Genealogical Research in Nebraska

The Native American tribes that inhabited Nebraska upon the arrival of white settlers in the 18th century consisted of the Omaha, Oto, Pawnee, and Ponca, along with several other nomadic groups. The Indians developed friendly relations with the French and Spanish explorers traveling through Nebraska en route to the west via the Missouri River. Both Spain and France claimed the area, though at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the region was a French Territory.

White settlement west of the Mississippi River was forbidden by the Indian Intercourse Act of 1834, but nothing prevented whites from traversing the area. Many did between 1840 and 1866, as the area provided a natural thoroughfare to the west. The Oregon, Mormon, and California trails all passed through Nebraska, and a system of forts was established along each of those routes to protect travelers from attacks by local Native Americans.

Nebraska Territory, which stretched from Kansas to Canada and from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains, was established by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. With the creation of the territory however, came increased conflict between the white settlers and the Native American tribes. Indians were forced to cede more and more of their land, and during the 1860’s and 1870’s western Nebraska was a battleground for Indians and US soldiers. The Indians were defeated by 1890, and transferred to reservations in Nebraska itself, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.

With the defeat of the Indians settlement increased rapidly. The Homestead Act of 1862 had promised settlers 160 acres of land at a nominal fee, and with the threat of Indian violence removed, many from the eastern United States and Europe snapped up the land on offer. The railroads further accelerate immigration to the area, many of whom were Union veterans who bolstered the Republican dominance and furthered the cause for statehood. Nebraska was granted statehood on March 1, 1867, and soon developed as a center for farming and ranching.

Famous Battles Fought in Nebraska

There were no Civil War battles fought in Nebraska, but there were many bloody clashes with Native American tribes between 1855 and 1876. The most important of those clashes are listed below with links to the battle accounts.

These battle accounts that exist can be very effective in uncovering the military records of your ancestor. They can tell you what regiments fought in which battles, and often include the names and ranks of many officers and enlisted men.

Boundary Changes: Boundary changes are a common obstacle when researching Nebraska ancestors. You could be searching for an ancestor’s record in one county when in fact it is stored in a different one due to historical county boundary changes. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries can help you to overcome that problem. It provides a chronological listing of every boundary change that has occurred in the history of Nebraska.

Name Changes: Surname changes, variations, and misspellings can complicate genealogical research. It is important to check all spelling variations. Soundex, a program that indexes names by sound, is a useful first step, but you can't rely on it completely as some name variations result in different Soundex codes. The surnames could be different, but the first name may be different too. You can also find records filed under initials, middle names, and nicknames as well, so you will need to get creative with surname variations and spellings in order to cover all the possibilities. For help with surname variations read our instructional article on How to Use Soundex.

Genealogical resources include not only records, but the organizations that house them, or can direct you to them. These institutions include: Archives, Libraries, Genealogical Societies, Family History Centers, Universities, Churches, and Museums.

Nebraska Archives

Nebraska Genealogical and Historical Societies

Genealogical and historical societies have access to extensive catalogues of genealogical data. They are also able to offer expert guidance for genealogical researchers. Many members are professional genealogists who are most willing to share their expertise in finding ancestors. 

Nebraska Genealogical Society – census, vital records, religious records, city directories, military records, family histories
6000 Douglas Ave.
P.O. Box 7735
Des Moines, IA 50322
Telephone: 515-276-0287

Old Fort Genealogical Society – cemetery records, township maps, old settlers list
Ft Madison Public Library
1920 Ave E
Ft Madison, IA  52627

Nebraska Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are internet based facilities that use email to distribute a single message to all who subscribe to it. When information on a particular surname, new records, or any other important genealogy information related to the mailing list topic becomes available, the subscribers are alerted to it. Joining a mailing list is an excellent way to stay up to date on Nebraska genealogy research topics. Rootsweb have an extensive listing of Nebraska Mailing Lists on a variety of topics.

