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CHRISTIAN COUNTY, MISSOURI CIRCUIT COURT RECORDS 1859 - 1899
Our ancestors were people before they were our ancestors. We tend to imagine
divorce, debt, assault, harassment, peer pressure, substance abuse and nearly the whole
range of weak and negative aspects of human nature to be exclusively modern. We are
wrong.
For several years, the Local Records Preservation Program of the Missouri State
Archives, a division of the Office of the Missouri Secretary of State has prepared the 19th
century records of the Christian County Circuit Court for microfilming. As they did so,
they indexed each file. The completed ninety seven reels of microfilm were returned to
the Office of the Christian County Circuit Court Clerk in the winter of 2004/2005. With
permission of the Circuit Court, Christian County Circuit Court Rick Lamb placed these
records on long-term loan to the Christian County Library. Researchers can view the
microfilm on the library’s two microfilm readers or print copies on the library’s readerprinter. The microfilms have been cataloged, labeled, and made available at the
microfilm cabinets in the microfilm reading room.
The Christian County Courthouse burned in 1865. Most records created in the six
years between the county’s 1859 founding and 1865 were lost. Most deeds were reregistered. Many other records were not replaced after the loss.
To use and understand these records, nineteenth century laws and legal actions
need to be viewed in nineteenth century context. Playing cards on Sunday, owning a pool
table, marrying a spouse of another race, or building a weir (dam) that does not let the
fish through for people downstream may not be charges seen in current court records, but
they appear in 19th century records because laws at that time addressed issues we would
do think of today as being legal problems or even of appropriate interest for nonparticipants. Other offenses could translate to current charges. Running a horse on a
public road would be today’s traffic violation. The most common charge of all in these
records - back taxes - needs no translation.
Some terms may need explanations. Charges, actions or whatever reason for court
action may be better understood by viewing the Action files. Seeing only the word
Worship, Family, or Person, may not convey that the charge is actually “Disturbing the
Peace in a Place of Worship,” “Disturbing the Peace of a Family” or “Disturbing the
Peace of a Person”. In the defendant or plaintiff indexes, the word house or road or
highway may not be understood to state a charge of robbery or burglary. The word
weapon may mean possessing, displaying or threatening someone with a weapon. In
addition to finding fuller listing of the reason of the charge or lawsuit, you may want to
use the indexes along with one of the on-line legal dictionaries such as Law Dictionary
http://www.wwlia.org/diction.htm; Law.com http://dictionary.law.com/ , or Nolo
Glossary http://www.nolo.com/glossary.cfm .
Loose records of the Christian County Circuit Court are located in boxes, each
with numbered files. These boxes are in neither chronological nor alphabetical order. The
microfilm is in the same order as the boxes and files. Locating information requires
indexes. There are five types of indexes. Box and Range simply lists files found in the
order in which they are stored and microfilmed. The Action index is a listing first by the
reason the case was being heard in court, then by the date in which the case was filed.
The Plaintiff and Defendant reports are alphabetical lists of the party bringing suit and
the one being charged . Additional “Actions” include declaration of intent to become a

citizen, partition of an estate, appointment to a job with the circuit court, and various
actions of the Circuit Court which may pertain to civil, criminal or simply official cases.
The microfilm index is a cross-match of the box and file to the reel of microfilm on
which it appears. Box and Range, Action, Plaintiff and Defendant indexes are broken into
smaller files for quicker internet loading. Even so, dial-up connections may find some
files so large that they load slowly. To print these PDF files, set all margins at .5” and
select Landscape rather than Portrait.
See information and PDF order forms for buying local records microfilm reels
may be purchased from the Missouri State Archives at:
http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/county/croll.asp.
The easiest and best use of the indexes and microfilm would be to find records of
interest on the indexes, bring lists of those to the library and look at the records on the
microfilm. The reader printer is coin operated, accepting only the quarter cost per copy.
Library hours are 8:30 to 8:00 Monday through Thursday and 8:30 to 5:00 on Friday and
Saturday, with early closing at 3:00 on Saturday between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The microfilm is also available to use at the State Archives in Jefferson City. If you
cannot visit either the library or the archives personally, having someone else look at the
records for you is the second quickest, most complete way of finding multiple records. If
coming to the library or archives is not possible, you need to send a SASE to Christian
County Library, 1005 N 4th Ave, Ozark, MO 65721. Give the Box and File numbers and
all information from the index to help us identify what you are seeking. Minimum
charges for research is $1. This will pay for up to four photocopies, and one stamp will
cover shipment of four copies. As the index does not indicate the length of each file and
the length does vary, four copies may include multiple files or not be all of a single file. If
a file is longer than four pages, we will tell you how many additional pages are in the file
when we return the first four pages. The library will not attempt to maintain records of
what photocopies an individual has requested. Please make clear which records and pages
are being requested. Library staffing is limited. NO MORE THAN TWO FILES PER
PERSON PER WEEK will be attempted by library staff.
If you enjoy and appreciate access to these records, pass your thanks on. Local
Field Archivist Linda Myers and her assistant Paul Barker prepared these files as well as
the papers for microfilming. The grant which paid for the project is funded by one dollar
user fees collected by County Recorder of Deeds on filings of permanent records, a
program authorized by the Missouri Legislature. Among many others responsible are
current Circuit Clerk Richard D. Lamb; former Circuit Clerks Susan Spence and Bruce
Harris; present and former Circuit Judges James Eiffert, Anthony McConnell, Mitch
Hough, John Waters, and Mark Orr; current Recorder of Deeds Roy Meadows and
former Recorder of Deeds Bruce Harris; Local Records Program Director, Lynn
Morrow; State Archivist Kenneth Winn; current Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan and
former Secretary of State, now Governor, Matt Blunt; and state representatives and
senators who authorized the program.