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One of the ways to prepare for successful research in a geographic area is to learn about the history of that area. This is especially true in St. Louis, Missouri, where the events of local history have made research much more challenging. |
Before beginning St. Louis research, we encourage researchers to
- review the information below about the City/County Split and how it affects research
- look at our "St. Louis Resources in Special Collections" web page which includes links to all SC web pages concerning St. Louis resources as well as special St. Louis indexes that are in paper format only
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The Split
Prior to 1877, St. Louis County
encompassed the City of St. Louis plus all other
areas
within the county boundaries including
such towns as Kirkwood and Florissant. During
that time, the county seat was the City
of St. Louis.
Often called the "Great
Divorce," the split occurred after the citizens of St. Louis County
(that included both city and county) voted
on the question of whether the City of St. Louis should
separate from the county and become an independent city.
The vote
took place 22 Aug 1876, and the initial
count indicated that the separation
question had failed by just over 100
votes. Supporters of separation then
brought charges, including fraud, and a
recount was ordered. The recount took
four months so it was late 1876 before
it was determined that the vote for
separation had passed. The story of
the split is really much more complex
than that, so
consult the reading
list below for more in-depth
material. The Dividing
Point
This separation of city
and county affects where public records
of interest to genealogists are housed
after 1876. While the split actually
occurred in 1876, it was 1877 before
parallel record keeping systems-one
for the city and one for the county-existed. If you are looking for a public record
in St. Louis,
it is helpful to first determine if the
event-or the recording of it-took
place prior to the end of 1876, or after
the beginning of 1877. This division
point is best used only as a "rule
of thumb" for records in the time
period around and after the split as
that is often a "gray area."
Keep in mind that it was not until
December of 1878-two years after the
vote-that the newly built
St. Louis County Courthouse,
located in
the new county seat of Clayton, Mo., was
ready for occupancy. The number of
records found in St. Louis County
record books for the years 1877-1878
is sparse.
| Where
Are the Original Records Housed Today? |
| Prior
to the split (through 1876) |
All City and County
records created prior to the split
were kept by the City of St. Louis
and are housed by various
governmental offices for the City
of St. Louis in downtown St.
Louis. Many of those records are available on
microfilm. |
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After
the split (1877 to present) |
City records
created
after the split are
maintained and housed by city
governmental offices for the City
of St. Louis in downtown St.
Louis. Many of those records are available on
microfilm
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| County
records created after the split are
maintained
and housed by county governmental
offices for the County of St.
Louis. In late 1877, Clayton, Mo. was selected as the new county seat and
that is where most of the county governmental
offices are located today. Many of those records are available on
microfilm
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Why Can't I Find My Ancestor's
Record? |
- If your research is in the post-1876 time period, you need to check
the records for BOTH city and
county. Why? You need to check both
record locations because people's
lives often involved traveling back and forth
between city and county-and the
records of events in their lives were recorded based on where
the event occurred, not where they
lived. This applies to a wide
range of records but especially
to
- births (The place of birth was
not necessarily
where the parents lived.)
- marriages (Where were the vows
exchanged?)
- deaths (Exactly where did the
person die? The location of a
hospital often determined
whether a person died in the
city or county.)
- burials (Were they buried
in the city, then later moved to
a cemetery in county and vice
versa? Also were they buried in
one cemetery and ALL burials in
that cemetery were moved to
another location?)
- If you see a location listed as "St. Louis" when working with family records after
1876, try to find out whether
that refers to
St. Louis County or to the City
of St. Louis.
- As an example, an event
- such as a marriage
- could
have occurred in rural St. Louis
County before the split, but the
officiating minister did not record
his records until two and a half
years later. By 1879, the new
courthouse was built in Clayton and
their record keeping system was
established, so that is where he
went to record the marriage which
had occurred in the county. If he
had recorded the marriage in a
timely manner
- just after the wedding
- the record would now be
housed by the Recorder of Deeds
Office in the City of St. Louis with
all the other pre-1876 marriages. Because
of the delay in recording the
marriage, however, the record would
now be housed by the Recorder of
Deeds Office in the County
Courthouse in Clayton, Mo.
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"St. Louis City/County Split"
Reading
List
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Two
St. Louis Library Systems
An example of how the
split affects researchers
is the fact that the split
of 1876 is the reason there are two St. Louis library systems.
We are
St. Louis County Library system which serves St. Louis County and has its
headquarters at 1640 South Lindbergh
Blvd. St. Louis Public Library system serves the City of St. Louis and
has its main facility at 13th and Olive in downtown St. Louis.
To the benefit of
researchers, both library systems have excellent genealogical
and local history holdings. |
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Barclay,
Thomas S. Movement for
Municipal Home Rule in St.
Louis. University of
Missouri Studies Series. Columbia, Mo.:
University of Missouri, 1943.
Q352.0778 B244M |
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Barclay,
Thomas S. St. Louis Home Rule
Charter of 1876: Its Framing and
Adoption. University of
Missouri Studies Series. Columbia, Mo.:
University of Missouri Press,
1962.
352.0778 B244S |
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Cassella,
William N. Jr. "City-County
Separation: The 'Great Divorce'
of 1876." The Missouri
Historical Society Bulletin
15 (Jan 1959).
R977.8 G5591/15 Oct 1958-Jul
1959 |
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Terry,
Dickson. Clayton: A History.
Clayton, Mo.: Von Hoffmann
Press, 1976.
R977.865 T329C |
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