Barry County was organized January 5, 1835, from Greene County and named for U.S. Postmaster General William T. Barry.. The County Seat is Cassville. See also County History or Courthouse History for more historical details.
Barry County has records of genealogical interest available: Recorder of Deeds: Index to deeds, 1870-1887; Deed records, 1835-1903; Mortgage deeds, 1872-1897; Index to marriage records, 1837-1877 and 1902-1919; Marriage records, 1837-1916. Clerk of the County Court: Register of births, 1883-1885; Register of deaths, 1883-1885. Clerk of the Probate Court: Probate records, 1853-1891; Probate minutes, 1867-1923; Administrator’s/executor’s letters, bonds and records, 1835-1893; Inventories, appraisements and sale bills, 1856-1909; Settlement records, 1 867-1893; Guardian’s/curator’s records, 1867-1885; Records of descendent and heirs, 1908-1917; Will records, 1871-1923.
The Health Department has Birth & Death Records from 1910-Present. See Court Records for more details on whats available from the courthouse.
Counties adjacent to Barry County are Lawrence County (north), Stone County (east), Carroll County, Arkansas (southeast), Benton County, Arkansas (south), McDonald County (southwest), Newton County (northwest). Cities and Towns include Arrow Point, Butterfield, Cassville, Chain-O-Lakes, Eagle Rock, Emerald Beach, Exeter, Golden, Jenkins, Monett (7,396), Pleasant Ridge, Purdy, Seligman, Shell Knob, Viola, Washburn, Wheaton, Wheelerville, Yonkerville
PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
All Departments below are in the Barry County Courthouse located at 700 Main, Suite 6, Cassville, MO 65625; Telephone: (417) 847-2914 , unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at ? . See also Courthouse History. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Barry County Clerk of the Court has Birth & Death Records from 1883-85. In this office in each county is located an index to common pleas, records of all extant proceedings, chancery minute books, records of births and deaths, county court records, right-of-way and road records, as well as surveyor's records (including field notes and plats made by the county surveyor). This office usually holds the county treasurer's notes, bonds and commissions, records of marks and brands, wolf scalps, stray notices, real estate assessments, and tax books. In some counties, early terms for this court included “Chancery” or the “Court of Common Pleas.”
Barry Register of Deeds / Recorder has Marriage Records from 1837 and Land Records from 1835 . The Office of Recorder of Deeds records and files instruments of writing affecting real property or personal property, subdivision plats, federal and state tax liens, and other instruments of writing. Also, the Recorder’s Office issues marriage licenses, and in accordance with the Uniform Commercial Code files termination statements. All recorded instruments are available for public research.
Barry County Probate Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1835 . In the smaller counties, probate matters are handled in the same office as the associate circuit court office. (In larger counties, there will be a separate probate court clerk's office and separate probate judges/commissioners).
Barry County Circuit Court Clerk has Court Records from 1872. This office holds the direct index to records such as divorces, debt, dissolution of partnerships, adoptions, judgment, and tax fee books including direct and indirect indexes. They also retain the index to criminal records and criminal files of the circuit court. Adoptions are under the jurisdiction of the circuit court. Naturalization records, including petitions, declarations of intention, certificates, and certificates of allegiance, and granting of citizenship are also located in the clerk's office, as well as an index to civil case files. Some naturalization records have been found with the deeds.
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Barry County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Missouri Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
Click Here to Search Missouri Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Bureau of Vital Records, P.O. Box 570, Jefferson City, MO 65102, Please allow up to approximately 6-8 weeks for processing of all type of certificates when ordered through the mail. They have the following records:
Birth & Death Certificates: Birth records maintained by Bureau of Vital Statistics, Dept. of Health since 1903 through the present. For births that occurred within the past 75 years, copies can be requested only by the immediate family of the person whose name is on the birth certificate.
Cost: The cost of a birth record is $15 per record,
$15 for each additional copy. The cost of a death record is $13 per record,
$10 for each additional copy. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $22.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
Processing Time: 6-8 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
Marriage & Divorce Certificates: To request a certified copy of a marriage license contact the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the license was obtained.To request a certified copy of a divorce decree contact the Circuit Clerk in the county where the decree was granted.
Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
Order In Person: To request a birth or death certificate from a local health department, you may download the application and submit it in person or by mail to the nearest local health department. Order By Mail: Make check or money order payable to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. Checks must be drawn on a United States bank. A money order must be drawn on a United States bank or issued by the United States Postal Service. Do not send cash. Mail to the following address: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services,
Bureau of Vital Records,
P.O. Box 570,
Jefferson City, MO 65102. Please include return address on envelope and application form.
