Jackson County was organized December 15, 1826, from Lillard (now Lafayette) County and named for United States President Andrew Jackson. The County Seat is Kansas City. See also County History or Courthouse History for more historical details.
Jackson County has records of genealogical interest available: Recorder of Deeds: Index to deeds, 1828-1891; Deed records, 1827-1909; Patent records, 1832-1898; Index to plats, 1832-?; Plat books, 1832-1899; Map of Jackson County, 1881; Index to marriage records, 1881-?; Index to marriage records (K.C.), 1881-1937; Marriage records, 1827-1917; Marriage records (K.C.), 1881-1916; Applications for marriage license, 1883-1916; Negro/colored marriage records, 1865-1882. Clerk of the County Court: Permanent record of births, 1883-1890; Register of births and stillbirths, 1883-1895; Permanent record of deaths, 1883-1890; Register of deaths, 1883-1893; Index to county court records, 1827-1848; County court records, 1827-1848; Bond and commission record, 1861-1872.
Clerk of the Probate Court: Probaterecords, 1897-1919; Index to administrator’s/executor’s letters, bonds and records, (no dates); Administrator’s/executor’s letters, bonds and records, 1828-1 955; Inventories, appraisements and sale bills, 1855-1917; Proof of publication, notices and affidavits, 1854-1902; Index to guardian’s! curator’s records, (no dates); Guardian’s/curator’s records, 1871-1898; Judgment docket, 1874-1876; Reference docket, 1905-1924; Records of descendents and heirs, 1901-1914; Partnership records, 1877-1899; Sales of real estate, 1877-1920; Will records, 1828-1925. 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 Jackson County are Clay County (north), Ray County (north-east), Lafayette County (east), Johnson County (south-east), Cass County (south), Johnson County, Kansas (south-west), Wyandotte County, Kansas (north-west). Cities and Towns include Blue Springs, Blue Summit, Buckner, Grain Valley, Grandview, Greenwood, Independence, Kansas City, Lake Lotawana, Lake Tapawingo, Lee's Summit, Levasy, Lone Jack, Oak Grove, Raytown, River Bend, Sibley, Sugar Creek, Unity Village
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 Jackson County Courthouse located at 415 E. 12th St. #104, Kansas City, MO 64106; Telephone: (816) 881-3198 , unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.co.jackson.mo.us/ . See also Courthouse History. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Jackson County Clerk of the Court has Birth & Death Records from 1883-95. 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.”
Jackson Register of Deeds / Recorder has Marriage Records from 1827 and Land Records from 1827. 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.
Jackson County Probate Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1828. 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).
Jackson County Circuit Court Clerk has Court Records from 1828. 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 Jackson County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson 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 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. Order On-Line: To obtain a certified copy of a vital record by on-line purchase with a credit card, please link to VitalChek
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
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 Jackson County, Missouri are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930.Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your family tree in Jackson 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 Jackson County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson 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 Jackson County Maps. Email us with websites containing Jackson 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. A list of Wars fought on American.
Below is a list of online resources for Jackson County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson 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 Jackson County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson 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 Jackson County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Jackson County Genealogical Society,
P.O. Box 2145, 1111 West Pacific Street, Independence, MO 64050;
Phone: (816) 252-8128
Friends of Historic Fort Osage, P.O. Box 195,
Sibley, MO 64088;
Phone: (816) 650-6370
Midwest Afro-American Genealogy Interest Coalition (M.A.G.I.C.)
c/o Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center,
3700 Blue Parkway ,
Kansas City, MO 64137
Grain Valley Historical Society, P.O. Box 414,
506 Main Street,
Grain Valley, MO 64029
Native Sons of Kansas City, P.O. Box 10046;
Kansas City, MO 64171;
Phone: (816) 962-9397
Heart of America Genealogical Society
and Library,
c/o Kansas City Public Library ,
311 East Twelfth Street,
Kansas City, MO 64106;
Phone: (816) 701-3445
New Santa Fe Historical Society, 712 West 121st Street ,
Kansas City, MO 64145;
Phone: (816) 942-5033
Heritage League of Greater Kansas City, 302 Newcomb Hall ,
University of Missouri-Kansas City
5100 Rockhill Road ,
Kansas City, MO 64110-2499;
Phone: (816) 235-1543
Raytown Historical Society & Museum,
P.O. Box 16652 ,
9705 East Sixty-third Street,
Raytown, MO 64133;
Phone: (816) 353-5033
Reorganized Church Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints Library-Archives
P.O. Box 1059 ,
Independence, MO 64051;
Phone: (816) 833-1000
St. Mary’s Pioneer Historical Society, 923 North Main Street,
Independence, MO 64050;
Phone: (816) 252-0121
The Society of the Friends of
Missouri Town-1855,
P.O. Box 1907,
1040 Northeast Woods Chapel Road,
Lee’s Summit, MO 64063;
Phone: (816) 373-9734
Westport Historical Society, 4000 Baltimore Avenue,
Kansas City, MO 64111;
Phone: (816) 561-1821
West Central Missouri Genealogical
Society and Library,
705 Broad Street,
Warrensburg, MO 64093-2032;
Phone: (660) 747-6264
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 Jackson County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Jackson County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
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 Jackson County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Jackson 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.
