of nineteenth century census pages.
It is easy to confuse with Md. (Maryland) or Me. (Maine). In letters and newspapers Mo. can also mean month, but in a birthplace column it is the state.
As seen in a recordBirthplace column of the 1870 census
Danl. Webb, 12, Mo.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Mo.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/mo. Last checked 2026-10-01.