Ancestry Magazine

The midwest is more than rolling hills and cornfields with scarecrows; you’ll find plenty of records on your ancestors in the six states explored here.

If you have never set foot in the Great Plains states, you may consider them as merely pass-through states for ancestors heading west on historic trails, with little records of interest for family historians. But as one who has researched onsite in all these states, I can assure you that each state has its own research gems. (Two of them have state censuses well into the twentieth century. One has a 1925 and another a 1945; both list all household members!)

When it comes to famous landmarks, these states have their share as well. Iowa is home to the first railroad bridge to cross the Mississippi River at Davenport in 1854. Kansas boasts spectacular fields of sunflowers. Missouri is home to the famed St. Louis arch, known as the Gateway to the West. In Nebraska is found the massive Great Platte River Road Archway Monument which spans Interstate 80. South Dakota is home to the famous Mount Rushmore with its massive sculptures of four U.S. presidents. North Dakota has the magnificent Badlands of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

All of these states were (and are) home to peoples of many ethnic groups. Indian tribes lived in these areas for hundreds of years before the arrival of explorers and white settlers. Major Indian reservations were located in the Dakotas and Nebraska in 1900, with smaller reservations in Kansas and Iowa. Before these states were designated as territories and the settlers flowed in, Indian settlements were extensive.

Lands in these states were part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, which increased the size of the United States by almost double. Early on, these states housed many frontier military posts and forts; some of the soldiers and civilian employees never left the area.

The year 2004 marks the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The trek originated in St. Louis, Missouri, and went north and west along the Missouri River, which winds along or through the Great Plains states.

Many other historic trail heads began in the Great Plains states. The Mormon Trail originated in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and passed through Nebraska and Wyoming before it ended in Salt Lake City. The equally famous Oregon Trail started in Independence, Missouri, and continued through parts of Kansas and Nebraska. The Santa Fe Trail began in Independence and moved westward through Kansas. Many who trekked to the Gold Rush in California came through some of these states as well.

The 1860—1861 Pony Express route originated in St. Joseph, Missouri, and ran through parts of Kansas and Nebraska on its way to California. St. Louis was an early major railroad hub. The expansion of railroads into and out of these states played a major part in the settlement of the western United States. The tracks running through the Dakotas led migrating families to the Pacific Northwest and to the great open lands of western Canada. The routes through Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Kansas led others to the states of the “Wild West” and California. Before the railroads, the Ohio River brought many settlers westward to the Mississippi and other rivers.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Missouri was a slave state. Iowa and Kansas were free states and the Dakota and Nebraska territories were open to slavery due to the Dred Scott decision in 1857.

All six of these states are public land states. This means that the first non-Indian land ownership was transf erred directly from the federal government to individuals. The land was divided using the rectangular-survey system, often called the township and range system.

Check the website of the Bureau of Land Management at www.blm.gov for locations of land records or consult Wade Hone’s Land and Property Research in the United States (Ancestry, 1998) or Patricia Law Hatcher’s Locating Your Roots: Discover Your Ancestors Using Land Records (Betterway Books, 2003).

The majority of subsequent land transactions for all of these states are found in the county courthouses. Some are also available on microfilm at the Family History Library (FHL). Additionally, each state has some other types of land records that may be valuable in your search.

Federal-level naturalization records for all of these states are housed at the National Archives—Central Plains Region and are available on microfilm at the FHL. Each state has different access restrictions regarding its vital records so you’ll want to check the individual state websites for the current guidelines.

Be sure to read more about the general histories of these states, both online and in print. Having a general understanding of their histories will help you better understand the records.

Check the state archives and historical society websites, as well as Ancestry.com, the Family History Library Catalog at www.familysearch.org, and USGenWeb at www.usgenweb.org for records, indexes, abstracts, and more related to the Great Plains states.

The Great Plains states serve as important research outlets for families that settled in the original colonies in the eastern United States. Many descendants of these families migrated westward and the records in these states may hold clues to filling in missing data on your ancestral charts.

Iowa
The Hawkeye State became a territory in 1838 and a state in 1846. An influx of settlers arrived from the
eastern and northeastern states and from the central states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois; southerners who had moved into Missouri came north to Iowa. Some larger immigrant groups came from Germany, Ireland, and the Scandinavian countries.

Beginning in the mid-1830s, Quakers settled in eastern Iowa towns. By 1855, the communal colony of Amana was established by the Society of True Inspirationists. This and other nearby settlements are now known as the Amana Colonies and are a major tourist destination.

Some counties in Iowa began registering births and deaths as early as the 1870s, but it was a decade later before most counties recorded these events. Duplicate state-level recording of birth, marriage, and death records began in 1880, but especially with births and deaths, not every event was registered until well into the twentieth century.

