Delaware County, Oklahoma Genealogical Records Information

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Delaware County History and Information

Delaware County Facts

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Delaware County was created on July 16, 1907 from Cherokee County. The County was named for Delaware District of the old Cherokee Nation. Delaware District took its name from Delaware Town which was located in the Spavinaw Hills in the early part of the last century. It was occupied by a band of Delaware Indians who left the United States and settled in Louisiana Province, then Spanish territory, shortly after the close of the American Revolution. The County Seat is Jay. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Delaware County are Ottawa County (north), McDonald County, Missouri (northeast), Benton County, Arkansas (east), Adair County (south), Cherokee County (south), Mayes County (west), Craig County (northwest)

Delaware County Cities & Towns Include Bernice, Brush Creek, Bull Hollow, Cayuga, Cleora, Cloud Creek, Colcord, Copeland, Dennis, Dodge, Dripping Springs, Flint Creek, Grove, Jay, Kansas, Leach, New Eucha, Old Eucha, Rocky Ford, Sycamore, Tagg Flats, Twin Oaks, West Siloam Springs, Zena

Records at the Delaware County Courthouse

See Also Oklahoma Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

All Departments below can be contacted at the Delaware County Courthouse at PO Box 550, Jay, OK 74346-0550; Phone: (918) 253-4432. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Delaware County Clerk's Office has Birth Records from 1908, Death Records from 1908 and , Land Records from 1905.
The County Clerk's office is responsible for preserving all the legal instruments filed by private citizens and public officials with the County Clerk's office. The office maintains files of all real estate records, plats, judgments, liens, patents, military discharges, school records, county personnel, insurance and retirement records for employees, meeting notices, commissioners' proceedings and other documents. Although county clerks record births and deaths and provide information on request, certificates are available only from the Vital Records Section, State Department of Health

Delaware County Court Clerk's Office has Probate Records from 1911, Marriage Records from 1911, and Court Records from 1911.
The Court Clerk has the primary responsibility to record, file, and maintain permanent records of the proceedings of the District Court. We collect fines, fees, and forfeitures, and distribute the collected monies as provided by law to the appropriate agencies. There are numerous types of cases filed with the Court Clerk's Office some of which include: Civil, Small Claims, Probate, Guardianship, Adoption, Felony, Misdemeanor, Search Warrants, Licenses and more...

Click Here to Search Oklahoma Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Delaware County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Delaware County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Delaware County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Heavy spring rains with severe flooding in 1902 awakened Oklahoma's citizens to the need for better roads. Territorial laws placed responsibility with townships, and a road overseer was to be elected for each district. General property tax and some funds from liquor licenses collected by counties and townships were used to finance the building of public roads along section lines. A road tax was required, along with the requirement that all males between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five donate four eight-hour days a year to work on highways. Those who did not work or provide a substitute were fined $5 for each absence.

The county treasurer or assessor may have tax or assessment records. Some tax records are stored in museums, historical, and/or genealogical societies' repositories. Published tax records for Oklahoma are almost nonexistent. Some duplicated copies of county tax records are stored in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, State Archives Division for security purposes, but are not available for research. Koplowitz, Guide to the Historical Records of Oklahoma, indicates location of county records, including those of tax and assessments.

Below is a list of online resources for Delaware County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Delaware County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Delaware County Tax Assesors Office, PO Box 550, Jay, OK 74346-0550; Phone: (918) 253-4432
The county assessor has the responsibility to appraise and assess the real and personal property within the county for the purpose of ad-valorem taxation. Also, the county assessor is required to compute the ad-valorem taxes due on all the taxable property. By law, the county assessor appraises all the taxable real property according to its fair cash value for which the property is actually being used.
Delaware County, Oklahoma Tax Books at Amazon.com

Delaware County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Oklahoma Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Delaware County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Delaware County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Delaware County Genealogical Society, 206 South Elk Street, Grove 74344
Delaware County Historical Society, Rt. 1, Box 467, Grove 74344
Local Oklahoma Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
The Federation of Oklahoma Genealogical Societies, P.O. Box 2531, Ponca City, Oklahoma 74602
Oklahoma Historical Society, 2100 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Oklahoma Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 12986, Oklahoma City 73157-2986
Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Division of State Archives and Records, 200 N.E. 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 75105
National Archives; Southwest Region, 501 West Felix Street, Building 1, Fort Worth, Texas 76115-3405; E-mail: ftworth.archives@nara.gov. Mailing Address: P.O. 6216, Fort Worth, Texas 76115-0216
Oklahoma Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Oklahoma Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Delaware County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Oklahoma Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Delaware County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Delaware County Tombstone Transcription Project.

There are no centralized repositories dealing with church records in Oklahoma. Scattered records can be found in genealogical publications, the DAR compilations, and on microfilm. The Spanish missions have played a central role in Oklahoma's religious history.

Printed secondary sources of transcribed cemeteries exist for most Oklahoma counties. The Oklahoma State Society of the DAR has collected hundreds of such records. Transcripts are housed both at the national DAR and with some local chapters and libraries.

Below is a list of online resources for Delaware County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Delaware County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Oklahoma Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Delaware County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Delaware County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Delaware County USGenweb Archives
Delaware County, Oklahoma Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Delaware County is located in the northeastern part of the state adjoining Ottawa County on the south and the states of Missouri and Arkansas on the west. It contains about seven hundred-fifty square miles of land of variable quality ranging from fertile river bottom lands to rocky flint hills.

This section of the state, although important from a historical standpoint, is somewhat isolated by reason of the fact that its county seat and its largest town have no railroad connections with the other towns of Oklahoma. In olden times Delaware district wielded a great influence in Cherokee affairs and some of the most prominent Indians established their homes there soon after their arrival from Georgia, eighty years ago.

