Grant County, Oregon Genealogy
Guide to Grant County, Oregon ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Grant County, Oregon | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Oregon | |
 Location of Oregon in the U.S. | |
| Facts | |
| Founded | October 14, 1862 |
|---|---|
| County Seat | Canyon City |
| Courthouse | |
 | |
| Address | Grant County Court 201 S. Humboldt St., #280 Canyon City, OR 97820 |
| Website: gcoregonlive2.com | |
| Named for: General Ulysses S. Grant | |
 | |
Contents
- 1 County Information
- 2 Grant County, Oregon Record Dates
- 3 County Courthouse
- 4 Historical Facts
- 5 Places / Localities
- 6 Resources
- 6.1 Biography
- 6.2 Cemeteries
- 6.3 Census
- 6.4 Church History and Records
- 6.5 Court Records
- 6.6 Directories
- 6.7 Emigration and Immigration
- 6.8 Genealogy
- 6.9 History
- 6.10 Land and Property
- 6.11 Maps
- 6.12 Military History and Records
- 6.13 Newspapers
- 6.14 Probate Records
- 6.15 Rivers and Waterways
- 6.16 Taxation
- 6.17 Vital Records
- 6.18 Voting Records
- 7 Societies, Libraries and Museums
- 8 Websites
- 9 Grant County Oregon Genealogy References
County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The County was named for President Ulysses S. Grant, who served as an army officer in the Oregon Territory, and at the time of the county's creation was a Union general in the American Civil War. The County is located in the central area of the state. [1]
Grant County, Oregon Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1915 | 1864 | 1915 | 1864 | 1864 | 1864 | 1845 |
County Courthouse
[edit | edit source]
Grant County Courthouse
200 South Humbolt Street
Canyon City, Ore 97820
541-575-1675
County Clerk has birth and death records 1915-1929
marriage, land and probate records from 1864, military
records from 1872 and naturalization records 1907-1913
Clerk Circuit Cout has divorce .[3]
County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Grant County Court House as of July 2009.
Grant County Court is structured differently. Check the County Records Inventory link for addresses for location of records (left column).
Historical Facts[edit | edit source]
Named for General Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Union Army at the time.
Gold was discovered in what is now Canyon Creek in 1862, bringing a gold rush into the area.
Records Loss[edit | edit source]
- 1870, 1885, 1950 Fires burned the courthouse and some records were damaged.
- Fire destroyed some pre 1900 marriage records.
Parent Counties[edit | edit source]
14 October 1864: Grant county was created from Wasco and Umatilla Counties. [4]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
17 February 1899: Wheeler County set off.
23 February 1899: Harney County set off.
For animated maps illustrating Oregon County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Oregon County Boundary Maps" (1843-1975) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.
Places / Localities[edit | edit source]
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator
The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[5]
| Cities | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
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| Ghost towns | ||
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Defunct Post Offices[edit | edit source]
- Alamo: A Spanish word meaning poplar or cottonwood tree, was made famous in American history in 1836. It is not known if it was named after the Alamo mine which was nearby or after the Texan one. The post office was established May 19, 1900, with Fred McCoy first postmaster. Available records are incomplete and presumed not much after 1905. The post office served mostly the gold mines located on Clear Creek, Olive Creek and Beaver Creek and the placer miners. FamilySearch Catalog
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The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.
Trivia Tidbits[edit | edit source]
Information about localities, too small or too brief to describe in separate pages. Exception to this are Post Offices. > Trivia Tidbits
Resources[edit | edit source]
Biography[edit | edit source]
- An Illustrated history of Baker, Grant, Malheur and Harney counties: with a brief outline of the early history of the state Oregon (1902) FHL Collection
- The History of Grant County, Oregon, 1862-1983 FHL Collection
- Index to above FHL Collection
- U.S. Biographies
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
| Tombstone Transcriptions Online | Tombstone Transcriptions in Print | List of Cemeteries in the county |
| Findagrave.com | Family History Library | Findagrave.com |
| ORGenWeb | WorldCat | Billion Graves |
| ORGenWeb Archives | FamilySearch Places | |
| Tombstone Project | ||
| ORInterment | ||
| ORGravestones | ||
| Billion Graves | ||
| See Oregon Cemeteries for more information. | ||
Swick aka Weberg Ranch
This is a very old, unmarked pioneer cemetery that is fenced off from the existing ranch (formerly known as the Weberg Ranch cira 1900-1960. From Suplee, go south on Weberg road about 5 miles and turn east on an unmarked ranch trail leading to the unmarked cemetery (approx 1 mile through the cattle grazing field). The turn is just past the old Weberg ranch house on the left just after crossing the stream culvert. Passable only in summer, dry conditions-SUV or Pickup. Just east of Crook County/Grant County border line
Census[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± |
| 1870 | 2,251 | — |
| 1880 | 4,303 | 91.2% |
| 1890 | 5,080 | 18.1% |
| 1900 | 5,948 | 17.1% |
| 1910 | 5,607 | −5.7% |
| 1920 | 5,496 | −2.0% |
| 1930 | 5,940 | 8.1% |
| 1940 | 6,380 | 7.4% |
| 1950 | 8,329 | 30.5% |
| 1960 | 7,726 | −7.2% |
| 1970 | 6,996 | −9.4% |
| 1980 | 8,210 | 17.4% |
| 1990 | 7,853 | −4.3% |
| 2000 | 7,935 | 1.0% |
| 2010 | 7,445 | −6.2% |
| Source: "Wikipedia.org". | ||
Federal[edit | edit source]
