Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Monroe County

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

Iowa Online Genealogy Records

Monroe County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	February 17, 1843
County Seat	Albia
Courthouse

County Information

Description

The County was named for James Monroe, fifth President of the United States. The County has Albia as its seat and the County was created 1843. The County is located in the south central area of the state.

Monroe County, Iowa Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1845	1880	1845	1847	1845	1847
Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths Jan 1891. General compliance by 1924.

Quick Facts

Parent County

1843 Monroe County was created 17 February 1843 from unorganized territory. It was formerly Kishkekosh County, and renamed to Monroe 1 August 1846. It was attached to Wapello and Jefferson Counties prior to organization 1 July 1845.   County seat: Albia

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Iowa County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Iowa County Boundary Maps" (1816-1872) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

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

Places/Localities

Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog

• Hiteman
• Ward

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
Albia Eddyville	Lovilia	Melrose
Unincorporated communities
Avery	Tyrone
Townships
Buxton Cedar Franklin Guilford	Jackson Mantua Monroe Pleasant	Troy Union Urbana Wayne
Ghost towns
Buxton

Neighboring Counties

Appanoose • Davis • Lucas • Mahaska • Marion • Wapello • Wayne

Resources

African American

Gradwohl, David M.and Nancy M. Osborn  Exploring Buried Buxton: archaeology of an abandoned Iowa coal mining town with a large Black population ; 1st ed. Ames:Iowa State university Press, 1984. 207 p. F629.B98 G73 1984

Biography

• Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe Counties, Iowa at Ancestry.com ($)

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
IAGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
IAGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
Iowa Gravestones
Billion Graves
See Iowa Cemeteries for more information.

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1850	2,884	—
1860	8,612	198.6%
1870	12,724	47.7%
1880	13,719	7.8%
1890	13,666	−0.4%
1900	17,985	31.6%
1910	25,429	41.4%
1920	23,467	−7.7%
1930	15,010	−36.0%
1940	14,553	−3.0%
1950	11,814	−18.8%
1960	10,463	−11.4%
1970	9,357	−10.6%
1980	9,209	−1.6%
1990	8,114	−11.9%
2000	8,016	−1.2%
2010	7,970	−0.6%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1895 - Iowa State Census, 1895 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1905 - Iowa State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1915 - Iowa State Census, 1915 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1925 - Iowa State Census. 1925 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church

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.

Genealogy

• Biographical and genealogical history of Appanoose and Monroe Counties, Iowa at Ancestry.com ($)

Land

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.

History

Local histories are available for Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Iowa Local Histories.

Biographical and Genealogical History of Appanoose and Monroe Counties, Iowa

• An illustrated history of Monroe County, Iowa: a complete civil, political, and military history of the county, from its earliest period of organization down to 1896.. By Frank Hickenlooper. Albia, Iowa: [s.n.], 1896. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, HathiTrust, Google Books; At various libraries (WorldCat).
• An illustrated history of Monroe County, Iowa : a complete civil, political, and military history of the county, from its earle at Ancestry.com ($)
• Monroe County history, Iowa at Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Iowa
• David Rumsey Map Collectioon is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures. This Collection features the city of Avery.

Military

• 1835-1998 - Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1949 - Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1862-1910 - Iowa, Records of Persons Subject to Military Duty, 1862-1910 at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy 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 in Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy:

- 6th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company E

- 8th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I

- 17th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company H

- 22nd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D

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

- 1st Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company H

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1859-1990 - United States, Iowa Naturalization Records, 1859-1990 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

• The Monroe County News. 1951-59, 1961-63, 1966-68, and 1970-71. Albia, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
• Iowa, Monroe County, Card index of births, deaths & marriages from newspaper clippings, 1898-2015 — index and images

Probate

Online Probate Records

• 1758 - 1997 Iowa Wills and Probate Records 1758-1997 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

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.

Taxation

• 1934-1958 - Iowa, Old Age Tax Assistance Records, 1934-1958 at FamilySearch — index

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.

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.

• 1898-2015 - Iowa, Monroe County, Card index of births, deaths & marriages from newspaper clippings, 1898-2015 at FamilySearch — index and images

Births

• 1850-1939 - Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1921-1942 - Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

• 1518-1996 - Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1838-1934 - Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934 at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

• 1850-1990 - Iowa, Deaths and Burials 1850-1990 at FamilySearch - index
• 1880-1992 - Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — index
  
• 1904-1951 - Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries

Monroe County Genealogical Society
C/O Albia Public Library
203 Benton Ave E
Albia, IA 52531-2036

Monroe County Historical Society & Museum
114 A Ave. East
Albia, Iowa 52531
Telephone:641-932-7046

Family History 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

Websites

Check back often with websites. Local societies and libraries may know of other websites.

Sites with online indexes or images of records pertaining to Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy
State Historical Society of Iowa	Free	Select from research collection topics
The Iowa Heritage Digital Collection	Free	digital images from a variety of Iowa cultural institutions - results of "monroe county" in the search box
State Library of Iowa	Free	electronic depository of documents intended for the general public produced by Iowa agencies - results of "monroe county" in the search box
IAGenWeb	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
USGenWeb Archives	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
genealogytrails.com	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
[1] [2][3] FamilySearch	Free	Births, 1880-1935; Deaths 1880-1992; Marriages, 1838-1934; all indexes

Sites that search for links pertaining to Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy
RootsWeb Resources	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
Linkpendium	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
CyndisList	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
Monroe County IA Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
StateofUS.com	Free	family history resources and government records

Major catalogs for hard copy collections of Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy Books, microfilm, or manuscripts of genealogical records
FamilySearch Catalog	Select topics. To select towns, add a comma to the search box.
WorldCat	To find nearby libraries that have specific items, see WorldCat Online Catalog.
Allen County Public Library	located in Indiana They are heavily involved in digitizing.
See also local libraries and Iowa Archives and Libraries

Social networking sites pertaining to Monroe County, Iowa Genealogy
GeneaBloggers	enter "Iowa" in search box to see list and links to Iowa blogs
Google+	list of groups from "iowa genealogy" search
Facebook	list of groups from "Iowa Genealogy" search
genealogy.com	IA Genealogy Forum
ancestry.com	Monroe County Message Board

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