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Special Collections

Headquarters Branch • 1640 So. Lindbergh Blvd. • St. Louis, MO 63131

314.994.3300 ext 208 • scollections@slcl.org

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Major Microfilm/Microfiche Holdings
Resources are in microfilm format unless marked with the notation - (fiche).
Birth and Death Records
  • Arkansas
    • Death Record Index 1914-1949 (fiche)
  • California
    • Death Index 1905-1939
    • Fetal Deaths 1905-1939
  • Missouri - St. Louis City and County 
    • Record of Births, St. Louis City 1850-Oct 1910
    • Index to Record of Births, St. Louis City 1910-Dec 1929
    • Register of Stillbirths, St. Louis City, Jan 1902-Dec 1908
    • Register of Deaths, St. Louis City, Feb 1850-Jan 1909
    • Register of Juvenile Deaths, St. Louis City, May 1907-Sept 1908
    • Register of Deaths Outside the City of St. Louis, Dec 1878-Oct 1895; Mar 1905-Dec 1908
    • Register of Births, St. Louis County 1883-1895  Index
    • Register of Stillbirths, St. Louis County 1883-1908  Index 244k PDF
    • Permanent Record of Births, St. Louis County 1895-1910 
    • Register of Deaths, St. Louis County 8 Nov 1883 - 11 Apr 1910 
    • Index to Deaths, St. Louis County 1910-1936 
  • Kentucky
    • Kentucky Births, 1911-1995 (fiche)
  • Louisiana
    • Orleans Birth Indices 1790-1899 
    • Orleans Death Indices 1804-1949 
    • Louisiana State Death Indices 1900-1949 
  • Mississippi
    • Death Certificate Index 1912-1943 

Burial Certificates 1882-1908, St. Louis City (Consult the online guide for this set to determine the roll of film for a specific date and certificate number.)
 
Cemetery Records (Extensive listings are available on a separate page.)

Census Records

    FEDERAL
  • All federal population schedules and Miracode/Soundex for Arkansas, 1830-1880, and 1900-1930; slave schedules 1850-1860; agricultural schedules, 1850-1880; defective, dependent and delinquent schedules, 1880; mortality schedules, 1850–1880; social statistics, 1850–1870
  • All federal population schedules and Soundex for Illinois, 1820-1880, and 1900-1930; agricultural schedules 1850-1880; mortality schedules 1850-1880
  • All federal population schedules and Miracode/ Soundex for Louisiana, 1810-1880, and 1900-1930; agricultural schedules, 1850-1880; defective, dependent and delinquent schedules, 1880; mortality schedules 1850-1880 and indexes; slave schedules 1850-1860 
  • All federal population schedules and Soundex for Mississippi, 1820-1880, and 1900-1930 ; agricultural schedules, 1850-1880; mortality schedules 1850-1880; slave schedules 1850-1860 
  • All federal census schedules and Soundex for Missouri, 1830-1880, and 1900-1930; agricultural schedules, 1850-1880; defective, dependent and delinquent schedules, 1880; industrial and manufacturing schedules, 1850-1880; mortality schedules 1850-1880
  • STATE

Illinois State Census

  • Illinois State Census for the following years and counties:
  • Year Counties
    1810 & 1818 [Note: These years are available in book form - Illinois Census Returns 1810 and 1818 by Margaret Cross Norton, R929.3/N886I.]
    1825 Edwards, Fulton
    1830 Morgan (This is the only county whose returns survive for 1830.)
    1835 Fayette, Fulton, Jasper, Morgan
    1840 Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Coles, DeKalb, DeWitt, Edgar, Calhoun, Clay, Effingham, Franklin, Fulton, Hardin, Jo Daviess, LaSalle, Whiteside, Clinton, Cook, Jasper, Stark, Green, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jefferson, Jersey, Johnson, Lawrence, Lee, Monroe, Scott, Shelby, St. Clair, Tazewell, Wabash, Warren, Washington, Wayne, White, Will, Winnebago
    1845 Cass, Putnam, Tazewell
    1855 Adams
    1865 Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, DeKalb, DeWitt, Douglas, DuPage, Ford, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, LaSalle, Lawrence, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Massac, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Perry, Pike, Platt, Pope, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Richland, Rock Island, Saint Clair, Saline, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Union, Vermilion, Washington, Wayne, White, Will, Woodford

    Missouri State Census
  • 1840 Missouri State Census for the counties of:
  • New Madrid Newton Pike
    Randolph Ray Rives (Henry)
    Shelby Stoddard Warren

    Statistical census information is also available for 14 other counties, but no names are listed.

