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Oregon Topics: Genealogy

Oregon boasts a formidable array of resources for genealogists. Detailed guides, searchable databases, email research services, and cooperative searching make it possible to conduct significant research about Oregon genealogy over the Internet.

The following listings represent some of the more useful resources focused generally on the state. Some tools for broader research are included as well. ​​​​​

​State Resources

Oregon State Archives

Oregon Historical County Records Guide (includes maps, county and office histories, scenic images, and inventories of selected records for Oregon counties)

Search Oregon Historical Records Index (includes over 7​00,000 entries)

Provisional and Territorial Government Records Guide (government histories and records descriptions covering 1843 to 1859)

Topical Research Guides (adoption, census, land, military, naturalization, oaths of office, probate and vital records)

OR-ROOTS Listserv ​(subscribe to this list for discussion of research and writing about Oregon genealogy and family history)

Oregon State Library

 
Oregon Center for Health Statistics (birth, death, marriage, and divorce records)

University of Oregon Library

Federal Resources

National Archives and Records Administration

(includes extensive searchable databases)
 
Search federal land patents (includes U.S. Bureau of Land Management General Land Office records)
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Oregon Historical Society (includes books, periodicals, manuscripts, oral histories, and business records)
 
ORGenWeb (includes transcriptions of original records)

FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service

​(LDS Church)

Oregon research page


Ancestry.com

(includes searchable databases)

Social Security Death Index

 
 
Oregon church directory (many churches have records useful for genealogy)
 
 
 
 
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mural of pioneer family - daughter, father, an mother holding basket
A mural in Vale, Oregon. (Oregon State Archives Photo)