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Iowa Public Records
| How
To Search Public and Vital Records -
Vital records are records of life events important enough that
some level of government acquires, organizes, and preserves
them. While the term "vital records" is often applied
to a wide variety of life events... Read
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Iowa Vital Records
Iowa is one of the few states, aside from New England, to successfully
implement vital records registration prior to the 20th century. For
birth and marriage records after 1 July 1880, and death records after
1891, write:
Iowa Department of Public Health
Vital Records Bureau
Lucas State Office Bldg, 4th Floor
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
For earlier records, write: to the clerk of the county in question.
Iowa Land Records
Iowa is a federal-land state. Lands were generally acquired from
the government or other individuals. Patents, tract books, and township
plats for government transactions are available at the Bureau of
Land Management Eastern States Office in Springfield, Virginia.
Holdings for Iowa land records at the National Archives/Central
Plains Region include abstracts of military warrants. More federal
military bounty land warrants were used in Iowa than any other state.
Records of homesteads, including certificates, receipts, and entries,
are held for Des Moines, Fort Dodge, and Sioux City. Many are also
found at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.. The "Auditor
of State Abstracts of Original Land Entries," 1847—59,
has been microfilmed and is available to researchers.
Following the federal disbursement of land in Iowa,
land purchases and sales were handled by the individual county recorder,
beginning with the establishment of that particular county. The
cooperative microfilming project of the Genealogical Society of
Utah and the State Historical Society of Iowa have provided the
preservation of land conveyances for almost every county. For further
information, consult: Lokken, Roscoe L. Iowa Public Land Disposal.
Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1942.
Hone, E. Wade. Land and Property Research in the
United States. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1997.
Iowa Court Records
Court records entail probate records, guardianship, naturalization,
and a wide variety of other sources. It should be remembered that
there are different levels of jurisdiction for courts in the United
States, all of which should be considered for research under various
circumstances. Court of Common Pleas, Orphan's Court, Probate Court,
District Court, Superior Court, and Supreme Court. See: "Research
in Court Records" by Arlene H. Eakle, found in Loretto Dennis
Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., The Source: A Guidebook
to American Genealogy, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1997).
Iowa Military Records
Military records at the State Archives, a division of the State
Historical Society of Iowa, include the State Adjutant General's
records of Iowa volunteers in the Mexican War, Civil War, and Spanish
American War. Included among those records are regimental muster
rolls, enlistment papers, roster books, reports, pay books, and
correspondence. There are indexes for some of these records. Index
entries can be copied for a fee. There are no pension records for
Iowa volunteer units. Records of the Grand Army of the Republic
posts for many Iowa communities are available at the state archives.
Casualty files for World War I and II have information, and sometimes
photographs, of individual servicemen. Published sources include:
Iowa Adjutant General's Office. Persons Subject to Military Duty,
ca. 1862—1920. 94 microfilm reels. Salt Lake City: Genealogical
Society of Utah, 1978. Iowa Adjutant General's Office. Roster and
Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion: Together with
Historical Sketches of Volunteer Organizations, 1861—1866.
6 volumes. Des Moines: E. H. English, State Printer, 1908—11.
Snedden, Howard E. "A Unique Iowa Resource: The G.A.R. Card
Index File." Hawkeye Heritage 21 (Summer 1986): 70:1.
United States Adjutant General's Office. Index to
Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served
in Organizations from the State of Iowa. Washington, DC: National
Archives, 1964.
Neagles, James C. U.S. Military Records: A Guide
to Federal and State Sources. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, Inc., 1994.
Additional Sources
Morford, Charles. Biographical Index to the County Histories of
Iowa. Vol. 1. Baltimore: Gateway Press, 1979. (Provides surname
indexes to numerous county histories.)
Eckhardt, Patricia, comp. Historical Organizations
in Iowa, Iowa History Sources No. 2. Iowa City: Iowa Historical
Department, Division of the State Historical Society, 1982.
Iowa Genealogical Society. Surname Index. 5 vols.
Des Moines: Iowa Genealogical Society, 1972—90. (Includes a
total of 149,000 surnames being researched by society members.)
Iowa Vital Records:
Event: Birth or death
Cost of copy: $10.00
Address:
Iowa Department of Public Health
Vital Records Section
Lucas Office Building
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
Remarks: State office has had records since July
1880.
Check or money order should be made payable to Iowa
Department of Public Health. To verify current fees, the telephone
number is (515) 281-4944. This will be a recorded message. Information
on how to obtain certified copies is also available via the internet
at Iowa Department of Public Health.
Search All Iowa Records
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Event: Marriage
Cost of copy: $10.00
Address:
Iowa Department of Public Health
Vital Records Section
Lucas Office Building
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
Remarks: State office has had records since July
1880.
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Event: Divorce (State)
Cost of copy: See remarks
Address:
Iowa Department of Public Health
Vital Records Section
Lucas Office Building
321 East 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
Remarks: Brief statistical record only since 1906.
Inquiries will be forwarded to appropriate office. Certified copies
are not available from State Health Department.
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Event: Divorce (county)
Cost of copy: $6.00
Address: See remarks
Remarks: Clerk of District Court in county where
divorce was granted.
Search All Iowa Records
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