Josephine County, Oregon Genealogy
Guide to Josephine County, Oregon ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
Josephine County, Oregon | |
Map | |
![]() Location in the state of Oregon, United States Genealogy | |
![]() Location of Oregon in the U.S. | |
Facts | |
Founded | January 22, 1856 |
---|---|
County Seat | Grants Pass |
Courthouse | |
Address | Josephine County Courthouse 500 NW 6th Street Grants Pass, OR 97526 Phone: 541.474.5243 Josephine County Website |
Contents
- 1 County Information
- 2 Josephine County, Oregon Record Dates
- 3 County Courthouse
- 4 Records Held at the Courthouse
- 5 Quick Facts
- 6 Places / Localities
- 7 Resources
- 8 Societies and Libraries
- 9 Websites
- 10 Josephine County Oregon Genealogy References
County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The County was named for a stream in the area called Josephine Creek, which in turn is probably named after Virginia Josephine Rollins Ort. The County is located in the southwest area of the state. [1]
Josephine County, Oregon Record Dates[edit | edit source]
Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
1906 | 1857 | 1906 | 1854 | 1857 | 1848 | 1845 |
County Courthouse[edit | edit source]
County Clerk has marriage and land records from 1857.
Clerk Circuit Court has divorce, probate and court records. [3]
Records Held at the Courthouse[edit | edit source]
- County Records Inventory listing the records held at the Josephine County Court House as of September 2005.
- Record Loss:
Quick Facts[edit | edit source]
Named for Virginia Josephine Rollins Ort, the first white woman to settle in southern Oregon.
Parent County[edit | edit source]
22 January 1856: Created from Umpqua County. [4]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
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.
Record Loss[edit | edit source]
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.
Places / Localities[edit | edit source]
Populated Places[edit | edit source]
The following are locations in the county:[5]
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator
Cities | ||
Unincorporated communities | ||
Census-designated places | ||
Ghost towns | ||
Defunct Post Offices[edit | edit source]
- Almeda: The post office was established February 15, 1912 and was discontinued July 15, 1920. Josephine Donoghue was the first of three postmasters.
- Aloysius: Aloysius post office apparently operated at the Leonard Ranch in the Althouse district. Mary E. Leonard was the postmaster. Aloysius post office was established July 12, 1888, and was discontinued November 30,1889. The available business was turned over to Althouse. Named for William Aloysius Leonard, born in 1875, died in 1915, son of Lawrence Leonard and Mary Ellen Leonard, his wife.
- Altamont: Altamont post office was established April 16, 1884, with Benjamin M. Parker first and only postmaster. The office was closed June 21, 1886. The available geographic information is meager about this place, but may be sufficient for its importance. Early gazetteers show a place called Alta and also Altamont at a point on the railroad about 21 miles north of Grants Pass and that was doubtless the location of the post office.There had been an earlier post office named Leland near the highway crossing on Grave Creek about four miles east of the railroad. After Altamont post office was closed in 1886, Leland office was moved west to the railroad, but the exact date of this move cannot be determined from the records, may be in the early 1890s.
Neighboring Counties[edit | edit source]
Curry | Douglas | Jackson | California counties: Del Norte | Siskiyou
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]
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. |
Census[edit | edit source]
Historical populations | ||
---|---|---|
Census | Pop. | %± |
1860 | 1,623 | — |
1870 | 1,204 | −25.8% |
1880 | 2,485 | 106.4% |
1890 | 4,878 | 96.3% |
1900 | 7,517 | 54.1% |
1910 | 9,567 | 27.3% |
1920 | 7,655 | −20.0% |
1930 | 11,498 | 50.2% |
1940 | 16,301 | 41.8% |
1950 | 26,542 | 62.8% |
1960 | 29,917 | 12.7% |
1970 | 35,746 | 19.5% |
1980 | 58,855 | 64.6% |
1990 | 62,649 | 6.4% |
2000 | 75,726 | 20.9% |
2010 | 82,713 | 9.2% |
Source: "Wikipedia.org". |
Church History and Records[edit | edit source]
List of Churches and Church Parishes
Court Records[edit | edit source]
Gazetteers[edit | edit source]
- FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
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[edit | edit source]
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]
Oregon Online Historical Newspapers - identifies historical archived and digitized newspapers available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.
Historic Oregon Newspapers as a division of the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program has digitzied more than 644,000 pages of newspapers throughout Oregon. Dates range from 1846-1922 with selected issues continuing through 1973.
Of particular interest to Josephine County researchers:
Grants Pass Daily Courier (Grants Pass)
Rogue River Courier (Grants Pass)
Probate[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]
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
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.
- Extractions of early marriages are listed on the Western States Marriage Index
- Marriage Index 1885-1896 Actually is a book of affiants reporting the marriages. Historical Records Collection
Death Records[edit | edit source]
Societies and Libraries[edit | edit source]
Rogue Valley Genealogical Society
500 NW Sixth Street, RM 170
Grants Pass, OR 97526
Telephone: 541-474-5240
Fax: 541-474-5246
E-mail:clerk@co.josephine.or.us
Website
Josephine County Historical Society
512 SW 5th St
Grants Pass, OR 97526
541-479-7827
Website
Facebook Page
Josephine Community Library - Four Branches
200 NW C St
Grants Pass, OR 97526
541-476-0571
Website
Facebook Page
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 Affiliate Libraries
Websites[edit | edit source]
- Josephine County, OR History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
- Oregon Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
- The Josephine County GenWeb Project part of The ORGenWeb Project
- Linkpendium
- The USGenWeb Archives Project
- The USGenWeb Archives Project (Backup site)
- FamilySearch.org
Josephine County Oregon Genealogy References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Josephine, Oregon" in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_County,_Oregon accessed 27 Nov 2018
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Josephine 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), Josephine County, Oregon page 573, 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, "Josephine County, Oregon," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_County,_Oregon, accessed 10 November 2018.