  • 1844 Missouri state census for:
    • Callaway
    • Greene
  • 1850 Missouri state census for Audrain Co.
  • 1856 Missouri state census for Audrain Co.
  • 1868 Missouri state census for Cape Girardeau
  • 1873 Missouri state census for Cole - Jefferson City only
  • 1876 Missouri state census for the counties of:
  • Atchison Benton Butler
    Callaway Cape Girardeau Carroll (Eugene Twp)
    Cass Christian Daviess
    Franklin Gasconade Greene
    Holt Howard Madison
    McDonald Moniteau Montgomery
    Osage Perry Phelps
    Reynolds Ripley Saint Francois
    Stone Texas Webster
    Worth      

    CITY
  • Carondelet City census microfilm for 1857, 1858, and 1869
  • St. Louis City census microfilms for 1847, 1850-51, 1853, 1856, 1857, 1858, 1860, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866
    (Note: For further information about the St. Louis City census films, see "Rare Census Records" by M. B. Darrish, pages 14-16, in Genealogy Day: Sources for Family and Social History R929.1/G326)

Churches

  • There is at least some information on microfilm for each of the following churches:
    • Bellevue Presbyterian, Caledonia, Mo. (StLGS Film #112)
    • Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran, St. Louis, Mo. (StLGS Film #133-134)
    • Big Barren Baptist Church, Ripley Co., Mo. (StLGS Film #7)
    • Fee Fee Baptist, St. Louis Co., Mo. (StLGS Film #228)
    • German Methodist Episcopal Churches, Circuit of Bem, Bland, Koenig & Leduc, Mo. (StLGS Film #135)
    • Grand Avenue Presbyterian, St. Louis, Mo. (StLGS Film #73)
    • Holy Cross Lutheran, St. Clair Co., Ill. (StLGS Film #5, 14)
    • Holy Cross Lutheran, St. Louis, Mo. (StLGS Film #125, 126)
    • Horse Creek Church, Randolph Co., Ill. (StLGS Film #7)
    • Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran, St. Louis, Mo. (StLGS Film # 328)
    • Kirkwood Methodist, Kirkwood, Mo. (StLGS Film #111)
    • Leslie United Methodist Church, Leslie, Mo. (StLGS Film #320)
    • Lewis Memorial Methodist Church, Crescent, Mo. (StLGS Film #112)
    • Pinedale Missionary Baptist Church, Reynolds Co., Mo. (StLGS Film #5)
    • St. George’s Episcopal, St. Louis, Mo. (StLGS Film #112)
    • St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Westphalia, Mo. (StLGS Film #72)
    • Second Baptist Church of St. Louis (StLGS Film #144-145)
    • Trinity Lutheran, Millstadt, Ill. (StLGS Film #5)
    • Trinity Lutheran, St. Louis, Mo. (StLGS Film #99, 100, 120)
    • United Baptist Church of Christ, Freedom, Morgan Co., Mo. (StLGS Film #85)
    • Zoar Methodist Church of Woollam, Mo.( StLGS Film #135)
  • Belleville Catholic Diocesan Records (170 Rolls)
    The link above is for the website of the St. Clair County (Illinois) Genealogical Society that provides the roll-by-roll finding aid for these films here in Special Collections.
  • Catholic Parish Jubilee Histories
  • Evangelical & United Church of Christ
  • Lutheran Church Records
  • Records of the Diocese of Louisiana and the Floridas  (Web site from the Notre Dame archives includes background information, a name list, and searchable calendar for this film set.)
  • St. Louis Archdiocesan Parish Records (242 reels)
    These records, dating from 1766-1993, include Catholic baptisms (baptismal records since about 1920 are usually closed), marriages, first communions, confirmations, and burials. 