Before there were towns and cities, before there were streets and highways, there was the river, a broad, shallow ribbon winding through towering bluffs and wooded banks. The Missouri River took travelers as far west as they could go by river passage – to what is now Jackson County. The river was a treacherous highway, fraught with snags and subject to floods. But it was the route of all travel and commerce in those days. It was a course traveled by Native Americans and newcomers alike, the conduit for the exchange of goods, information, and ideas.
In the earliest days of our recorded history, French trappers traveled the river, learning its secrets from the Osage Indians who first called this land home. In 1803, what is now Jackson County became United States territory, a part of the most advantageous real estate transaction in history – the Louisiana Purchase.
The next year, the Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, traveled upstream on the Missouri River to what is now Jackson County. In June of 1804, Lewis & Clark arrived at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers. Captain Clark wrote in his journal that, “The country about the mouth of this river is very fine.” In due time, his opinion would be shared by the citizens of Kansas City. Four years later, Clark returned to what would become Jackson County, this time to build a fort in the wilderness. Fort Osage would remain the westernmost presence of federal government until 1818. It was at Fort Osage that the Osage Tribes first relinquished their claims to their ancestral lands west of the Mississippi, bringing an end to their sovereignty and opening the door to white settlement. In 1819, Fort Osage welcomed the first steamboat in the region, the Western Engineer. Traffic on the great muddy highway was about to explode.
In 1821, the State of Missouri was admitted to the Union. That same year, Francois Chouteau, a French fur trader from St. Louis, arrived in the region, accompanied by his young wife Berenice. The Chouteaus eventually built a fur trading empire on the banks of the river in what is now Kansas City. Another event occurred in 1821 that would shape the history of this county: a bankrupt and desperate man, William Becknell, made a daring decision to save himself from debtor’s prison by embarking on a trading expedition to the Spanish territorial capital of Santa Fe. Becknell’s route was the Santa Fe Trail, which would become the thoroughfare for international trade, outfitted in Jackson County, for years to come.
On December 15, 1826, the Missouri General Assembly organized Jackson County.
By the next year, Independence was established as the county seat. In 1827, Independence was nothing more than a fallen tree near a popular spring. But in a few years, its new entrepreneurs would become the premier outfitters for the Trail trade. The glory days of Independence as the Queen City of the Trails continued until 1844, when a flood destroyed its river landing.
The stage was set for the town of Westport to become the headquarters for travelers along the trails. Westport was platted in 1835 by John Calvin McCoy. Westport had its own landing on the Missouri River, connected to the town by a road that was later named Broadway. John Calvin McCoy was an industrious man. By 1838, he joined a group of other investors to purchase the farm of Gabriel Prudhomme, located on the south bank of the Missouri River near the Chouteau property. The investors paid $4220 for the land, which McCoy named the Town of Kansas. In 1850, township government was established for the Town of Kansas, which covered 352 acres and had a population of 150. By 1857, the City Council began leasing space on the Market Square of what is now known as the City Market. This place has been used continuously as a public market ever since.
In 1859, back in Independence, construction was completed on the new Jackson County Jail and Marshal’s House. About the same time the jail opened for business, hostilities between free state and pro-slavery forces were reaching a boiling point. In 1854, Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which opened Kansas Territory to settlement. The act provided for popular sovereignty to determine the issue of slavery, setting the stage for bloody border conflicts between pro-slavery Missourians and anti-slavery settlers moving into Kansas Territory. In 1861, the Civil War began. In 1862, the Battles of Independence and Lone Jack both ended in Confederate victories and short-lived Confederate domination in Jackson County. Missouri remained a union state throughout the war, however, and was occupied by the Union Army. In Jackson County, the war tore families and friends apart. William Clarke Quantrill, who started life as a northerner, became a Confederate officer and led his [in]famous raid on Lawrence, Kansas, in 1863. He and his men killed 158 people ... nearly every man and most boys they could find.