Nebraska Message Boards

A message board is another internet based facility where people can post questions about a specific genealogy topic and have it answered by other genealogists. If you have questions about a surname, record type, or research topic, you can post your question and other researchers and genealogists will help you with the answer. Be sure to check back regularly, as the answers are not emailed to you. The message boards at the Nebraska Genealogy Forum are completely free to use.

Nebraska Newspapers and Periodicals

Many genealogy periodicals and historical newspapers contain reprinted copies of family genealogies, transcripts of family Bible records, information about local records and archives, census indexes, church records, queries, land records, obituaries, court records, cemetery records, and wills.

Historical Nebraska Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are an integral part of genealogical research. They help us to locate landmarks, towns, cities, parishes, states, provinces, waterways and roads and streets. They also help us to determine when and where boundary changes might have taken place, and give us a visualization of the area we’re researching in.

For locating place names, a gazetteer is the best possible resource for any genealogist. Gazetteers are also sometimes called “place name dictionaries”, and can help you to locate the area in which you need to conduct research.

Nebraska City Directories

City directories are similar to telephone directories in that they list the residents of a particular area. The difference though is what is important to genealogists, and that is they pre-date telephone directories. You can find an ancestor’s information such as their street address, place of employment, occupation, or the name of their spouse. A one-stop-shop for finding city directories in Nebraska is the Nebraska Online Historical Directories which contains a listing of every available city and historical directory related to Nebraska.

Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records – Also known as vital records, birth, death, and marriage certificates are the most basic, yet most important records attached to your ancestor. The reason for their importance is that they not only place your ancestor in a specific place at a definite time, but potentially connect the individual to other relatives. Below is a list of repositories and websites where you can find Nebraska vital records

Some county clerks kept vital records as early as 1838. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of these documents for many counties which can be accessed at Nebraska Family History Centers. Existing originals are found in the county clerk’s office or in the Nebraska Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) for that county.

Original copies of Nebraska Vital Records for death, birth, marriage, and divorce may be ordered from:

Nebraska Department of Public Health
Division of Vital Records
605 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, IL 62702-5097
Telephone: (217) 782-6553
Fax: 217-785-3209

The Nebraska Archives has an Nebraskawide Marriage Index, 1763–1900 which contains one million marriages, or two million names.

Census Reports

Census records are among the most important genealogical documents for placing your ancestor in a particular place at a specific time. Like BDM records, they can also lead you to other ancestors, particularly those who were living under the authority of the head of household.

Federal census records for Nebraska exist from 1800 to 1990. Unfortunately the 1800 census was lost, and the 1810 census contains only a few names from Randolph County. The 1890 census was destroyed, though a few names from Mound Township in McDonough County remain.

Nebraska Church Records

Church and synagogue records are a valuable resource, especially for baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place before 1900. You will need to at least have an idea of your ancestor’s religious denomination, and in most cases you will have to visit a brick and mortar establishment to view them.

Most church records are kept by the individual church, although in some denominations, records are placed in a regional archive or maintained at the diocesan level. Local Historical Societies are sometimes the repository for the state’s older church records. Below are links archives that maintain church records, as well as a few databases that can be viewed online.

The Family History Library contains many church records from a variety of denominations on microfilm.

The Nebraska Archives collected some early Nebraska church records that are now held by the Nebraska Library.

St. Clair County Genealogical Society (SCCGS) has compiled the Index to Bethel Baptist Church Minutes and Membership Lists, 1809 - 1909 for St. Clair County, Nebraska

Central Repositories for Denominational Records

Most of the records of individual denominations are kept in central repositories.

Nebraska Military Records

More than 40 million Americans have participated in some time of war service since America was colonized. The chance of finding your ancestor amongst those records is exceptionally high. Military records can even reveal individuals who never actually served, such as those who registered for the two World Wars but were never called to duty.

