Access Boone County Genealogy Records

Boone County genealogy records are among the most accessible in Missouri, with the Recorder of Deeds providing online access to marriage licenses, real estate records, and other documents through the county's web portal. The county was organized in 1820 and is home to Columbia, Missouri, the seat of the University of Missouri and one of the state's major cities. Marriage records and land records dating to 1820 are held at the courthouse at 801 East Walnut in Columbia. For researchers tracing central Missouri families, Boone County offers strong online tools, a major regional library system, a dedicated genealogical society, and the State Historical Society of Missouri's Columbia research center all in one place.

Boone County Recorder of Deeds

The Boone County Recorder of Deeds is at 801 East Walnut, Room 132, Columbia, MO 65201-7728. Bob Nolte has served as Recorder since January 1, 2023. The office phone is 573-886-4345 and the fax is 573-886-4336. Email is recorder@boonemo.gov. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The Recorder's office provides online record search tools updated through September 2023, covering the real estate database, marriage records database, UCC filings, and tax liens. Document images are available online, making Boone County one of the more convenient Missouri counties for remote research.

The online portal at boonemo.gov/recorder is a strong first step before visiting in person. You can search marriage records and real estate documents from home and identify which specific files you need to pull. Marriage records here go back to the county's founding in 1820, giving researchers access to over 200 years of marriages recorded in Columbia. Real estate records include warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, deeds of trust, mortgages, tax liens, UCC filings, and subdivision plats. Military discharge records (DD-214s) are also on file for veterans who recorded them with the county.

Certified copies of marriage licenses cost $9.00, which is lower than many Missouri counties. Standard recording fees are $24.00 for the first page and $3.00 for each additional page. Copies cost $1.00 per page. Marriage licenses require both parties to appear in person with valid photo ID and a Social Security number. The fee is $46.00, the license is valid for 30 days anywhere in Missouri, and there is no waiting period.

The Boone County Recorder of Deeds provides online access to the county's marriage and real estate records, updated regularly.

The Recorder's online portal lets researchers search marriage and property records from home before making a trip to the Columbia courthouse.

Boone County Court Records and Genealogy

The Boone County Circuit Clerk handles court records for the 13th Judicial Circuit. The courthouse is at 705 E. Walnut St. in Columbia. Court records for family research include probate files, divorce records, naturalization records, and civil case filings going back to 1820. Probate records are a key source here. Boone County's probate files from the 1820s onward document estates, list heirs, describe property distributions, and often reveal family relationships not found in other record types. For a county this old, the probate collection is substantial and covers multiple generations of the same families.

Naturalization records in Boone County document immigrants who became U.S. citizens through the local courts. The University of Missouri's presence in Columbia has attracted residents from many backgrounds, and earlier waves of German and other European immigrants settled in central Missouri from the 1840s onward. Naturalization papers can confirm a foreign-born ancestor's country of origin and give you a starting point for research in European records. Divorce records from the 1800s and early 1900s are detailed in cases involving property disputes and can confirm family structures that other records only partially document.

For cases filed after November 12, 2003, the free statewide Missouri Case.net system covers all 45 circuits. You can search by party name, case number, or filing date at no cost. Older Boone County court records require an in-person visit to the courthouse or a written request to the Circuit Clerk.

Vital Records in Boone County

The Boone County Health Center at 1005 W. Worley St. in Columbia handles local vital records for county residents. Certified copies of birth certificates cost $15.00 per copy. Valid photo ID is required, and you must qualify as an eligible recipient such as the person named, a parent, or a legal guardian.

For older vital records, the Missouri Bureau of Vital Records at 930 Wildwood Dr., Jefferson City, phone (573) 751-6387, is the statewide source. Certified copies cost $15.00 each. Missouri began registering births and deaths statewide in 1910. Death certificates from 1910 through 1969 are available free online through the Missouri State Archives death certificate search and through Missouri Digital Heritage. Both systems index Boone County deaths for that sixty-year period.

The State Historical Society of Missouri's Columbia Research Center at 605 Elm St., phone (573) 882-0075, holds newspaper archives, manuscript collections, and other materials that document Boone County families across many generations. The SHSMO site at shsmo.org/research provides research guides and access information for the Columbia location.

Boone County Genealogy Research Resources

The Genealogical Society of Boone County and Central Missouri is an active organization that holds regular meetings, genealogy classes, and research assistance sessions in Columbia. The Society is a good contact for researchers who are new to Boone County genealogy or who have hit dead ends in standard sources. Members often have specialized knowledge of local record collections and family names that can help you find sources not yet digitized or indexed.

The Daniel Boone Regional Library (DBRL) serves Boone and Callaway Counties and is a major genealogy resource. The library's genealogy page at dbrl.org/category/topics/genealogy lists available resources, which include HeritageQuest Online, Ancestry Library Edition (in-library use), local history materials, and genealogy research guides. The DBRL serves a large community and has a well-developed genealogy collection. Staff can assist with research questions and point you to materials specific to Boone County families.

The Daniel Boone Regional Library genealogy resources page lists databases and research guides available to library visitors for Boone County and central Missouri research.

The Daniel Boone Regional Library offers in-library access to Ancestry and HeritageQuest, two of the most comprehensive genealogy databases available, along with local history collections specific to Boone and Callaway Counties.

Online Genealogy Records for Boone County

Missouri Digital Heritage is a free state platform with death certificates from 1910 to 1969, pre-1910 records, land records, and military materials for Boone County. The site requires no login or fee. The death certificate collection is one of the most useful free tools for Boone County research and often includes parents' names and birthplaces that confirm family relationships going back before Missouri's statewide registration system.

FamilySearch has indexed census records for Boone County from every available year from 1830 through 1940, along with some probate and land record abstracts. FamilySearch is always free and is one of the most important starting points for any Missouri research. The Missouri State Archives at 600 W. Main St., Jefferson City, (573) 751-3280, archref@sos.mo.gov, holds microfilm of Boone County records going back to 1820. Staff can help identify which films cover your research period.

The MOGenWeb Boone County page provides free volunteer-compiled genealogy resources including family histories, cemetery transcriptions, and local record indexes for Boone County.

MOGenWeb volunteers compile transcribed records and family histories that supplement the official databases, often covering families and records not yet indexed in major commercial collections.

The Missouri State Genealogical Association connects researchers with county-level genealogical societies across the state, including the Genealogical Society of Boone County and Central Missouri. Their publications include indexes and compiled records that cover central Missouri families. Federal census records from 1830 through 1940 are fully indexed on both FamilySearch and Ancestry and are the foundation of any Boone County research project.

Note: Boone County has no major courthouse disaster on record, so genealogy records from 1820 are largely intact and available for research in Columbia.