Cedar County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Cedar County

Guide to Cedar County, Iowa ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records.

Iowa Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Tipton Organized: December 21, 1837 Parent County(s): Dubuque (part of Wisconsin Territory) Neighboring Counties Linn • Jones • Jackson • Clinton • Scott • Johnson • Muscatine See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

Cedar County was named for the Cedar River and is located in east-central Iowa.

County Courthouse

Cedar County Courthouse
400 Cedar St
Tipton, IA 52772
Phone: 563-886-2230
Cedar County Website

Cedar County, Iowa Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1840	1880	1839	1838	1839	1847
*Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths January 1891. General compliance by 1924.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties Created from Dubuque County (part of Wisconsin Territory), December 21, 1837. County seat: Tipton Iowa Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county Iowa Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating Iowa county boundary changes

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Bennett Clarence Durant	Lowden Mechanicsville Stanwood	Tipton West Branch
Unincorporated communities
Buchanan Cedar Bluff Cedar Valley Centerdale	Downey Lime City Plato Massillon	Springdale Sunbury Wald
Census-designated places
Rochester
Townships
Cass Center Dayton Fairfield Farmington Fremont	Gower Inland Iowa Linn Massillon Pioneer	Red Oak Rochester Springdale Springfield Sugar Creek

Resources

Bible Records

Listed below are resources for Bible records specific to Cedar County. To find more resources, go to the Iowa Bible Records page.

Biographies

• Cedar County, Iowa Biographies Project at RootsWeb — links to biographies and local histories
  

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

• Iowa, State Employees at MyHeritage — index & images ($)

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Cedar County, Iowa online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	BillionGraves Find a Grave IA Tombstone Transcription Project IAGenWeb Iowa Gravestone Photo Project WPA 1930's Graves Registration Survey Iowa, Church and Civil Deaths (cemetery records), incomplete
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	FamilySearch Places Find a Grave
See Iowa Cemeteries for more information.

Census Records

Iowa recorded not only federal, but state censuses for several in-between years as well. For more information, see the very informative Iowa Census article.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	3,941	—
1860	12,949	228.6%
1870	19,731	52.4%
1880	18,936	−4.0%
1890	18,253	−3.6%
1900	19,371	6.1%
1910	17,765	−8.3%
1920	17,560	−1.2%
1930	16,760	−4.6%
1940	16,884	0.7%
1950	16,910	0.2%
1960	17,791	5.2%
1970	17,655	−0.8%
1980	18,635	5.6%
1990	17,444	−6.4%
2000	18,187	4.3%
2010	18,499	1.7%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1885 Iowa State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1895 Iowa State Census, 1895 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1905 Iowa State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images (individual cards, not family context)
• 1915 Iowa State Census, 1915 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1925 Iowa State Census, 1925 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Iowa Church Records.

• FamilySearch Places
• 1845-1987 Iowa, Church and Civil Deaths, 1845-1987 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images; selected counties, incomplete; includes, death, church, and cemetery records
  

Lutheran

• 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry ($)

Methodist

• 1860-1878 Church Records, 1860-1878 at FamilySearch Catalog — West Branch circuit Church Records

Court Records

• 1839-1955 Court Records, 1840-1922; Index, 1839-1955(*); District Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1847-1858 Sale Book, vol. 1, 3, 1847-1858(*); Sheriff at FamilySearch Catalog — images
• 1850-1980 Miscellaneous Records, 1871-1910; Indexes, 1850-1980(*); Clerk of the District Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1856-1865 County Court Record, vol. B, 1856-1865(*); County Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
• 1859-1866 Court Records, 1859-1866(*); Justice of the Peace Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
• 1868-1886 General Index, 1868-1886; Court Records, 1869-1886(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Directories

• 1901 Atlas of Cedar County, Iowa : Farmer's Directory, Business Directory(*) at FamilySearch Catalog — images
• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary

