We now have the INDEX for the complete set of Probate Files all the way to December 1900!
Search the database of Franklin County probate file packets by clicking below to see if someone whom you wanted to research further is on the list.
Search Franklin County, MO Probate database
Four Rivers also has a listing of the names of the principals of the probate files in Warren County, Missouri. The Four Rivers area includes both sides of the Missouri River and some families lived north of the river for a generation or so and then moved south into Franklin County. At the same times, there were families who lived part or all of a generation south of the River and then moved north of the River. So there are many ancestral ties. Note that we do NOT have the actual probate files or microfilm for the Warren County probate files. For those you still need to go to Warrenton. This list may help you decide whether to make the trip.
Search Warren County, MO Probate Files
How the Microfilming process is working for Franklin County Probate Court files:
As the Franklin County probate file microfilm is completed, the Four Rivers Genealogical Society likes to order a copy of each roll of the microfilm for the Ralph Gregory Library.
Under the direction of a Missouri State Archives historian and archivist, volunteers continue to work diligently with the old paper files to clean and straighten out the papers which have been folded for 100 – 150 years. The volunteers also merge the will and bond files in with the court papers as appropriate, and in chronological order within the file. The receipts are then put into the file folder last, and then it is a complete file. The prepared complete files are put into chronological order in the appropriate box according to the date when the files were first started in Probate Court. The archivist adds the file listing and notes to the database.
To make it easier to find the file that interests you, we have an alphabetical list of principals (deceased person or the minors in the guardianships) from the files. Use the online listing by clicking above, or use the more detailed listing in the library to see if your ancestor left a probate file. (Not everyone had a probate file in the court after they died!) The listing here on this website lets you know who the principal person(s) was (were) in the file. There is not room on the page to give all the database details, such as list of heirs, notes of interest, who put up the bond money, etc. For that information, come to the library and read the master index print-out. Or request a “look-up” for $10.00. If you send in your money and request a look-up, remember that the money goes into the fund for purchasing more reels of microfilm!
If someone whom you are researching has a file, then note which “P-number” is listed beside the name to figure out which microfilm roll has the file you want to see. When using the m’film on one of the microfilm readers, you can print out a page (or more) or perhaps even save it to your flash drive. It saves you a little bit of time by knowing which film to go to.