    The St. Louis Archdiocese includes the following counties/independent cities of Missouri:
    St. Louis City (Independent City) St. Louis County Franklin County
    Jefferson County Lincoln County Perry County
    St. Charles County St. Francois County Ste. Genevieve County
    Warren  County Washington County  

    Records vary from parish to parish within the Archdiocese.
    The finding aid that covers this microfilm set is entitled Guide to St. Louis Catholic Archdiocesan Parish Records (R977.86/H893G). A copy of the Guide is available in Special Collections, or your own copy can be purchased.
  • WPA Inventories of Church Archives [South Carolina] (fiche)

City and County Directories (years vary - check full listings)

    STATE CITIES
    Illinois Chicago
    Louisiana New Orleans
    Mississippi Biloxi Clarksdale Columbus
    Gulfport Hattiesburg Jackson
    Meridian Vicksburg  
    Missouri Kansas City St. Louis (city) St. Louis (county)

Coroner's Records, City of St. Louis: 1846 - March 1900  (A searchable index for this resource is now available online from the Mo. State Archives)

County Information

  • WPA Source Material for Mississippi History (for counties of Adams, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Holmes, Humphrey’s, & Panola)  

Funeral Home Records

  • Bauman Colonial Chapel, mixed dates, Jun 1900-Feb 1934
  • Bopp Funeral Home, 1906-1920
  • Croghen Chapel, 1922-1927
  • Cullen & Kelly Funeral Home, 1877-1900, 1934-1945
  • Donnelly Funeral Home, 1934-1958, 1960-1969, 1977, 1980
  • Edith Armbruster & William Armbruster, 1927-1934
  • Edward Howard Funeral Home, Nov 1903-1954, Apr 1956-May 1961, Sep 1973-Aug 1975, 1931-1935 Death Certificates
  • Fendler Funeral Home 1914-1921
  • Gebken Benz (Gravois), 1901-Apr 1920
  • Gebken Benz (Meramec) 1910-Jan 1917
  • Hoffmeister Index, 1898-1906
  • Hoffmeister Undertaking & Livery Co., 1884-1897
  • Len DeMoor-Tom Murray Monument Co. Obits, mixed dates 1954-1990
  • Parker-Aldrich Funeral Home, 1919-Jan 1948
  • Peetz Funeral Home, 1905-1914, 1920-1949
  • Robert Armbruster Funeral Home, mixed dates 1934-1958
  • Schumactler-Smith Funeral Home (Manchester), 1911-1916
  • Schumactler-Smith Funeral Home (Meramec), Jul 1905-Dec 1910, Dec 1916-Apr 1923
  • Smith & Croghen, 1916-1920
  • Southern Funeral Home, 1921-1935, Jul 1962-Jul 1965
  • Weick Undertaking Funeral Records, 1911-1952
  • William Armbruster Funeral Home, 1909-Jul 1947
  • Wm. J. Robert Livery & Undertaking Co., 1893-1954

Immigration & Passenger Arrivals

  • Atlantic and Gulf Ports
  • Baltimore
    • Index (Soundex) to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Baltimore, Maryland, 1897-July 1952 - T520
  • Boston
    • Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, Jan. 1, 1902-June 30, 1906 - T521
    • Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Boston, Massachusetts, July 1, 1906-Dec 31, 1920 - T617
  • Canadian Border Entries - Known as "St. Albans List"
    • Alphabetical Index to Canadian Border Entries Through Small Ports in Vermont, 1895-1924 - M1462
    • Soundex Index to Canadian Border Entries through St. Albans, Vermont, District, 1895-1924 - M1461
    • Soundex Index to Entries into the St. Albans, Vermont, District through Canadian Pacific and Atlantic Ports, 1924-1952 - M1463
    • Manifests of Passengers Arriving in the St. Albans, VT, District through Canadian Pacific & Atlantic Ports 1895-1954 - M1464
  • New Orleans
    • Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, LA, before 1900 (1853-1899) - T527
    • Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, LA, 1900-1952 - T618
    • New Orleans Passenger Lists from Manifests of the Customs Service, 1813-1866 - V116
    • Quarterly Abstracts of Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, LA, 1820-1875 - M272
    • Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, LA, 1820-1902 - M259
    • Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New Orleans, LA, 1910-1945 - T905 
      (Special Collections has rolls 1-138 of this set covering the period  Jan 1903 - Jan 1931)
  • Registers of Vessels Arriving at the Port of New York from Foreign Ports, 1789-1919  - M1066  
    (Note: This set lists the names and dates of SHIPS arriving, not the names of the people who were passengers on those ships.)