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Missouri newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
Missouri Newspaper Death Index: Spanning over 150 years with over 50,000 records from three Missouri counties, this updated version of the Missouri Newspaper Index is a wonderful resource for the researcher with ancestors in this area.
Click Here to Search Missouri Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Barry County, Missouri are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. The censuses for the years 1810 and 1820 are lost. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Barry County, Missouri are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. Slave Schedules exist for 1850 & 1860. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, , 1870 and 1880.There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Barry County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Missouri Census, 1830-70: This collection contains the following indexes: 1830 Federal Census Index; 1830-39 Census Index; 1840 Federal Census Index; 1840 Pensioners List; 1850 Federal Census Index; 1850 Slave Schedules; 1860 Federal Census Index; 1860 Slave Schedules; 1870 Federal Census Index; Early Census Index.
Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Missouri and other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Missouri showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Missouri showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries.
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Maps. Email us with websites containing Barry County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Missouri Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Barry County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Missouri (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Missouri Confederate Death Records: This list, originally published in the St. Louis Republic in the spring of 1895, reveals important information regarding many of these volunteers
Missouri Confederate Volunteers: Taken from the History of the First and Second Missouri Confederate Brigades, 1861-1865 published in 1879, this database lists over 1600 men who volunteered to fight in the 1st and 2nd Missouri Confederate Brigades.
The Missouri Historical Society has some original tax records; others can be found in the Western Historical Manuscript Collection at the University of Missouri, but most extant records remain in the office of the clerk of the county court. The Missouri State Archives has microfilmed some tax records for the counties of Boone, Callaway, Cape Girardeau, Chariton, Clay, Cooper, Franklin, Howard, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, St. Charles, St. Francois, and Ste. Genevieve.
Prior to 1850, purchasers of the federal lands in Missouri were exempt from land taxes for five years after purchase. If one finds an ancestor on a Missouri tax list with livestock, etc., but no land being taxed, the individual may have purchased his land from the government within the preceding five years.
Some early delinquent tax lists were sent to the state auditor's office and are now located in the Capitol Fire Documents held by the Missouri State Archives
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Barry County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
The Repositories
in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical
and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical
Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly,
quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies
should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are
usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived
materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be
more generalized and over look the smaller details that local
societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to
look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy
section and may have some resources that are not located at
archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums
in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years
gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All
these places are vitally important to the family genealogist
and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Barry County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Missouri State Archives, Missouri State Information Center, [EMAIL]
P.O. Box 1747, 600 West Main Str, Jefferson City, MO 65102; Phone:(573) 751-3280, Fax: (573) 526-7333
Missouri Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Missouri Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
The Missouri State Archives has published A Brief Guide to Church Records on Microfilm which is a county by county listing, but it is currently out of print. The available church records can be located by using the Archives' Manuscript Register. Church microfilm rolls are not available for purchase, without written consent of the individual church, and must otherwise be used at the Missouri State Archives. The Western Historical Manuscript Collection on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus holds some church records. These can be located by using their descriptive catalogue or microfiche guide. Most church records in Missouri are scattered and remain in private hands
There
is no central registry for cemeteries located in Missouri. The
following national cemeteries are located in Missouri:
Springfield
National Cemetery, 1702 E. Seminole Street, Springfield,
Missouri 65804. All known soldiers buried there, including
those transferred from towns throughout southwest Missouri
were published in Ozar'kin
Jefferson
Barracks National Cemetery, 101 Memorial Drive, St. Louis,
Missouri 63125. There is a card file reference to persons
interred there. Inquiries may be made by phone or mail.
Jefferson
City National Cemetery, 1024 E. McCarty Street, Jefferson
City, Missouri 65101. The researcher may phone or write
the Jefferson Barracks for information.
Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Barry County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Missouri obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Missouri newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Missouri.
Missouri Bible Records, Volume 1: The database is the first volume in a series of Bible records that includes such information as births, marriages, probate information, and deaths of individuals who settled in Missouri.
