These are the known active genealogy societies in the state of Oregon. Each of them are unique and have their own policies toward whether they will provide research services or online data. Some provide indexes as a method to generate income for their society through research requests. Take advantage of these opportunities if you can not find the information elsewhere for free. It goes to a good cause, and keeps those societies posting more.
Societies often have unique genealogical information that is not available elsewhere.
State Genealogical Societies
- Genealogical Forum of Oregon
- Online Research at Genealogical Forum of Oregon
The GFO Research Library have placed online a variety of free indexes which users can search. While largely focused on Oregon and the communities within the state, it does have some non-Oregon based genealogy information online.
- Online Research at Genealogical Forum of Oregon
- Oregon Daughters of the American Revolution
- Oregon Genealogy Society
- Cemetery Records
- OGS Journal Archive
This archive contains issues of the Oregon Genealogical Society’s publication known over the years as the Journal, the Quarterly, or the Bulletin. Issues are available from 1962. The surname index is available publically. Individual issues of the Journal are archived here, but available only to OGS members.
- Oregon Mennonite Historical and Genealogical Society
The Pacific Northwest Mennonite Historical Library has a 3000+ volume collection including an extensive genealogy section and books authored by Mennonites.
Regional Genealogical Societies
- Rogue Valley Genealogy Society
- Online Research at the Rogue Valley Genealogy Society
The Rogue Valley Genealogical Society (RVGS) is located in Medford, Oregon in the Rogue River Valley of Southern Oregon. This page contains a list of the genealogical indexes available on the society website, providing an easy and quick reference for the type and range of records available.
- Online Research at the Rogue Valley Genealogy Society
- Willamette Valley Genealogy Society
- The Beaver Briefs
For five decades, the WVGS has produced a quarterly publication titled “The Beaver Briefs” containing Oregon-centric articles of genealogical interest. 71 issues of the Beaver Briefs are available to members in searchable PDF format on their ‘Member Page’. Scanned PDF images (non-searchable) of volumes 1 though 38 are also available on their ‘Member Page’. - Chemawa Cemetery Project
In 1990 Willamette Valley Genealogical Society took up a Chemawa Cemetery project. There were over 200 graves with about 193 identified. Chemawa Cemetery, part of the Chemawa Indian School, was established in 1880 in Forest Grove, Oregon and then moved to Salem, Oregon in 1885. WVGS members read the cemetery records, collected death certificates and newspaper obituaries, searched microfilm records in Seattle at the National Archives, looked at funeral home records, and the results were published in the Beaver Briefs in 1993 and 1994. - Shaw Cemetery Project
The cemetery in Shaw, Marion County, Oregon is across the street from St. Mary’s Catholic Church and has been called St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery as well as Shaw Catholic Cemetery or just Shaw Cemetery. Currently it is listed on Find A Grave as “Shaw Catholic Cemetery, formerly known as Saint Marys Cemetery”. According to St. Mary’s Church records, the first burial was in 1928, but there are graves dated as early as 1912 in the cemetery. The survey was done only on the Old Section. - Mahonia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Colonists (DAC)
The Mahonia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Colonists (DAC) donated their records to WVGS. Family records, group sheets, and bible records are now organized by surname and filed in notebooks at Salem Public Library. These records contain copies and transcriptions of family bibles from many states other than Oregon. Information on a birth, marriage or death of an ancestor might be found.
- The Beaver Briefs
Local Genealogical Societies
- Bend Genealogical Society (Deschutes County)
- Benton County Genealogy Society
- Newspaper Project
Names published in Benton County Newspapers 1865 – 1925 - WWI Enlistments and Draft Registrations
This is a list of World War One Enlistments and Draft Registrations as published in the Corvallis Weekly Gazette-Times of July 5, 12, 19, and August 2, 9, 16, 1917.
- Newspaper Project
- Clark County Genealogical Society
- Clatsop County Genealogical Society – Facebook
- Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society
- Cottage Grove Genealogical Society (Lane County)
- Grant County Genealogical Society – Facebook
- Klamath Basin Genealogical Society
- Lebanon Genealogical Society, Linn County
- Genealogy Records Online at Lebanon Oregon Genealogical Society
The Lebanon Genealogical Society is located at 55 Academy Street in Lebanon Oregon. Over the years the society has transcribed and placed online a large collection of genealogical material. We’ve provided links direct to their data here.
- Genealogy Records Online at Lebanon Oregon Genealogical Society
- Lincoln County Genealogical Society
- Evelyn Parry’s Newspaper Collection
Evelyn Parry, the author of At Rest in Lincoln County, clipped and pasted these newspaper obituaries and articles. They range from 1957 through the 1990s. - South Beach Cemetery
- Toledo Cemetery – Excel File
- Lincoln County Clues – Link to Excel Spreadsheet
The society holds a set of early file cards containing brief genealogical notes, most of which appear to have been drawn from early issues of the Lincoln County Leader, the Toledo, Oregon newspaper published from 1893 to 1987. The cards list information exactly as originally recorded, but the compiler is unknown, no sources were cited, and the accuracy of the entries is uncertain. Only a few items have been independently verified, and those are clearly marked. Because of these limitations, the material should be used cautiously. Researchers can consult the original Lincoln County Leader issues from 1893 through 1922, available online at the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program, to confirm or supplement the information.
- Evelyn Parry’s Newspaper Collection
- Linn Genealogical Society
- Death Certificates
The society has digitized images of all death certificates for Linn and Benton Counties up to 1965. - WPA Interviews
WPA Interviews in Linn County Oregon were done in the late 1930s and early 1940s by Leslie Haskin of Brownsville. He interviewed people who were pioneers in Linn County and people closely associated with them. In these interviews, you can find first person accounts of their passage along the Oregon Trail and early life in Linn County. You can also find a wealth of information about their family members and neighbors. Most of the interviews are concentrated around the Brownsville area, and some are from Benton County interviews with strong Linn County connections.
- Death Certificates
- Polk County Genealogical Society
- Funeral Card Collection
- Index of the Polk County History Book #1
- Index of the Polk County History Book #2
- Obituary File Index
- Polk County Circuit Court Records Index 1835-1911
- Polk County Commitment Records
These are records of individuals committed to state hospitals and sanatoriums. - Will Book Index
This is an indexed list of the wills that have been filed in the Polk County Probate Court from the mid-1880s to 1979.
- Siuslaw Genealogical Society – Facebook
- Sweet Home Genealogical Society
Columbia Gorge Genealogical Society web address
https://gorgegen.blogspot.com/