Scott County, Missouri Genealogical Records Information

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Scott County History and Information

Scott County Facts

Scott County was organized December 28, 1821, (effective March 1, 1822) from New Madrid County and named for John Scott, Missouri congressman. The County Seat is Benton. See also County History or Courthouse History for more historical details.

Scott County has records of genealogical interest available: Recorder of Deeds: Index to deeds, 1822-1897; Deed records, 1822-1894; Quitclaim deeds, 1887-1901; Index to marriage records, 1840-1938; Marriage records, 1840-1920. Court of Common Pleas: Record of common pleas, 1867-1869. Clerk of the County Court: Permanent record of births, 1883-1886; Register of births, 1883-1886; Permanent record of deaths, 1883-1886; Register of deaths, 1883-1886. Clerk of the Circuit Court: Index to circuit court records, 1842-1897; Circuit court records, 1822-1897. Clerk of the Probate Court: Index to probate records, 1855-1860; Probate records, 1846-1889; Administrator’s/executor’s letters, bonds and records, 1862-1933; Inventories, appraisements and sale bills, 1855-1889; Settlement records, 1855-1886; Guardian’s/curator’s records, 1863-1891; Probate docket, 1863-1890; Will records, 1825-1926. 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 Scott County are Cape Girardeau County (northwest), Alexander County, Illinois (northeast), Mississippi County (southeast), New Madrid County (south), Stoddard County (southwest). Cities and Towns include Benton, Blodgett, Chaffee, Commerce, Diehlstadt, Haywood City, Illmo, Kelso, Lambert, Miner, Morley, Oran, Perkins, Scott City, Sikeston, Vanduser

Scott County, Missouri History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Scott County Court Records

See Also Missouri Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

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 Scott County Courthouse located at P.O. Box 78, Benton, MO 63736-0078; Telephone: (573) 545-3551 , unless otherwise noted below. The Official County website is located at http://www.scottcountymo.com/ . See also Courthouse History. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Scott County Clerk of the Court has Birth & Death Records from 1883-86.
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.”

Scott Register of Deeds / Recorder has Marriage Records from 1840 and Land Records from 1822.
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.

Scott County Probate Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1825.
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).

Scott County Circuit Court Clerk has Court Records from 1822.
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.

There are a few online databases for Court, Land and Probate Records which include:Missouri Marriages, 1766-1983, Missouri Marriages to 1850, Missouri Marriages, 1851-1900. You may also search the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or Land Patents: 1831 - 1969. Many pioneers and settelers bought land from the government instead of individuals.

Click Here to Search Missouri Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Scott County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Scott County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Scott County, Missouri Court Books at Amazon.com
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.

Scott County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

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 Scott County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Scott County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Scott County, Missouri Tax Books at Amazon.com

Scott County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Missouri Genealogical Addresses

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 Scott County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Scott County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Chaffee Historical Society and Museum, 112 North Main, Chaffee, MO 63740, Phone: (573) 887-6225
Scott County Historical and Genealogical Societ, P.O. Box 151, Benton, MO 63736, Website:
Commerce Historical and Genealogy Society, P.O. Box 93, 30 Missouri Street, Commerce, MO 63742-0093 , Phone: (573) 264-2199, E-mail: commercemo@clas.net
Local Missouri Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
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
State Historical Society of Missouri, 1020 Lowry Str., Columbia, MO 65201-7298; (573) 882-7083, [EMAIL]
Missouri State Genealogical Association, P.O. Box 833, Columbia, MO 65205-0833
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.
See the Society page for more statewide Societies and archives
Missouri Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Scott County Church & Cemeteries

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.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Scott County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Scott County Tombstone Transcription Project.

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 Scott County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Scott 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.
Scott County, Missouri Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Scott County, Missouri Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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 Scott County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Scott County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Scott County ] [ Missouri ] [ Main Page ]
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Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
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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.
Scott County, Missouri Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Courthouse History
County records from Scott County were destroyed during the Civil War. Goodspeed's 1888 History of Southeast Missouri provided the basic information for the county's early history, which has been used in subsequent histories.

The first log courthouse in Benton, built on the square soon after the town was laid out in 1820, quickly became inadequate and was razed. A brick building replaced it in 1844, but, poorly constructed in the first place, it soon became unsafe and was condemned. The third courthouse in Benton, a frame structure built in 1855, lasted less than 10 years. According to Laws of Missouri, 1863, the State Legislature ordered the county seat moved to Commerce in 1863 to escape Civil War raids of armed rebels, which had prevented the court from holding any session for several months. Previous county records were moved to the military post at Cape Girardeau.

In Commerce the court built the fourth courthouse, a plain, substantial, two-story, brick courthouse. But Commerce proved to be an unacceptable site, and the people voted to move back to more centrally located Benton in 1878.

The fifth courthouse, completed in 1883, was a brick, two-story building about 40 by 70 feet with a cupola. The costs came to about $11,000. Thirty years later the community had outgrown the building. It was not well heated or lighted, and renovation would have been costly, so county officials decided to build a new one. The 1883 building was demolished in 1912, making way for the new and present courthouse.

The fire that destroyed the capitol in Jefferson City in February 1911 prompted Scott County to build a more secure repository for county records. Inspired by Greene County financing a courthouse from general revenue funds, Scott County chose a similar method and set aside $50,000.

First, the court commissioned architect Henry H. Hohenschild in April 1911; in June 1911, the county approved plans submitted by Hohenschild. Construction proceeded in stages; the court gave the contract for the shell of the building to J. W. McCarthy in October 1912.

Proponents of a new courthouse, anxious to push on and finish the project, kept a stream of publicity going. They even involved young people under 21 by sponsoring a 500-word-or-less essay contest. First prize was $10. The topic: "Why a $40,000 bond issue should be voted to complete the new courthouse of Scott County, Missouri." March 20, 1913, proponents of the new courthouse announced winners of the contest. The following week voters, perhaps properly inspired, approved the $40,000 bond issue to complete the interior. Final costs of the project have been estimated between $100,000 and $140,000; work was completed in December 1913.

Hohenschild's plan called for a T-shaped building of reinforced concrete, with brick facing and terra cotta trim. The main stem of the T-shape was three stories, 56 by 122 feet; wings measured 52 by 55 feet. There were four entrances, one on each side. Six large columns distinguished the principal facade.

Hohenschild was a prolific architect of Missouri courthouses. Other Hohenschild designs that are similar to Scott County's include: Barry County, 1911; Christian County, 1913; and Pemiscot, 1924. The well-maintained building continues to function as the seat of justice for Scott County.

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