In response, Brigadier General Ewing signed General Orders No. 11, requiring all persons living along the state line between the Missouri and the Osage Rivers to leave their farms. The enforcement of Order No. 11 resulted in terrible hardships for the people of Jackson County. Independence artist George Caleb Bingham captured their misery on canvas. In 1864, the Union and Confederate Armies met again on the battlefield, this time in the Battle of Westport. The Union Army won the battle, but 3000 soldiers lost their lives. By 1865, the Civil War came to an end. Jackson Countians, and the rest of the country, started the terrible task of rebuilding their lives and the Union.
Following the Civil War, Jackson County went on a building spree: Kansas City’s Jewish community organized the city’s first synagogue, Temple B’Nnai Jehuda. Construction started on the stockyards in the West Bottoms. Union Depot, also in the West Bottoms, was completed. Construction began on the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception at 11th and Broadway. The New York Life Building, the city’s first skyscraper, opened at 20 W. 9th Street. The Vaile Mansion was built in Independence. And, most important of all, the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad hired Paris-born engineer Octave Chanute to build the Hannibal Bridge across the Missouri River at the Town of Kansas. In 1889, the community that had started life as the Town of Kansas officially became “Kansas City.”
In 1907, one and one-quarter million immigrants entered the United States, thousands of them arriving in Jackson County. There was a dark side to the progress of the growing population of the region, however: The social norms that had their roots in the antebellum era took the shape of entrenched segregation following the Civil War. Racial segregation was a fact of life in Kansas City by the end of the 19th Century. By 1920, the African-American population was confined to an area bounded by 9th Street, Prospect, 27th Street, and Troost. Its commercial center became the legendary intersection of 18th and Vine.
The beginning of the 20th Century marked the beginnings of the careers of three men whose impact upon Kansas City was enormous. J.C. Nichols got his start in real estate in 1903 selling houses in Kansas City, Kansas. By 1922, J.C. Nichols was announcing plans for the Country Club Plaza, following the construction of neighborhoods so well designed that they remain to this day some of the best examples of American urban planning. In 1910, Joyce Hall was selling postcards out of his room at the downtown YMCA. By 1922, his postcard business had evolved into a major enterprise that would eventually become the industry leader known as Hallmark Cards. Tom Pendergast was elected Jackson County Marshal in 1903. In 1910, Pendergast was elected to the Kansas City Council. By 1922, having established himself as the kingpin of the Democratic Party in Jackson County, Pendergast endorsed a young, unsuccessful businessman named Harry Truman for the position of Eastern Judge of the Jackson County Court.
In 1914, hostilities broke out in Europe that would eventually affect American lives: The Great War. It was during the World War I era that Kansas City acquired many of its most enduring landmarks: Union Station at 23rd and Main Streets opened its doors. The statue called “The Scout” was installed in Penn Valley Park.
Following World War I, the Liberty Memorial was constructed to honor America’s fallen soldiers.
The end of World War I brought Prohibition and women’s suffrage in 1920. The era of flappers and speakeasies had begun. By the mid-1920s, over 150 speakeasies, nightclubs and dance halls were doing business in Kansas City
The 1920s were remarkable for other reasons as well: Walt Disney, a young man with a big imagination from Marceline, Missouri, opened his Laugh-O-Gram Studios on 31st Street. A mouse in residence there would later be named Mickey. Architect Nelle Peters designed elegant apartment buildings surrounding the Country Club Plaza, turning it into a high-density residential area as well as a shopping destination. Nell Donnelly turned her talent with a needle into a multi-million dollar industry headquartered in Kansas City’s garment district. And the Negro National League was organized at the Paseo branch of the YMCA, giving birth to the Kansas City Monarchs, whose roster included baseball legends Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, and Buck O’Neil.
The golden age of the 1920s came to an end in 1929, when the stock market crashed and the nation was plunged into the Great Depression. Jackson County, however, fared better than many places, the result of Tom Pendergast’s political creativity and the willingness of Jackson Countians to pass a $50 million dollar “ten year plan” for public improvements that also provided thousands of jobs. It was during this remarkable era of public building that Presiding Judge Harry Truman orchestrated the reconstruction of the Jackson County Courthouse in Independence.
The Pendergast Era was known for many things, including graft and corruption, but it did result in a level of prosperity for Jackson County that was unheard of throughout much of the country. People could find work here, including musicians. During the 1930s, the best musicians in the country came to Kansas City because they could work here. Count Basie took over Bennie Moten’s band, after Moten died during minor surgery. Julia Lee’s career took off like a rocket and Mary Lou Williams was one of the best piano players in the business. Pete Johnson played piano for Big Joe Turner, the blues shouter whose raucous style eventually gave birth to rock and roll. By the end of the decade, Jay McShann had his own band, which would come to include a young sax player named Charlie Parker.
And it was in the 1930s that the newly opened Nelson Atkins Museum of Art was one of the few museums in the country that had any money to buy art, resulting in one of the finest collections in the country.
