State guide · MO

Missouri genealogy records

Missouri statewide birth and death records start in 1910, and the State Archives shows death certificates free online once they are 50 years old, now 1910 to 1975.

Missouri at a glance

Statewide births and deaths from: January 1, 1910 (Bureau of Vital Records)
Free death certificates online: 1910 to 1975, Missouri State Archives (closed for 50 years)
Pre-1910 births and deaths: Some county registers, 1883 to 1893, at the State Archives; free index
State marriage and divorce registry: From July 1, 1948; original certificates at the county recorder of deeds
Federal census: 1830 onward (1810 and 1820 lost; 1890 burned)
State censuses: Held for years between 1840 and 1876; territorial counts 1752 to 1818

Missouri is a generous state for death records. A 2004 law moved death certificates more than fifty years old to the Missouri State Archives, which put them online with images and a free name search. Each year another year of certificates is added, and the collection currently runs from 1910 to 1975.

Births are harder. The state Bureau of Vital Records has births from 1910 on, but these records are not open to the general public, so most family historians lean on death certificates, censuses, and county records instead. Before 1910, some counties kept birth and death registers, which the State Archives has abstracted into a free database. This guide covers what exists, from which year, and where to look first.

Death certificates, 1910 to 1975, free

Death certificates began being recorded statewide in 1910. Under House Bill 1634, passed in 2004, death records more than fifty years old are transferred to the Missouri State Archives, and copies of them may be disclosed on request. The Archives' Missouri Death Certificates database can be searched by first, middle, and last name, county, year, and month, and each result links to a digitized image of the original certificate. The Archives counts more than 2.5 million certificates, with more made available each year.

A certificate can give the date of birth, names of the parents and spouse, cause of death, occupation, and the funeral home and burial place. For a death less than fifty years ago, or for a certified copy of any death certificate, go to the Bureau of Vital Records in the Department of Health and Senior Services.

Births and deaths before 1910

Before statewide registration, some counties recorded births and deaths. The Archives says that birth and death records from 1883 to 1893 are available there for research, and its Birth and Death Records Database, Pre-1910 is an abstract of the birth, stillbirth, and death records recorded before 1909 that are on microfilm at the Archives. It holds over 185,000 records from 87 counties, so many families are simply not in it. Because it is an abstract, ask the Archives for a copy of the original entry.

A birth entry can give the child's name, date and place of birth, the father's full name and occupation, and the mother's maiden name, plus the parents' ages, residence, and nationality. A death entry can give age, marital status, birthplace, cause of death, and place of burial. The Bureau of Vital Records notes that some delayed certificates may exist for births before 1910, but there is no guarantee that any record exists for a given event, before or after 1910.

Who can get a Missouri birth or death record

The Department of Health and Senior Services says that in Missouri, vital records are not open to the general public. For birth records, eligible family members include those in the direct line of descent and in-laws, up to but not including cousins, and the applicant must identify at least one parent on the record. Death certificates have a wider circle: all family members, including cousins and in-laws, genealogists representing a family member, and professionally recognized genealogists.

Every request needs a notarized application and the search fee. Birth and death copies can be ordered from the Bureau of Vital Records in Jefferson City or through local public health agencies around the state, though the department says local agencies hold only births from 1920 and deaths from 1980 on. For any death fifty or more years ago, check the free Archives database first: the image may answer your question without an order.

Marriages and divorces

Marriages in Missouri are recorded locally. The Bureau of Vital Records has kept a central registry of marriages and divorces only since July 1, 1948, and even for those years it issues a certified statement, not a copy of the certificate. A certified copy of the original marriage certificate comes only from the recorder of deeds in the county where the license was obtained, so for an older marriage, start with that county.

The state's divorce statements also start on July 1, 1948; the decree itself comes from the circuit clerk of the county where it was granted. The Missouri State Archives also offers a County and Municipal Records database and county records on microfilm, worth checking before you write to a courthouse.

Census records and tax lists

The federal censuses of 1810 and 1820 would have listed heads of household in the Louisiana and Missouri territories, but those records have been lost, so the first full federal census for Missouri is 1830. The 1890 population schedule was damaged in a 1921 fire and destroyed in 1934, and the 1890 special schedules except the veterans schedule were destroyed in an 1896 fire.

The State Archives holds territorial censuses from 1752 to 1818, tax lists from 1814 to 1821, state censuses taken between 1840 and 1876, and special censuses. Its free census database indexes some territorial, state, and special censuses along with the federal mortality schedules, and has browsable images of agricultural and manufacturing schedules. It does not index the federal population schedules. The Archives' federal census pages also describe the supplemental schedules for Missouri, including the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules.

Land, military, and naturalization

Before 1803, French and Spanish governments granted land in what became Missouri, and the Archives holds those grants along with records of U.S. land offices that settled disputed ownership after the Louisiana Purchase. It also holds records of U.S. land sales from 1818 to 1903, which give the purchaser's name, the amount of land, and the section, township, and range, and its Land Records Database indexes land the state itself patented, such as township school land.

The Archives' Soldiers' Records database covers Missourians who served from the War of 1812 to World War I, and a Civil War Provost Marshal index database is also online. For immigrants, search the Archives' Naturalization Records Database, and for court cases its Judicial Records pages and Supreme Court Historical Database.

Search in this order

If the person died between 1910 and 1975, search the Missouri Death Certificates database and save the image.
Copy every name on the certificate: parents, spouse, informant, funeral home, and cemetery.
For an event before 1910, search the pre-1910 birth and death database by surname only, then request the original.
Find the family in each federal census from 1830 on, and check the Archives' census database for state censuses and mortality schedules.
For a marriage, write to the recorder of deeds in the county where the license was likely issued.
Search the Land Records Database by name and note the section, township, and range.
Search the Soldiers' Records and Naturalization databases for every adult man in the family.
For a birth after 1910, confirm you qualify under Missouri's family rules before applying to the Bureau of Vital Records.

Where to see them for free

Missouri State Archives and its free online databases: death certificates 1910 to 1975, pre-1910 births and deaths, census and tax lists, land records, soldiers' records, and naturalizations.
Bureau of Vital Records, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, for births from 1910 and death certificates less than fifty years old.
The recorder of deeds in the county where a marriage license was issued, for the original marriage certificate.
The circuit clerk of the county for divorce files and many court records.
FamilySearch, as a place to browse federal censuses and microfilmed Missouri county records free.

Sources

How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "Missouri genealogy records." State guides. https://dailyancestor.com/states/missouri. Last checked 2026-10-10.