Kansas genealogy records

Births and deaths

Official state records of births and deaths begin on July 1, 1911. For copies of records after that date, contact the Kansas Office of Vital Statistics in the Curtis State Office Building in Topeka.

Between about 1885 and 1911, births and deaths may have been recorded by the county or city clerk in register volumes, but not all of these registers survived, and the Kansas Historical Society says very few counties have records that early. The Society has some county and city registers on microfilm, and some of that film is being digitized by FamilySearch. Other early registers may still be at the county or city office, or at a local genealogical society or public library. Some vital records from before the territory was organized appear in the records of Indian missions.

Without a register, the Society suggests two shortcuts. To confirm an early birth date, use the nearest Kansas state or federal census. To find a date of death, check the probate court index for the county where the person died to see if a case was filed. Church records, newspapers, and cemetery books can fill in the rest.

Marriages and divorces

Marriage licenses were required in Kansas from 1867. Marriages before May 1913 were recorded in the district court of the county where the marriage took place, and from May 1, 1913, marriages were filed at the state level. Kansas marriage licenses did not name the parents unless the bride or groom was underage. For the territorial years, the Society's Kansas Marriage Index, 1854 to 1861, collects marriage notices from newspapers and other sources.

Divorces from 1855 to 1861 were recorded in the private laws section of the Territorial Legislature's session laws. From 1861 until July 1951, divorces were recorded in the district court at the county seat. For divorces after July 1951, contact the Kansas Office of Vital Statistics.

State and federal censuses

The Kansas Historical Society has Kansas censuses from 1855 through 1930 on microfilm, with indexes for some years, and its reference staff can search the state and federal census up to 1930 and provide certified copies to verify a birth date. Kansans can also use these records free on Ancestry by verifying their driver's license. After 1925, Kansas did not take a full state census.

The state censuses ask some unusual questions. The 1855 count lists eligible voters, sometimes with family members. The 1865 census adds marital status and military service by company and regiment. The 1875 census asks where each person came to Kansas from, and the 1885 census repeats that and records military service in detail, including the state of enlistment and any military prison. The 1925 census asks the year of immigration and of naturalization.

The Society also notes special censuses such as mortality schedules, slave schedules, and enumerations of veterans. For 1890, most of the federal census was lost to a fire in 1921, and Kansas is not among the states listed by the National Archives as having surviving schedules of Union veterans and widows, so use the 1885 Kansas state census, which records military service, instead.

County and court records

The Kansas Historical Society has government records from many Kansas counties, mostly microfilm copies made by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Search the Society's archives catalog for county vital, marriage, probate, and court records. The Society will send this film to Kansas libraries on interlibrary loan, and it suggests that researchers outside the state check whether the film is available through a nearby Family History Center.

If the Society does not have the probate index or case files for your county, contact the county's district court.

Military records

The Kansas Military Index searches several databases at once, though it does not include every Kansas soldier. It covers the Kansas Adjutant General's Reports for 1861 to 1865 and 1898 to 1899, the Kansas Civil War Militia Index for 1861 to 1865, Kansas members of the Grand Army of the Republic and a necrology of members who died, and Kansas Soldiers of the Great War. A separate index covers enlistments in the Kansas 19th Cavalry from 1868 to 1869.

For a Civil War veteran, also check the military columns of the 1865 and 1885 state censuses.

Newspapers

The Kansas Historical Society has the largest collection of Kansas newspapers on microfilm in the state, more than 50,000 rolls, and these can be searched for birth, death, and marriage notices. Search its newspaper database to see which papers and years exist; the microfilm is available on interlibrary loan to other libraries. Some papers are digitized through the Kansas Digital Newspapers program, which the Society manages, and a limited number are on Chronicling America from the Library of Congress.