Oregon State Archives

Oregon Historical County Records Guide

Marion County Records Inventory

Pension and Relief Records

1862-1941

Series documents financial assistance approved by the county court for widows, mothers, dependent children, orphans, the elderly, and indigents. Information includes applicant name and address, children's names and birth dates, amount of pension or monthly support payment, and county court order. Because the provision of relief became primarily a state and federal function in the 1930s, records are inventoried through 1939.

Records at the Oregon State Archives:
Public Welfare Records [includes applications for pauper relief and old age pensions], 1862-1878, 1888-1908 (.30 cu.ft.);
Public Welfare Records [Poor Book-with index], 1892-1917 (6 volumes);
Widow's Pension [Records], 1913-1918 (.30 cu.ft.);
Search for 1913-1916 Marion County widow's pensions in Oregon Historical Records Index.

Records at the Marion County Archives:
Commissioners Proceedings [includes county officials reports, orders, resolutions, road petitions, old age pension fund claims, and other records], ca.1921-ca.1936 (1 cu.ft.);
County Court Case Files [includes civil, criminal, juvenile, and some widow's pension, and dependent mother's assistance cases], no. 1-2786, 1859-1941 (10 cu.ft.);
Old Age Pension Record, vol. 1, 1934-1936 (1 volume);
Warrant & Claim Register Old Age Pension Fund, 1934-1936 (1 volume).

Contact Archives Division

Open 8 AM - 5 PM, Mon - Fri
Phone (503) 373-0701
Fax (503) 378-4118
reference.archives@state.or.us
800 Summer St NE
Salem, OR 97310-1349