Nebraska Cemetery Records

As convenient as it is to search cemetery records online, keep in mind that there are a few disadvantages over visiting a cemetery in person. They are:

• Tombstone information is not always accurately transcribed
• The arrangement of the graves in a cemetery can be crucial as family members are often buried next to each other or in the same grave. This arrangement is not always preserved in the alphabetical indexes that are found online.

Nebraska Obituaries

Obituaries can reveal a wealth about our ancestor and other relatives. You can search our Nebraska Newspaper Obituaries Listings from hundreds of Nebraska newspapers online for free.

Nebraska Wills and Probate Records

The documents found in a probate packet may include a complete inventory of a person’s estate, newspaper entries, witness testimony, a copy of a will, list of debtors and creditors, names of executors or trustees, names of heirs. They can not only tell you about the ancestor you’re currently researching, but lead to other ancestors. Most of these records must be accessed at a county court or clerk’s office, but some can be found online as well. You can obtain copies of the original probate records by writing to the county clerk.

Since 1964, the circuit court in each county has custody of the earlier court records including those of the former Cook County Superior Court and a few other Chicago area courts. They can be found at:

Clerk of Circuit CourtArchives Room 1113
Richard J. Daley Center
50 W. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602
Telephone: 312- 603-6601
Fax: 312-603-4974

The Nebraska Regional Archives has a huge database of court and county records for the entire state of Nebraska

Family Search – has an online collection of probate records, which includes will, indexes, dating from 1819-1970

Nebraska Immigration and Naturalization Records

The naturalization process generated many types of records, including petitions, declarations of intention, and oaths of allegiance. These records can provide family historians with information such as a person's birth date and place of birth, immigration year, marital status, spouse information, occupation, witnesses' names and addresses, and more.

US National Archives – Immigration and Naturalization records for the entire United States

Family Search has two searchable online indexes, the Nebraska, Northern District (Eastern Division), Naturalization Index, 1926-1979, and the Nebraska, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950

Nebraska Native American Records

Bibliographies

• Schoolwomen of the Prairies and Plains: Personal Narratives from Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, 1860’s – 1920, Mary Hurlbut Cordier (University of New Mexico Press, 1997)
• Nebraska Quilts and Quiltmakers, Patricia Cox Crewes (University of Nebraska Press, 1991)
• Agrarian Women: Wives and Mothers in Rural Nebraska, Deborah Fink (University of North Carolina Press, 1992)
• Nebraska Women Through the Years, 1867-1967, Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women (Johnsen Publishing Co., 1967)

Selected Resources for Nebraska Women’s History

American Quilt Study Group
35th and Holdrege St.
East Campus Loop
Po Box 4737
Lincoln, NE 68504-0737

Nebraska Historical Society
1500 R St.
PO Box 82554
Lincoln, NE 68501-2553

Special Collections, University of Nebraska
308 Love Library
Lincoln, NE 68588-0333

Common Nebraska Surnames

The following surnames are among the most common in Nebraska and are also being currently researched by other genealogists. If you find your surname here, there is a chance that some research has already been performed on your ancestor.

Adams, Antelope, Arthur, Banner, Blaine, Boone, Box, Butte, Boyd, Brown, Buffalo, Burt, Butle, Cass, Cedar, Chase, Cherry, Cheyenne, Clay, Colfax, Cuming, Custer, Dakota, Dawes, Dawson, Deuel, Dixon, Dodge, Douglas, Dundy, Fillmore, Franklin, Frontier, Furnas, Gage, Garden, Garfield, Gosper, Grant, Greeley, Hall, Hamilton, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Holt, Hooker, Howard, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearney, Keith, Keya Paha, Kimball, Knox, Lancaster, Lincoln, Logan, Loup, Madison, McPherson, Merrick, Morrill, Nance, Nemaha, Nuckolls, Otoe, Pawnee, Perkins, Phelps, Pierce, Platte, Polk, Red Willow, Richardson, Rock, Saline, Sarpy, Saunders, Scotts Bluff, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Stanton, Thayer, Thomas, Thurston, Valley, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wheeler, York