Funeral Homes

• Bentley Funeral Homes in Durant
  
• Chapman Funeral Home in Clarence
  
• Fry Funeral Home Inc. in Tipton
  
• Henderson-Barker Funeral Homes in West Branch
  

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. They include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Iowa Land and Property for information about early Iowa land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, transactions were usually recorded and housed at the county courthouse.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• 1839-1957 Deed records, 1839-1957; index, 1839-1958 at FamilySearch Catalog - images and indexes
• 1841-1974 Cedar County, Iowa, United States patent record index, vol. 1, 1841-1974 at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• 1857-1954 Homestead book, vol. A, 1857-1954 at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• 1871-1910 Miscellaneous records, 1871-1910; indexes, 1850-1980 at FamilySearch Catalog - images and indexes
• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Cedar County, which may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see Iowa Local Histories.

• An Historical Sketch of Gower Township, Cedar County, Iowa. By A.W. Jackson. n.p. n.p., 1901. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
• The History of Cedar County with a History of Iowa. Chicago, Illinois Historical Pub. Co., 1901. Online at: Vol. 1 - FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2 - FamilySearch Digital Library; At various libraries (WorldCat).
• The History of Cedar County, Iowa. Chicago, IL: Western Historical Company, 1878. Online at: FamilySearch, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat). Subject and personal name index at: FamilySearch Digital Library.
•  A Topical History of Cedar County, Iowa. By C.A. Aurner. Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1910. Online at: Vol. I - FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; Vol. II - FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; At various libraries (WorldCat).

Maps and Gazetteers

County and state maps, historical and more current, are valuable research tools. For online maps and collections in libraries and societies, see Iowa Maps. Historical maps may be especially useful.

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• 1860-1918 U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918, Cedar County at Ancestry ($) - index.
• 1875-2007 Cedar County 1875-2007 at Historic Map Works - may include names of land-owners.
• 1883-1949 Fire Insurance Maps for Cedar County, Iowa at Library of Congress - various years between 1883 and 1949.
• Atlas of Cedar County, Iowa(*); at FamilySearch Catalog — images.
• Atlas of Cedar County, Iowa : Farmer's Directory, Business Directory(*); at FamilySearch Catalog — images.
• Cedar County Maps at FamilySearch Catalog.
• IAGenWeb - Cedar County.
• Iowa Digital Library, Cedar County at Iowa University Libraries.
• Township Map of 1875 Cedar County, Iowa at My Genealogy Hound - with enlarged views of each township.
• The Iowa Heritage Digital Collections, Cedar County at State Library of Iowa.
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places.

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Cedar County for European settlers included:

• Mormon Trail 1846 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

Military Records

Multiple Wars

• 1835-1998 Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index only
• 1862-1910 Iowa, Records of Persons Subject to Military Duty, 1862-1910 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Civil War

• 1861-1949 Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Civil War service men in Cedar County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed here:

- 5th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A

- 11th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company E

- 24th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Companies B, C, and D

- 46th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company I

Naturalization and Citizenship

Please see the Iowa Naturalization and Citizenship page for state-wide information.

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

• 1859-1990 United States, Iowa Naturalization Records, 1859-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1860-1929 Naturalization Records, 1860-1929; index, 1855-1930(*); Clerk of the District Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images

Newspapers

• 1800s-Current Iowa, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)

Obituaries

Online Obituaries and Indexes

• Cedar County Obituaries at Genealogy Trails

Probate Records

In most counties in Iowa, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1758-1997 Iowa, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1835-1975 Probate Records, 1835-1953 ; Indexes, 1839-1975(*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog - index & images
• 1897-1939 Tax Records, 1897-1939(*); County Assessor at FamilySearch Catalog - images
• Full-Text Search - Wills and Probate Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry — index & images ($)
• 1936-2007 United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Tax Records

Iowa tax records complement land records and can supplement the years between censuses. Iowa's unique Old Age Assistance tax gives names, addresses and birth years. There may be gaps of several years. For more information, see the wiki page Iowa Taxation.

