History and Genealogy: A Researcher's Guide
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Christian
County History and Genealogy: A Researcher's Guide |
LIBRARIES, MUSEUMS, ORGANIZATIONS, ETC
Chadwick Museum. Chadwick, MO 65629.
Volunteer organization collects and maintains materials related to the history of Chadwick, MO, especially the railroad, tie-hacking, mining, and social life. Sponsors each June annual Chadwick homecoming, Railroad Days.
Christian County Library. 1005 N 4th Ave, Ozark, MO 65721-9497. Telephone: 417 581-2432. Fax: 417 581-8855. Library web site: http://christiancounty.lib.mo.us. Library E-mail: [email protected].
Maintains Anderson History Room, a collection of books, photographs, microfilm, and files, chiefly on Christian County available for researchers. Produces databases and websites of county information of current and historical information on Christian County. Hours: 8:30 - 8:00 Monday - Thursday; 8:30 - 5:00 Friday & Saturday. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Saturday closing time is 3:00. Photocopies on-site .10; microfilm copies on-site .25; minimum charge for mailed copies - 1.00 plus self-addressed envelope and postage for one ounce on each four pages requested. Please make requests very specific and limited [no "everything on" town or surname]. If you have exact date, book and page, newspaper issue and page or book and page, it's especially important that you send that. E-mail requests answered if wanted material is in an existing computer file. Requests should be for Christian County materials which are indexed and to which library staff have access.
Christian County Museum & Historical Society. P O Box 442, Ozark, MO 65721. No telephone due to limited funds and hours.
Maintains a museum of Christian County artifacts and documents in the former Presbyterian Church building just northeast of the county square. Many early official county records for which the courthouse has no room such as older personal property tax records, land tax records, probate records, civil court lawsuits, school financial records, and non-real estate loans are housed in the museum. Society members receive a quarterly, Christian County Historian, containing information on the county. Sells other current publications of interest to Christian County researchers. Museum is open by appointment as well as weekend afternoons mid-April to mid- October. Call former society President, John Nixon to arrange for volunteer to open for research/viewing. Funded entirely by donations, income level prohibits the museum's operation during heating seasons. Dress accordingly. Website under development will be at http://www.christiancohistory.com
Greene County Archives. Division of county government.
Maintains, stores, arranges and provides access to official documents of historic interest, from the county's founding. As that, until 1859, included territory now called Christian County, early records of what is now Christian County will be kept here. Publishes transcripts and reprints of records and early historical books which they make available at nominal cost, now over forty volumes. Among those of greatest interest to Christian County researchers is the 1912 Christian County Plat book. Provides much material on-line through the Greene County GenWeb and the Springfield-Greene County Library websites: http://thelibrary.org/lochist/records/index.html; http://www.greenecountymo.org/web/archives
Midwest Genealogy Center, Mid-Continent Library's Genealogy and Local History Branch 317 W. 24 Highway, Independence, MO 64050. Telephone: 816-252-7228 Hours: M-Th 9-9, Fri 9-6, Sa 9-5. Web site: http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/genlh/
One of the largest genealogy and local history collections in the United States. Includes the holdings of AFRA, the American Family Research Association and MoSGA, the Missouri State Genealogical Society. Extensive microfilm collection includes all federal censuses and the Civil War service records of all those serving in Missouri units, Union or Confederate. Over 5,000 genealogy and local history books available on inter-library loan to researchers nationwide. New library, 50,000 sq. ft. facility on 8 acres at the intersection of Lee's Summit and Kiger Roads in Independence, Missouri will open May 2008.
Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services Bureau of Vital Statistics. State Department of Health, 920-930 Wildwood, P O Box 570, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Telephone: 573 751-6387. . Web site: http://http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BirthAndDeathRecords/index.html.
Serves as archives for all records of births, deaths, marriages and dissolutions of marriages and adoptions in Missouri. Information available for a fee usually only to "eligible individuals", definition varies but often just individuals named in the document or a close relative. Birth and death records since 1910. Marriage and divorce records since 1948. ($15 fee for research and copy of death record; $13 for research and copy of birth record after 1910) Since 1996, birth and death records are also available from county health departments, also for a fee. Records available from VitalChek
http://www.vitalchek.com/agency_locator.aspx?providerid=8661Death records older than fifty years are indexed. Most of these are available to view and print at:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/
Missouri State Genealogical Association. P O Box 833, Columbia, MO 65205-0833. Web site:
http://www.mosga.org/
Publishes quarterly Journal, containing genealogical data, information,and queries, and the quarterly newsletter, "Show Me" State Genealogical News, including announcements of genealogical events and research in the Show-Me State. MoSGA sponsors an annual two-day conference each summer. Maintains a genealogy collection housed at Mid-Continent Library' s Genealogy and Local History branch at 317 W. 24 Highway Independence, MO 64050 which will move and change the name to Midwest Genealogy Library in May 2008.