Click Here to Search Missouri Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Barry County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Barry County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Missouri Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
In Feb, 1835, Barry Co began operation as a political subdivision of Missouri. The newly formed county contained the present counties of Barry, Lawrence, Dade, McDonald, Newton, Jasper, Barton and a part of Cedar Co. The first county seat was at Mount Pleasant, located on Clear Creek just west of the present day Pierce City. By 1840 Barry Co had been pared down to what is the present day Barry Co and the southern half of Lawrence Co. Also in 1840 the county seat was moved to McDonald (now McDowell) where it was housed in the residence of Samuel G Phariss, until 1845. By 1845 Lawrence Co was formed and the county seat was no longer in the geographic center of Barry Co, so the new seat was formed in what is now Cassville and housed in the William Kerr residence. William Kerr owned the 50 acres which encompassed the town of Cassville in 1845.
Courthouse History
Mount Pleasant served as Barry County's first county seat. A County Court Record description of the 1837 courthouse suggests a log or frame building with one door and one window.
As continued county division reduced Barry County's boundaries, Mount Pleasant was no longer centrally located. In 1839 commissioners were ordered to locate the county seat within six miles of the new geographic center. First, they selected McDonald (later called McDowell), where the site was ordered surveyed and laid out in September 1840. But county residents were dissatisfied with the choice. After several more abortive attempts, the seat was finally permanently located in Cassville during June 1845.
The house of William Kerr served as the meeting place for the first courts in Cassville, and the town was laid out soon after by Nathan Richardson, surveyor. Kerr's plan for the first courthouse in Cassville was filed in December 1845, and the court appropriated $510 for construction.
John O. Burton was appointed superintendent in March 1846. After permitting several time extensions, the court finally accepted the building in September 1847. It, too, was either a log or frame courthouse. A decision in the county record concerning altering the upper story by moving the partitions to create a room for rent indicate that the building was either one and one-half or two stories. Originally on the square, the courthouse was later removed; it was burned in the Civil War.
Arrangements for the second courthouse, a two-story brick, began in June 1854. W. G. Townsend, M. L. Wyrick and L.J. Blankenship comprised the committee responsible for obtaining a plan and estimates. A year later the plan was filed and $5,500 appropriated. The contract was given to William Young and Abner Neely for $4,995 in September 1855. The new building was to be on the square, upon a good foundation, with two brick stories and a tin roof. While construction was in progress, the court gave qualified permission for a civic group, the Sons of Temperance, to add a third story, but, apparently, the group did not proceed. Workers completed the building, and the court accepted it September 8, 1858.
Within a few years this courthouse figured prominently in the Civil War as a group of Missourians considered secession. On July 9, 1896, G. C. Vest, who after the Civil War served as U.S. senator from Missouri, recounted the early Civil War events in the Cassville Republican:
"The ordinance of Secession passed by the Missouri Legislature in 1861 was drawn by me and adopted at Neosho. [The] Legislature adjourned from Neosho, after passing the Act of Secession, to Cassville. In the northeast room of the courthouse at the latter place, we elected delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederacy."
Federal troops occupied the courthouse during the Civil War, inflicting extensive damage. The court ordered repairs in 1872, for which the county later received government compensation of more than $1,800. County Court records describe a two-story building with a courtroom on the second floor. The only known photograph which has been identified as this courthouse was probably made after the 1872 repair. The third story dates from an extensive 1884 remodeling.
The county vacated the three-storied courthouse in 1907 when it was condemned. County officials moved to other quarters, and the building was razed in 1910. The county held numerous elections before one succeeded on July 6, 1912, when Barry County residents voted for a $40,00 bond issue. Cassville residents donated $10,000 toward the $50,000 goal to help keep the county seat in Cassville; Moneta had hoped to secure the site.
The judges traveled to inspect courthouses in other counties, and in November, gave the contract for plans and specifications to C. E. Hair and Co. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. One judge voted disapproval, and citizens complained that the construction contract had not been sufficiently advertised; the judges rescinded the order, but the following month readopted the Hair plan. Disagreements continued until the court appointed a new superintendent, who selected another architect, Henry H. Hohenschild. Hambley and Hanson of St. Louis contracted to build the reinforced concrete, stone-veneer structure for $45,720. Cornerstone ceremonies were conducted in August 1913.
The building measures 84 by 100 feet. Ionic columns flank the main entrance on the south. The courtroom is on the first floor, with entry from the lobby. The courtroom, which seats 380 on the lower floor and 200 in the gallery, features an inclined floor; it originally measured 35 by 55 feet, extending outward on the north with a five-window bay. Now almost 70 years old, the courthouse continues to serve Barry County.