In 1934, Harry Truman was elected to the United States Senate. By the end of the decade his political ally Tom Pendergast pled guilty to income tax evasion and was imprisoned. The Pendergast Era had come to an end.
By 1941, the United States had entered World War II. In 1944, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose Harry Truman as his running mate, and they won an overwhelming presidential victory. But President Roosevelt would die only 82 days into his fourth term. Harry S. Truman became the 33rd president of the United States on April 12, 1945. President Truman inherited the task of steering the country through the final days of WWII. In 1948, he was elected to the presidency, in spite of predictions to the contrary. The end of World War II changed everything, both here in Jackson County and throughout the country.
The old days were over and the modern era had begun.
Courthouse History
Commissioners chose Independence for the name of the county seat of Jackson County in 1827. First courts met in private homes.
Lilburn W. Boggs, who became governor in 1837, was appointed superintendent in September 1827 to oversee construction of a temporary log courthouse. The court appropriated $175, then received seven bids in February 1828, accepting the low bid of $150 from Daniel P. Lewis. Lewis completed the two-room, 15-by-36-foot, log building by late summer 1828. The log structure was moved to a new location in 1916 and restored.
Boggs, who also acted as superintendent for the permanent courthouse, presented a plan to the courts in November 1827 for a brick and stone building with a cost estimate of $1,500. In February 1828 the court called for bids, which came to about $1,900. James King became the contractor, with several subcontractors who were compensated with lots in Independence. Work did not progress well or quickly; the building apparently was completed in 1831.
Only five years later grand jurors reported the courthouse erected 1827-31 was in deplorable condition; the court ordered construction of a new courthouse and appropriated $5,000. Henry Chiles, who was to superintend construction, presented a plan and estimate of $4,000. Daniel King contracted to do the brick and stone work for $3,500. The cupola evidently was not put on until 1846 when $150 was appropriated for erecting a cupola.
The court undertook the first major remodeling of this courthouse at the June term in 1852, when they appointed Jacob C. Hovey and John McCoy as commissioners to provide a plan for enlarging and improving the courthouse. The following month the court accepted the low bid from the firm of Leonard and Stewart for $12,500. Early in 1853 parts of the building were ready; by May the work was completed.
In 1872 a new east wing with tall clock tower was added; porches and balconies were placed on the north and south entries. The exterior was covered with red brick, and urns were placed at intervals along the roof line. Funds from general revenue financed the $48,000 project. In 1887 a west annex added space.
The next major alteration began in 1905 when a new division of Circuit Court was established in Independence. In March 1906 the court accepted the plan of William E. Brown that provided a courtroom by enclosing the balconies. The court also veneered with buff-colored brick. In May 1906 the court contracted with Chris Yetter. Work was completed in 1907. The records are confusing, but costs have been estimated at $100,000.
Jackson County appropriated $200,000 for the last and most extensive remodeling, designed in 1932 by David Frederick Wallace, architect with the Kansas City firm of Keene and Simpson. Low bidder was Weeks Construction Co., whose bid of $145,351 was accepted in October. Completed in the following year, the dedication took place on September 6, 1933.
All accretions to the 1836 courthouse were removed, but portions of the original building have been retained in the present structure, visible in a second-floor courtroom and the attic. The square configuration is evident in plans. Harry Truman was presiding judge during this period of construction. The courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Kansas City quickly outgrew Independence and needed a courthouse to efficiently conduct court business and Circuit Court. For $20,000 the county purchased an unfinished five-story hotel at Second and Main. A. B. Cross, commissioned as supervising architect, prepared plans for the county to complete the building; W. B. Everhart was contractor. Work was completed in 1872 for about $90,000.
A tornado seriously damaged the building in 1886. A new $200,000 site was purchased at Fifth and Oak in 1887 for the next courthouse, which opened in April 1892. According to the Kansas City Times, September 21, 1888, Leo Canman (or Canmann) won $1,000 for his courthouse design, which the county selected. Only four architects competed; second prize of $500 went to a Kansas City firm, Schrage and Nichols. Asa B. Cross, often thought to be the architect, was appointed supervising architect for the $500,000 courthouse.
A bond election was passed in 1931 that supported a 10-year plan for improvements in Kansas City, which included $4 million assigned for a new courthouse at Twelfth and Oak. The site for the building cost $1 million.
Plans were approved May 15, 1933. Architects included: Wight and Wight, exterior; Keene and Simpson, plans; Edward F. Neild, consulting architect-engineer, Shreveport, Louisiana; and Frederick C. Gunn, supervising architect. Swenson Construction Co. received the contract for more than $2,145,000 in July 1933. Harry Truman presided at the dedication of the 28-story courthouse December 27, 1934.
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