Missouri State Archives. State Information Center, 600 W Main, P O Box 1747, Jefferson City, MO 65102 Telephone: 573 751-3280. Fax: 573 526-7333. For Specific Contact Info: see http://www.sos.mo.gov/contact.asp. Web site: http://http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/.
Repository of records dealing with state departments and agencies. Includes land and military records' manuscript, photograph & reference collections. Large and growing collection of microfilm of local records, the majority of them of government agencies such as schools or cities, but many others of historic interest. Search on-line for existing local records kept at the archivehttp://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/county/croll.asp. Note that this database tells types of records and times covered. It is not a database of actual records.
National Archives and Records Administration. Central Plains Region (Kansas City), 2312 East Bannister Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64131-3011. Phone: 816-268-8000. E-mail: [email protected] *
. Web site: http://http://www.archives.gov/central-plains/kansas-city/. Hours: M-F 8-4 & Third Saturday each month 9-4.
Microfilm available include federal censuses, land records, military and pension records, and materials specifically related to states near Missouri. Has the Baldknobber trial records for the federal charges.
Ozarks Genealogical Society. P O Box 3945, Springfield, MO 65808-3945. Telephone: 417 831-3773.
Educational in character and devoted to genealogical research and preservation of genealogical, biographical and historical records. Publishes a quarterly, Ozar'Kin, on genealogy of the Missouri Ozarks, as well as volumes of transcribed census records, tombstone readings, tax lists and newspaper indexes. Sponsors genealogical workshops and field trips. Maintains library collections in both the Local History Room of the Springfield-Greene County Library's The Library Center and a separate facility at 534 W Catalpa in Springfield for research by members and the public.OGS
Springfield/Greene County Library. Local History Room of The Library Center, South CampbellSpringfield, MO 65807 Telephone: 417 837-5000
Has an extensive physical and on-line collections on genealogy, history, Missouri, and southwest Missouri http://thelibrary.org/lochist/index.cfm
State Historical Society. 1020 Lowry Street Columbia MO 65201-7298 Telephone: 800 747-6366 Fax: 573/884-4950. Web site: http://shs.umsystem.edu/index.shtml/ Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., M-F; Sa 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The State Historical Society is funded through the State of Missouri. Housed in Ellis Library on the University of Missouri - Columbia campus, facilities include a a reference library with major holdings on Missouri history and genealogy, a newspaper library with microfilm of most Missouri newspapers, and the Columbia part of the Western Historical Manuscript Collection. Other valuable collections include a large map collection, microfilm of census records, including agricultural and industrial schedules, and microfilmed military and pension records of those who served in War of 1812, Mexican War and the Civil War. Any request for help should be very specific, limited and include a SASE. See rules/charges on website
Western Historical Manuscript Collection.
Original historic documents, usually not government produced, are collected, maintained and made available on campuses of the University of Missouri, with coverage of parts of Missouri assigned to different locations. Christian County documents are collected at the Rolla facility. Typical collections are records of businesses, organizations, or churches or correspondence of families, or people who shared a common interest or goal. All collections are open to the public, usually on a schedule similar to the university library in which the collections are typically held. Additionally, many collections have been simply loaned for microfilming purposes.WHMC - Rolla
White River Valley Historical Society P O Box 555, Point Lookout, MO 65726-0555.
Since October 1961, has published four times a year a magazine on the history and genealogy of the area drained by the White River. The quarterly and the society cover Ozark, Douglas, Stone, Taney, Barry, Christian, and Greene Counties in Missouri and Baxter, Marion, Boone, Carroll, and Madison Counties in Arkansas. Back issues of this quarterly are available and keyword searchable on Springfield-Greene County Library's local history page. Meetings held quarterly at the old Taney County Jail building in Forsyth include speaker on a topic of local historical interest. Some connections have existed between the society and the Ozarkiana collection in Lyons Memorial Library at College of the Ozarks and local collections of the Forsyth library.Web site: WRVHS
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield 6424 W Farm Road 182, Republic, MO 65619. Telephone: 417 732-2662. Web site: http://www.nps.gov/wicr/
Maintains a Visitors’ Center, library (which researchers may use on advanced reservation basis), the Ray home (which was built before the Civil War) and interpretative trails at the site of one of the most significant Civil War battles fought in Missouri. Admission: $2.00 per person, $4.00 per vehicle. Battlefield sits on Greene - Christian County border.
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