In 1838 a small military fort or garrison was established by the Federal Government in the eastern part of the present County of Delaware near the headquarters of Spavinaw Creek, and a son of Daniel Boone, the famous Kentucky scout, was detailed to take charge of it. It was called Fort Wayne in honor of General Anthony Wayne of Revolutionary war fame.

On account of the difficulty of reaching it with supplies, it was abandoned within a few years and its army accoutrements were transferred to Fort Gibson. General Stand Watie, one of the famous Cherokees who fought on the Confederate side during the Civil war, had a house within the present boundaries of this county and soon after the war he settled on his farm, near Grand River again and lived there until his death, which occurred in September, 1871.

John Ridge, the leader of the party which opposed Chief John Ross was attacked and killed by some Indian outlaws, supposed to be friends of Ross, in the vicinity of this historic old cemetery.

He was buried in the Ridge (now called Poison) cemetery in the eastern part of Delaware County, with Masonic honors. His widow died in 1883 and was buried in the western part of Delaware County, near the Village of Bernice.
Archaeologists and geologists have been specially interested in the study of Delaware County on account of the numerous gracefully sloping mounds which are so numerous throughout this section of the state. Some have declared them to be the products of nature, while others maintain that they were built by the inhabitants of some remote period of time. Quite a number of ancient relics have been unearthed at different times in the past, which lead some. scientists to believe that many hundreds of years ago, a race of people inhabited this section of the country that had made some considerable advancement in agriculture and civilization. The State Historical Society has made quite a collection of these relics and these mounds will doubtless be more thoroughly explored within the next few years.

The missionaries followed the Cherokees to their new homes in this section of the country during the early forties, the Moravians being the first to establish mission schools and churches for the Indians. As early as 1842 a little band of Moravians came from Bethlehem, Penn., and erected some buildings near the present site of the little town of Oaks in the southern part of Delaware County, some of which are still standing. This old mission was located near the headwaters of Spring Creek, a beautiful stream of clear water which rises near the Ozark uplift, flows west and empties its sparkling waters into Grand River, the stream which furnishes the City of Muskogee with an unlimited supply of pure water. Soon after the Civil war was over -the Lutherans ventured into this remote neighborhood and established a mission in the southern part of Delaware County, which they have continued to maintain. and where they have built up a good church composed largely of full-bloods.

Another historic reminder of the olden days which may still be seen in this county is the old Head Beck water mill, located on Flint Creek. It was built before the Civil war and the Indians for miles around carried their grists of corn to it, to be exchanged for corn meal. The old mill was a great blessing to the full-bloods of that community for many years, especially during the Civil war times when it was impossible for them to secure flour at any price. The old mill has outlived most of its former customers and on certain days of each month it continues its task of converting corn into meal.

The agriculturist or home-seeker can find in Delaware County, as in many other counties of Eastern Oklahoma, any kind of land which he may desire. Stretching across the northern part of the county is a fertile belt of land, about twelve miles wide and twenty miles long, known as the Cow Skin Prairie, famous in the old cow-boy days for its rich pastures, and equally famous now for its productive corn and wheat fields. Many well-improved farms are now found in this portion of the county and the owner of a Cow Skin Prairie farm is justly proud of his possessions.

The foothills of the Ozark mountains project across the border lines of Missouri and Arkansas into. the eastern part of Delaware County, making that section of the county rough, rocky and hilly. The little valleys furnish some fine tillable land and the rough, rocky tracts afford good pasture and excellent fruit land. Some beautiful scenery graces these hills and valleys which, as yet, is but slightly known-to the people of the state. One of the favorite resorts of the Indians is known as the Dripping Spring, located on the allotment of Jeff Carnes, a Cherokee, residing in the southern part of the county, where a stream of water falls down over the rocks for a distance of nearly sixty feet.

The beautiful Grand River wends its way across the county in a southwesterly direction, its valley, together with the valleys of its numerous tributaries, Spavinaw Creek, Spring Creek, Saline Creek and others-being dotted with numerous fertile farms and some excellent timber.

A railroad is now being constructed from the Town of Salina on the Kansas, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad into the southern part of this county, mainly for the purpose of marketing the virgin timber of that section.

The City of Tulsa, sixty miles away, is planning to connect with Spavinaw Creek by means of an immense water plant in order to furnish its residents with an ample supply of pure water. Grove, the largest town in Delaware County, is located in the northern part of the county and for many years bore the distinction of being the only railroad town, although its railroad did not reach any other section of the state. Many years ago a branch line was built from Southwest City, Mo., to Grove, a distance of about thirty miles and will doubtless be extended westward to either Afton or Vinita, sooner or later, in order to give Grove railroad connection with other parts of the state.

Capt. T. S. Remsen, perhaps the oldest resident of Grove, was the first postmaster and established the first store in the village, about fifty years ago. He died at his home in Grove on January 16, 1922, at the ripe age of seventy-eight years.
John H. Gibson, another pioneer, established the second store in Grove and founded the Weekly Sun, the only newspaper in Grove.
W. H. Dougherty, another old timer, built several of the first houses erected in the village and for many years has been one of the substantial citizens of the town.
W. P. Mayes, an old time Cherokee, brother of Ex-Chief Samuel H. Mayes, was for many years the proprietor of the only hotel in Grove.
Ed Casey, a prominent Cherokee, still resides on his farm adjoining Grove, and although ninety-four years of age, is still in the enjoyment of good health.
Ad V. Coppedge, a prominent attorney of Delaware County, has resided at Grove for many years.

At present, Grove has a population of about one thousand. It maintains a good public school, including a high school, ten teachers being regularly employed.

The Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists and Christians have good churches and Sunday schools.

The town has a National bank and a State bank, and both are in a flourishing condition.

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