In some counties, marriage records have been kept since the 1830s. The records are held at the county level and some are at the FHL. For access and pricing details, see the Iowa Department of Public Health website. (see page 43)

Probate records were kept at the county level and continue today. Some of these are also at the FHL. County naturalization records may be found in a variety of places including courthouses, the state historical society, and even on microfilm at the FHL.

The state historical society in both Des Moines and Iowa City are the main repositories for most newspapers ever published in Iowa. Iowa researchers benefit from microfilmed state census records kept as late as 1925.

Iowa Department of Public Health
Bureau of Vital Statistics
Lucas State Office Building, 1st Floor
312 East 12th Street
Des Moi nes, IA 50319-0075
(515) 281-4944
www.idph.state.ia.us

State Historical Society of Iowa (Includes the state archives)
SHSI has two locations as noted below
www.iowahistory.org

State of Iowa Historical Building
600 East Locust
Des Moines, IA 50319-0290
(515) 281-5111

State Historical Society of Iowa Centennial Building
402 Iowa Avenue
Iowa City, IA 52240-1806
(319) 335-3916

Iowa Genealogical Society
628 East Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50309-1924
(515) 276-0287
www.iowagenealogy.org

Kansas
The Sunflower State became a territory in 1854 and achieved statehood in 1861. The major new settlement of Kansas began in the mid-nineteenth century, displacing throngs of Indians who had been removed to Kansas Indian Territory. Southerners arrived along with settlers from Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Immigrants from Sweden, Germany, Russia, and other countries began to increase the population as well.

In recent years the Family History Library has added many Kansas records on microfilm. The Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) has duplicates of many of the microfilms of county records and has online listings of these as well. KSHS is also the place to find most newspapers for Kansas.

It was not until 1911 that the state began recording births and deaths; marriages weren’t recorded at the state level until 1913. County-level registrations exist in many places before and after those dates. However, as with the other states, early compliance was not overwhelming. Some county marriage records are available at the state historical society.

Probate records were kept in the counties and continue to be held there today. Some of these are now at
the FHL. Naturalization records at the county level are
found in a variety of places including courthouses, on film at the state historical society, and also at the FHL for some counties.

Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Office of Vital Statistics
Charles B. Curtis State Office Building
1000 SW Jackson, Suite 120
Topeka, KS 66612-1221
(785) 296-1400
www.kdhe.state.ks.us

Kansas State Historical Society
Center for Historical Research
(Includes the state archives)
6425 SW Sixth Avenue
Topeka, KS 66615
(785) 272-8681
www.kshs.org

Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies
P.O. Box 3858
Topeka, KS 66604
skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/kcgs

Missouri
The Show-Me State became a territory in 1812 and was finally granted statehood in 1821. The mid-1700s saw settlement by the French, and as time marched on, many southerners populated Missouri. Others came from the east, especially from Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. These were followed by many German immigrants and others from Ireland, England, and Poland.

State-level recording of births and deaths began in 1910, but some counties and cities have records for earlier years. For example, the City of St. Louis has some death records as far back as the 1850s. (Both St. Louis and Kansas City have many records that have been kept separately from the counties in which they are located.)

A state index to marriage records begins in 1948. No marriage licenses were required in the state until 1881, although some counties have marriage records prior to that date. Many marriage, naturalization, and other records from the county courthouses have been microfilmed and are available via the state archives and the FHL. An extensive list is online via the state archives.

The largest collection of Missouri newspapers is at the state historical society in Columbia. Probate records are found in the county courthouses and some have also been microfilmed.

Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Bureau of Vital Records
P.O. Box 570
Jefferson City, MO 65102
www.dhss.mo.gov

Mid-Continent Public Library
317 W. 24 Highway
Independence, MO 64050-2747
(816) 252-7228
www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/ge

Missouri Historical Society (private institution)
225 Skinker Boulevard
P.O. Box 11940
St. Louis, MO 63112-0040
(314) 746-4599
www.mohistory.org

State Historical Society of Missouri
1020 Lowry Street
Columbia, MO 65201-7083
(573) 882-7083
www.umsystem.edu/shs/

Missouri State Archives
600 West Main Street
P.O. Box 1747
Jefferson City, MO 65102
(573) 751-3280
www.sos.mo.gov/archives

National Archives—Centra l Plains Region
2312 East Bannister Road
Kansas City, MO 64131-3011
(816) 268-8000
www.archives.gov

Missouri State Genealogical Association
P.O. Box 833
Columbia, MO 65205-0833
mosga.missouri.org

St. Louis Genealogical Society
4 Sunnen Drive, Suite 140
P.O. Box 43010
St. Louis, MO 63143-0010
(314) 647-8547
www.stlgs.org

Nebraska
The Cornhusker State became a territory in 1854 and a state in 1867. The first land claim under the 1862 Homestead Act was made in Nebraska.

Early Nebraska settlers came from all over the eastern United States. Many immigrants came from Sweden and Germany. More immigrants came from Bohemia and Denmark, among others.

