| Bollinger County | |
| Organized March 1,
1851, from Cape Girardeau, Madison, Stoddard and Wayne counties and
named for George F. Bollinger, pioneer settler and Missouri legislator.
County Seat: Marble Hill Courthouse Address: Bollinger County |
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| Photograph | |
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| History | |
| Bollinger County,
originally a part of Wayne, Cape Girardeau and Stoddard counties, became
an independent county March 1, 1851. During the same year Thomas
Hamilton selected the site and laid out a plan for the town of New
California. Commissioners assigned to locate the county seat laid out a
town called Dallas, which included New California. Citizens petitioned
to change the name to Marble Hill in 1865. Commissioners located the
first courthouse, built in 1852, several blocks north of the original
public square. The 30-foot-square, brick, two-story building served as
courthouse until destroyed by fire March 2, 1866.
At a special meeting March 12, 1866, the court appointed Philip Sutherlin (also spelled Sutherland and Sutherland) clerk, to serve as commissioner of the new courthouse. The court authorized him to contract with James Rogers, who was also the sheriff, to build on a plan similar to that of the previous building. In November 1866 the court decided the building should be two feet taller. By December Sutherlin reported work in progress, and in July 1867 he said the building was completed as agreed. Contracted for $2,800, final costs amounted to about $3,000. Louis Houck, an eyewitness in 1869, described the courthouse as a frame building in an unfenced, treeless public square. By 1884 the building had been condemned as unsafe and virtually abandoned. It was destroyed by fire March 12, 1884. After an unsuccessful attempt to move the county seat to Lutesville, a new 50-by-60-foot brick courthouse, designed by Morris Frederick Bell, was erected in 1885. James P. Gillick, St. Louis, was contractor, and superintendent was Jacob J. Conrad. The building, which originally cost about $9,000, was enlarged in 1912 by Carmen and Smith for about $7,000. Extensive repairs in the 1960s and 1970s have made possible continued use of the courthouse. Copyright 2002 University of Missouri. Published by University Extension, University of Missouri-Columbia. |
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| Additional History | |
| Records at Courthouse | |
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Recorder
of Deeds: Index
to deeds, 1852-1888; Deed records, 1851-1932; Index to marriages,
1866-1919; Marriage records, 1865-1919. Clerk
of the County Court: Permanent
record of births, 1883-1891; Permanent
record of deaths, 1883-1892 Clerk
of the Circuit Court: Index
to circuit court records, (no dates); Circuit court records, 1866-1890. Clerk of the Probate Court: Index to probate records, 1866-1906; Probate records, 1866-1916; Will records, 1866-1924. |
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| More Links | |
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Birth & Death Records Database Search
for Bollinger County on Archives'
Online Catalog Roll
by Roll Listing of Microfilm Missouri Birth & Death Records Database: Search & Record Availability |
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