Land Records

  • Missouri, St. Louis County, General Index to Deeds, 1766-1834
  • Missouri, Louisiana Purchase, Land Commissioners Minutes, Book 1-C5 thru Book6-C5
  • Missouri, St. Louis County, Direct and Indirect Index to Deeds, 1804-1885
  • Missouri, St. Louis County, Collet's Index to Deeds - Grantor & Grantee, 1804-1854
  • Missouri, St. Louis County, Deeds, 1804-1832
  • Missouri, St. Louis County, Deeds, Direct & Inverted Indexes, 1887-1930 
  • Missouri, St. Louis County, Deed Books #1-1128 
  • War of 1812 Military Bounty Land Warrants 1815-1858 

Marriage Records

  Military Records

Naturalization Records

  •  99 rolls of federal and local courts 1816-1941 for St. Louis (An SC on-going Naturalization Index Project covers mainly 27 Sept 1907 and later.)

Newspapers  (These Newspapers on microfilm are located on Tier 4 unless otherwise noted.)  

  • 14th St. White Way News  — see North St. Louis Community News
  • Amerika: (German – St. Louis)  January 3, 1903 – June 30, 1914 
  • Amerika Sunday Edition: (German Catholic – St. Louis) 3 Sept 1876 – 13 Oct 1878 
  • Amerika Weekday Edition: (German Catholic – St. Louis) 23 Oct 1872 – 31 Dec 1902 
  • Anzeiger des Westens: (St. Louis)  October 18, 1842 – June 7, 1898  
  • Baden News — see North St. Louis Community News
  • Baden News Press, (St. Louis) 16 June 1948 – 29 Dec 1964 
  • Boston Transcript: (Genealogy Newspaper Columns)  6 June 1896 - 30 April 1941 (fiche on Tier 5)
  • Carondelet News: 31 Jan 1903 – 20 Dec 1935 (City of St. Louis and St. Louis Co., Mo.) (Index
  • Carondelet Progress, 26 Nov 1898 – 29 Apr 1899 
  • Daily Missouri Democrat: 5 Apr 1853 – 30 Dec 1853
  • Free Press: (Jewish - St. Louis)6 Mar 1885 – 25 Nov 1887 (Lacks 27 Feb 1885 & 22 Jan 1886)
  • Herald des Glaubens, (German Catholic – St. Louis) 16 Oct 1889 – 27 Sept 1899 
  • Independent Patriot: (Jackson, Cape Girardeau Co., Mo.) 23 Dec 1820 – 13 Dec 1826 
  • Jewish Light: (St. Louis) 1947 – 1977 
  • Jewish Tribune: (St. Louis) 29 Aug 1879 – 17 June 1881 (incomplete); 6 Oct 1882 – 18 April 1884 (Lacks 14 Mar 1884)
  • Jewish Voice: (St. Louis) 6 Jan 1888 – 31 Dec 1920
  • La Lega Italiana, (Italian – St. Louis) 9 Oct 1914 – 25 Dec 1920 
  • La Revue De L'Ouest: (French - St. Louis) 1854 Index 284k PDF
  • Le Patriote: (French - St. Louis) 1878, 1884, and 1886-1887  Index 235k PDF
  • Maplewood Champion / Maplewood News Champion, 12 Dec 1912 – 22 Dec 1935 
  • Maryville Republican: (Nodaway County, Mo.) 1870-1882 
    Note:
    The Maryville Republican microfilms are indexed by Abstracted Newspaper Index of Nodaway County, Missouri, 1869-1900, R977.8124/O23A, which is available in Special Collections.
  • Missouri Democrat: (Daily):  5 Apr 1853 – 30 Dec 1853
  • Missouri Republican News: 1828-June 30, 1838
  • Naborhood Link News: (Lemay, St. Louis County) 1930-1969
  • New York Times: 1851 to date
  • North St. Louis Community News — includes 14th St. White Way News, Baden News, and West Florissant News 1931 – 1933 
  • St. Louis Argus (African American):  1 Jan 1915 – Dec 1942; Jan 1945 – Dec 1962; 1965 – 1966; 1986 – 1997
  • St. Louis Bugle: 1945 - 1972 (Lemay and Carondelet area) 
  • St. Louis Christian Advocate: (Methodist) 1851–1934
    Note: The following two books in Special Collections reference some of the obituaries in this newspaper:
    Missouri Obituaries: Abstracts of Obituaries Published Weekly in the "St. Louis Christian Advocate"
    ― (R977.8 W893M) and State-wide Missouri Obituaries: From "The St. Louis Christian Advocate" (Methodist) 1851-1882 (R977.8 W893S)
  • St. Louis Countian:  September 8, 1951-September 28, 1985 
  • St. Louis Countian: (Kirkwood) 24 Jan 1919 – 27 Dec 1952 
  • St. Louis Daily Record:  October 16, 1890-September 28, 1985 
  • St. Louis Globe Democrat:  1853-1986
    Index to deaths in the Daily Missouri Democrat, St. Louis, Missouri: 1860,  255k PDF
    New
  • St. Louis Newspapers, Part 2 — Microfilm roll includes scattered and single issues of various titles. Inquire at the Special Collections Department Reference Desk on Tier 5 for more information.
  • St. Louis Palladium: (African American) 10 Jan 1903 – 5 Oct 1907
  • St. Louis Post Dispatch:  1874 to date
  • St. Louis Republican, 4 Jan 1850 – 26 Dec 1851 and Jan – June 1854
  • St. Louis Star Times: 1910-1950
  • Watchman Advocate: (St. Louis)  1881-1985  (Index)
  • Webster Groves News / Webster Groves News-Times, 7 Jan 1916 – 22 Dec 1960
  • Westliche Post: (St. Louis)  September, 1857-November, 1932 

