Iowa Church Records

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Iowa

Church Records

Online Records

1839-2004 - Iowa, Church Records, 1839-2004 - index and some images. Incomplete.

For greater success, use all the Wiki Articles in this series: What Can I Find in U.S. Church Records? Determining the Church Your Ancestor Attended How to Find Church Records in the United States Searching for Church Records by Denomination Searching for Church Records by U.S. State

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Historical Background

Before 1900, the largest religious groups were the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran churches along with The Society of Friends (Quakers) and other small groups were also early settlers.

Information Found in the Records

To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Baptisms or Christenings Marriages

Funerals or Burials Membership Lists

Minutes or Historical Narrative

Finding the Records

Look for online records.

Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Online databases are incomplete. This can lead to two common errors: Near matches: Researchers might mistakenly accept an entry very similar to their ancestor, thinking it is the only one available. Only use information that matches your ancestor in date, place, relationships, and other details. Stopping research: Researchers might assume the database proves church records do not exist. Actually the record is still out there, just not in this incomplete collection of records. Keep searching!

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Look for digital copies of church records listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.

Family History Library
Salt Lake City, Utah

• The Family History Library (FHL) has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm for churches in the United States.
• Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the state, county, or town.
• If you find a record that has not yet been digitized, see How do I request that a microfilm be digitized?
• Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
• To find records:

a. Click on the records of United States, Iowa.

b. Click on Places within United States, Iowa and a list of counties will appear.

c. Click on your county if it appears.

d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.

e. Click on Places within United States, Iowa [COUNTY] and a list of towns will appear.

f. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.

g. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.

h. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. . The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

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Consult available finding aids.

These aids generally provide lists of records that are known to exist and information on their location.

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Correspond with or visit the actual churches.

Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.

• Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
• To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
• Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
• A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
• If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
• See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
• Each denomination page offers an online address directory of local churches for that denomination.

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries.

Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher.

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Correspond with genealogical or historical societies.

Some church records have been given to historical societies. Also, historical societies may be able to tell you where the records are being held. To find a society near you, consult these lists:

• Society Hill List of Iowa Societies
  

Carefully compare any record you find to known facts about the ancestor

You will possibly find many different people with the same name as your ancestor, especially when a family stayed in a locality for several generations, and several children were named after the grandparents or aunts and uncles. Be prepared to find the correct church records by organizing in advance as many of these exact details about the ancestor as possible:

• name, including middle name and maiden name
• names of all spouses, including middle and maiden name
• exact or closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
• names and approximate birthdates of children
• all known places of residence
• occupations
• military service details

Carefully evaluate the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a "near match". If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.

Books

• German immigrants in American church records WorldCat
• German Immigrants in Western Iowa Protestant Church Records
• German Immigrants in NE Iowa Protestant Church Records
• German immigrants in American church records. Volume 9, Iowa southeast Protestant

Baptist

North American Baptist Conference
1 South 210 Summit Avenue
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Phone: (630) 495-2000
Fax: (630) 495-0333

Church and Family History Research Assistance for Primitive Baptist Churches in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri

Episcopal Church

Trinity Episcopal Church, Muscatine IA, has Parish Baptism Records online.

Lutheran

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Wartburg Theological Seminary
333 Wartburg Place
Dubuque, IA 52001
Phone: (563) 589-0200 Fax: (563) 589-0333

The Wartburg Theological Seminary has Lutheran records from Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and upper Michigan. Many of the records in this repository can be borrowed for a small fee. For a list of some of the records, see:

• ALC Congregations on Microfilm. The list is alphabetical by state and then by city.
• American Lutheran Church Shelf List Index to Their Church Records
• St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Montpelier Twp, has Baptism and Death records online.

Methodist

Iowa Wesleyan College Library
Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641
Phone: (319) 385-6317
Fax: (319) 385-6324

You can find two of the library’s collections in:

• Iowa Churches: A File at the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa This file consists of church histories, anniversary programs, and newspaper clippings. It is arranged by towns or by the name of the church.
• Ministerial Biographies: A File in the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa These films contain biographies, mainly of Methodist ministers.