Online Tax Indexes and Records

• 1934-1958 Iowa, Old Age Tax Assistance Records, 1934-1958 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded by civil officials on registers, certificates, and other documents. Copies or extracts may be purchased from the Iowa Department of Public Health or the County Clerk's office. See also Iowa Vital Records.

Birth

• 1850-1939 Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1880-1935 Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1921-1942 Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1921-1947 Iowa, Birth and Stillbirth Records, 1921-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images, coverage may vary

Marriage

• 1518-1996 Iowa, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
• 1809-1992 Iowa, Marriages, 1809-1992 at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1836-1926 Iowa, Marriages, 1836 - 1926 at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1838-1934 Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1880-1951 Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1951 at Ancestry ($) — index & images
• 1941-1951 Iowa, Marriage Records, 1941-1951 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images

Death

• 1845-1987 Iowa, Church and Civil Deaths, 1845-1987 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images; selected counties, incomplete; includes, death, church, and cemetery records
  
• 1850-1990 Iowa Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and some images; Also at: MyHeritage($)

• 1880-1992 Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1888-1904 Iowa, Death Records, 1888-1904 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images, coverage may vary
• 1900-1939 Iowa Death Index, 1900-1939 at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1904-1951 Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1920-1967 Iowa, U.S., Death Records, 1920-1967 at Ancestry — index & images ($)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Cedar County. For state-wide library facilities, see Iowa Archives and Libraries.

FamilySearch Centers

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
• FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Cedar Rapids Iowa FamilySearch Center
• Davenport Iowa FamilySearch Center
• Iowa City Iowa FamilySearch Center
• Muscatine Iowa FamilySearch Center
• African American Museum Of Iowa - an affiliate library
• Cook Memorial Library - an affiliate library
• Genealogical Society of Linn County, Iowa - an affiliate library
• Iowa City Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Cedar County. For state-wide library facilities, see Iowa Archives and Libraries.

West Branch Public Library
300 N Downey St
P.O. Box 460
West Branch, IA 52358
Phone: 319-643-2633
Email: staff@wbpl.org
Website

Tipton Public Library
206 Cedar St
Tipton, IA 52772
Phone: 563-886-6266
Website

Museums

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum
210 Parkside Dr
P.O. Box 488
West Branch, IA 52358
Phone: 319-643-5301
Email: hoover.library@nara.gov
Website

Cedar County Historical Society Museum
1094 Hwy 38
P.O. Box 254
Tipton, IA 52772
Phone: 563-886-2899
Email: cchsmus@netins.net
Website

Societies

Listed below are societies in Cedar County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Iowa Societies.

Cedar County Genealogical Society
Box 52
Tipton, IA 52772-0052
Website

Cedar County Historical Society & Museum
1094 Hwy 38
Tipton, IA 52772
Phone: 563-886-2899
Email: cchsmus@netins.net
Website

Lowden Historical Society Museum and Library
503 Main St
PO Box 15
Lowden IA 52255
Phone: 563-944-7700
Website

Websites

• Cedar County at Cyndi's List - a comprehensive, categorized & cross-referenced list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online
• Cedar County at Genealogy Trails - volunteer transcriptions of genealogical and historical data
• Cedar County at Iowa USGenWeb - free online resources for genealogical research
• Cedar County at Iowa USGenWeb Archives - free online data for genealogical research
• State Historical Society of Iowa — select from research collection topics
• State Library of Iowa — electronic depository of documents intended for the general public produced by Iowa agencies
• The Iowa Heritage Digital Collection — digital images from a variety of Iowa cultural institutions
• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

This table contains the dates the local or state government began recording in the county or county equivalent. Use substitute records for earlier dates. If you believe there is an error, email us at wikisupport@familysearch.org.

County boundary maps are currently unavailable. Download information instead.

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Users should verify which locations and dates are included in this collection.

“Current” indicates records are available as recently as privacy laws allow. This date can change from year to year. To determine the exact dates available, contact the respective organization/repository.

FamilySearch affiliate libraries may have access to center-only databases, but do not always have all services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.