State-level births and death event records begin in 1904, and marriage records begin in 1909. These are also found in the counties as well as some earlier recordings. The FHL has some of the county-level marriage records.

Naturalization and probate records are found at the county level and some have been transferred to, or microfilmed for, the state historical society. The major repository for newspapers is the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Nebraska Health and Human Services System Vital Records
301 Centennial Mall South, 3rd Floor
P.O. Box 95065
Lincoln, NE 68509-5065
www.hhs.state.ne.us/ced/nevrinfo.htm

Nebraska State Historical Society (Includes the state archives)
1500 “R” Street
P.O. Box 82554
Lincoln, NE 68501
(402) 471-4751
www.nebraskahistory.org

Nebraska State Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 5608
Lincoln, NE 68505-0608
www.rootsweb.com/~nesgs

North Dakota
Dakota Territory was established in 1861 and in 1889 part of this area became the state of North Dakota. North Dakota is known as the Peace Garden State. Large immigrant groups from Canada, Germany, Norway, and Russia helped to grow the population.

From the 1870s into the first part of the twentieth century, Bonanza Farms were common in North Dakota. These large-acreage farms
were once highly profitable. Many of the owners were Easterners, and many immigrants worked on these farms.

The recording of birth and death records
at the state level began in 1893, but there are gaps. A computerized index to the death records is at the state
historical society. Birth and death records are obtained from the state health department. State-level marriage records begin in 1925. Marriage records, including many that predate 1925, are also housed at the county level.

All the county-level (district court) naturalizations have been turned over to the state archives and an overall index is available online. The major newspaper library is at the state historical society. Probate records are generally located in the county courthouses.

North Dakota Department of Health Division of Vital Records State Capitol
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0020
(701) 328-2360
www.health.state.nd.us

State Historical Society of North D akota (Includes the state archives)
612 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0830
(701) 328-2666
www.state.nd.us/hist/sal.htm

Chester Fritz Library Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
University of North Dakota
University Ave. & Centennial Drive
P.O. Box 9000
Grand Forks, ND 58202
(701) 777-4625
www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library

North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies
Mailing: ND State University Library
P.O. Box 5599
Fargo, ND 58105-5599
Physical location: 1305-19th Ave. N., Room 117
(701) 231-8914
www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs

North Dakota State Genealogical Society
www.rootsweb.com/~ndsgs/

South Dakota
The Mount Rushmore state achieved statehood in 1889 and from then on was known as South Dakota. The Gold Rush in the beautiful Black Hills of western South Dakota brought new people to the territory in the mid 1870s. Immigrants came from many areas including Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia.

State-level birth, marriage, and death records and indexes begin in 1905. A birth index covering births occurring one hundred years or more ago is online via the state health department. Some counties have marriage records that pre-date 1905.

South Dakota wins in the race for state censuses. A 1945 state census is available at the state archives in Pierre. The state censuses from 1905 to 1945 are gradually being made available at the Family History Library.

Probate and land records are usually found in the county courthouses, although some probate records have been transferred to the state archives. County-level naturalization records for most counties are at the state archives and a list of those is online. The state historical society houses the major collection of state newspapers.

South Dakota Department of Health Vital Records
600 E. Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501-2536
(605) 773-4961
www.state.sd.us/doh

South Dakota State Historical Society (Includes the state archives)
900 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501-2217
(605) 773-3458
www.sdhistory.org

South Dakota Genealogical Society
Box 1101
Pierre, SD 57501-1101
www.rootsweb.com/~sdgenweb/gensoc/sdgensoc.html

Your Great Plains Reference Library
Iowa
“Iowa,” Genealogical Research: Methods and Sources, volume 2, rev. ed. by George E. McCracken (Washington, DC: American Society of Genealogists, 1983, out of print but available in many libraries).

Research Outline: Iowa, 2nd ed (Salt Lake City: Corp. of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1999).

Kansas
Research Outline: Kansas, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Corp. of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997).

Missouri
Research in Missouri, by Pamela Boyer Porter and Ann Carter Fleming, (Arlington, Va: National Genealogical Soci ety, 1999).

Guide to Genealogical Research in St. Louis, 4th ed., by Edward E. Steele (St. Louis: St. Louis Genealogical Society, 1999).

Nebraska
“Nebraska Research,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volume 77, September 1989, by Sylvia Nimmo.

South Dakota
Research Outline: South Dakota, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Corp. of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1997).

North Dakota
Tracing Your Dakota Roots: A Guide to Genealogical Research in the Dakotas, by Jo Ann Winistorfer and Cathy A. Langemo (Bismarck: Dakota Roots, 1999).

Paula Stuart Warren, CGRS, is a professional genealogist, consultant, writer, and lecturer. She has lectured all across the United States and is a course coordinator at the annual Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. She is the co-author of Your Guide to the Family History Library: How to Access the World’s Largest Genealogy Resource.