Presbyterian

The Presbyterian Historical Society
425 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Phone: (215) 627-1852
Fax: (215) 627-0509

Many of the biographies and church records of this society have been microfilmed. The society and the Family History Library are continuing to collect Iowa Presbyterian church records.

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
World Headquarters
P.O. Box 1059
Independence, MO 64051
Phone: (816) 833-1000
Fax: (816) 521-3089

Records of most Iowa congregations of this church have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library.

Roman Catholic

Diocese of Davenport
2706 N. Gaines Street
Davenport, IA 52804
Phone: (563) 324-1911
Fax: (563) 324-5842

The diocese includes the counties of: Appanoose, Cedar, Clinton, Davis, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Keokuk, Lee, Louisa, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe, Muscatine, Poweshiek, Scott, Van Buren, Wapello and Washington

Diocese of Sioux City
1821 Jackson Street
Sioux City, IA 51105
Phone: (712) 255-7933
Fax: (712) 233-7598

The diocese includes the counties of: Boone, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dickinson, Emmet, Greene, Humboldt, Ida, Kossuth, Lyon, Monona, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Sac, Sioux, Webster, and Woodbury

Diocese of Des Moines
610 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50309
Phone: (515) 243-7653
Fax: (515) 237-5070

The diocese includes the counties of: Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Clarke, Dallas, Decatur, Fremont, Guthrie, Harrison, Lucas, Madison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Polk, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, Taylor, Union, Warren and Wayne

Archdiocese of Dubuque
Archdiocesan Center
1229 Mt Loretta Ave.
Dubuque, IA 52004-0479
Phone: (563) 556-2580

The diocese includes the counties of: Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Howard, Jackson, Jones, Linn, Marshall, Mitchell, Story, Tama, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Worth, and Wright

Society of Friends (Quaker)

Friends Historical Library
Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore, PA 19081
Phone: (610) 328-8496
Fax: (610) 328-7329

Magill Library
Haverford College
Haverford, PA 19041-1392
Phone: (610) 896-1161
Fax: (610) 896-1102

Two collections of the Iowa Society of Friends records are:

• Index to Iowa Quaker Meeting Records
• The William Wade Hinshaw Index to Quaker Meeting Records in the Friends Library in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. has an index to surnames and indicates in which monthly meetings those surnames are found. These microfilms contain records of many Iowa monthly meetings.

Websites for Quaker Genealogy Helps:

• American Friend Obituary Index
• Friends Historical Library
• The Quaker Corner
• The Quaker Research Guide

Iowa Published Church Records

Periodicals have published records of many Iowa churches. These are referenced in the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) described in the "Periodicals" page. Many denominations have collected and stored their records in central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:

Family History Library

The Family History Library has: While the majority of church records remain with the local churches, the Family History Library, and Iowa Historical Society Library, have copies of local records from some churches. See A Guide to Manuscripts at the Iowa Historical Society, described in Iowa Archives and Libraries.

Many of the local church records available at theFamilySearch Catalog have been microfilmed at various archives and libraries.

Use the Keyword Search feature on catalog drop down menu of the FamilySearch Catalog to find more records under:

IOWA, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS

While no listing of Family History Library films by repository is available, the FamilySearch Catalog identifies when and where each record was microfilmed. Example: Family History Library List of Iowa Churches

• Records of churches, including Catholic, Presbyterian and the Society of Friends (see the FamilySearch Catalog).
• Histories of denominations in Iowa, including Mennonite, Congregational, Quaker, Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist-Episcopal.

A useful list of books and articles about the various religious groups of Iowa is found on pages 116–125 in:

• Iowa History Reference Guide. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1952.This bibliography includes sections about American Indians, immigration, land, government, courts, military, schools, churches, businesses, history, and biographies. It is arranged by subject and has an index.

Websites

Various websites identify churches in Iowa:

• Flock Finder
• Iowa Churches
• Iowa Church Directory

Sources and Footnotes