1870 The portion that is now Harney County was not enumerated.
- Eastern Oregon 1870 U.S. Census: Baker County, Grant County, Umatilla County, Union County FHL Collection
- United States 1870 Record Collection 1438024
1880 The portion that is now Harney County was not enumerated. This includes what is now Burns, Harney, etc.
- The Federal census of 1880 for Grant County, Oregon FHL Collection
- Grant County, Oregon 1880 census FHL Collection
- United States 1880 Record Collection 1417683
1890 Loss of 1890 Census records
1900
- United States 1900 Record Collection 1325221
1910
- United States 1910 Record Collection 1727033
- United States 1910 Census Ancestry $
1920
- United States 1920 Record Collection 1488411
- United States 1920 Census Ancestry $
1930
- United States 1930 Record Collection 1810731
- United States 1930 Census Ancestry $
1940 Open Release to the Public, March/April 2012.
Church History and Records[edit | edit source]
List of Churches and Church Parishes
Court Records[edit | edit source]
- Divorce case files, 1872-1923 FHL Collection
Directories[edit | edit source]
- Baker City (Oregon) city directories, including Grant County FHL Collection
Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]
- Ellis Island Passenger Arrival Records, 1892-1924, listing passengers who stated they are going to Grant County, Oregon
Genealogy[edit | edit source]
History[edit | edit source]
Land and Property[edit | edit source]
Maps[edit | edit source]
- FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
for more resources
Military History and Records[edit | edit source]
- Military list for years 1872-1874 as per return of J.W. King, assessor, and military roll, 1887-1898 FHL Collection
"Military roll" is on spine of books and printed at the top of each page as a running title, however, there is no military information and only names and precincts are listed. 1900 records also have "State poll tax roll" handwritten across top of pages.
Civil War[edit | edit source]
- 1861-1865 - Oregon, Civil War Service Records of Union Soldiers, 1861-1865 at FamilySearch — index
World War I[edit | edit source]
- 1919-1920 - Oregon, World War I, County Military Service Records, 1919-1920 at FamilySearch — index
- 1921-1938 - Oregon, World War I, Veteran State Aid Applications, 1921-1938 at FamilySearch — index and images
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
- Blue Mountain Eagle (Grant County Paper)
- Newspaper Archives ($)
- Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.
Probate Records[edit | edit source]
Online Records
- 1833 – 1963 Oregon Wills and Probate Records 1833-1963 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
Rivers and Waterways[edit | edit source]
Details about the rivers and waterways where farms and settlements are often found along them. >> Rivers and Waterways
Taxation[edit | edit source]
- Assessor's plat book, 1872-1898 FHL Collection
- Delinquent tax roll of Grant County, Oregon, 1884-1887 FHL Collection
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
- Social Security Death Index, begins about 1962 to at least 2 months ago.
- AncestorHunt.com
See also How to order Oregon Vital Records, order electronically online or download an application for Oregon Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Divorce Certificate, Death Certificate Application to mail.
Birth Records[edit | edit source]
- 1860 - 1952 - Oregon Births, 1860-1952 at FamilySearch — index
Delayed Birth Certificates
Birth Registers
Marriage Records[edit | edit source]
- 1826-1975 - Oregon, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
- 1849-1884; 1991-2006 - Oregon Marriage Index, 1849-1884; 1991-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images; collection is incomplete.
- Marriages or marriage licenses issued for Grant County, Oregon covering from 1865 to 1900 inclusive and some marriages from 1900 to 1908 (not inclusive) FHL Collection
- Grant County, Oregon marriages [1900-2000] FHL Collection
- Western States Marriage Index
Voting Records[edit | edit source]
Societies, Libraries and Museums[edit | edit source]
Grant County Genealogical Society
281 W Main St.
John Day, OR 97845
Telephone: 541-932-4718 or 541-575-1014
E-mail:http://www.gcoregonlive.com/bus_display.php/367#
Website
Family History Centers[edit | edit source]
Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
Local Centers and Libraries
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Grant County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
- Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
- The Grant County GenWeb Project, part of The ORGenWeb Project
- Linkpendium
- The USGenWeb Archives Project
- The USGenWeb Archives Project (backup site)
- webtree.com, listing individuals who born or died in Grant County, Oregon. Submitters of gedcoms may add, update or remove contents.
- Grant County Oregon History and Genealogy
Grant County Oregon Genealogy References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Grant, Oregon" in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_County,_Oregon accessed 27 Nov 2018
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Grant County, Oregon . Page 572-574 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 563-564.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Grant County, Oregon page 572, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ WorldCat 50140092; FHL Collection Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed.] (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002)
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Grant County, Oregon," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_County,_Oregon, accessed 14 October 2018.