Orphanages

  • German General Protestant Orphan’s Home Intake Records [St. Louis, Mo.], 1878-1943
  • House of Refuge [St. Louis, Mo.], 1854–1897

Passports

  • Registers and Indexes for Passport Applications (1810-1817; 1830-1831; 1834-1906) – M1371

Post-Civil War Records

 

Probate Records  

  • St. Louis County Probate Case Files, Prior to 1877 (Includes both St. Louis city and county.) 
    (Includes case files 1–12,569 except for case files 12041–12058 which are still pending.)
         (Index for these packets is available from Mo. State Archives. - Be sure to view with Internet Explorer.)
  • St. Louis City, Probate Case Files 1877 & later (Includes only St. Louis City.)
    (Includes case files 12,570–15,299.)
         (Index for these packets is available from Mo. State Archives. - Be sure to view with Internet Explorer.)
  • St. Louis Will Books 1816-1964 (Covers city and county prior to 1877, then just city from 1877-1964.)
  • St. Louis County Closed Estate Files (Includes only St. Louis County after 1877.) [Filmed in alphabetical order by name of the deceased.] There is also an index is on microfiche.
  • St. Louis County Wills (Includes only St. Louis County - indexes for 1878-1976 and wills for 1900-1969.) 
 

Slavery

  • U.S. Customs Service Records: Port of New Orleans, Louisiana: 
    • Inward Slave Manifests, 1807-1860   
      • Partial transcription of Inward Slave Manifests is available in the Slave Data section on the AfriGeneas website. 
      • An index for the Slave Manifests inward bound to New Orleans from Baltimore and other Maryland ports is available on pages 132-639 of Cash for Blood by Ralph Clayton.  [R973.711 C622C]
    • Outward Slave Manifests, 1812-1860 
  • Wilbur H. Siebert Collection (Underground Railroad)  
    An online guide is available from the Ohio Historical Society. (
    PDF format, 4 Mb)

Vital Records
       
see listings under:
             Birth & Death Records
   
         Marriage Records

Voter Registration

  • St. Louis City Register of Voters, Voter Affidavits, Canceled Voter Affidavits, and Abstracts of Votes

World War I Draft Card Registration Cards (Civilian Records)

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Modified: 21 April 2008
 
 
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