Adair County, Iowa Genealogy
Guide to Adair County, Iowa ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Adair County, Iowa | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Iowa, United States Genealogy | |
 Location of Iowa in the U.S. | |
| Facts | |
| Founded | January 15, 1851 |
|---|---|
| County Seat | Greenfield |
| Courthouse | |
 | |
| Address | Adair County Courthouse P. O. Box L Greenfield, IA 5089-1290 Phone: (515) 743-2445 Adair County Website |
Contents
- 1 County Information
- 2 History
- 3 Parent County
- 4 Boundary Changes
- 5 Record Loss
- 6 Places/Localities
- 7 Populated Places
- 8 Neighboring Counties
- 9 Resources
- 9.1 Biographies
- 9.2 Cemeteries
- 9.3 Census
- 9.4 Church
- 9.5 Court
- 9.6 Genealogy
- 9.7 Land
- 9.8 Libraries
- 9.9 Local Histories
- 9.10 Maps
- 9.11 Migration
- 9.12 Military
- 9.13 Naturalization and Citizenship
- 9.14 Newspapers
- 9.15 Obituaries
- 9.16 Probate
- 9.17 Taxation
- 9.18 Vital Records
- 9.19 Societies
- 9.20 Family History Centers
- 9.21 Websites
- 10 Sources and Footnotes
County Information[edit | edit source]
Description[edit | edit source]
The County was named for John Adair. The County has Greenfield as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.[1]
Adair County, Iowa Record Dates[edit | edit source]
| Birth* | Marriage | Death* | Court | Land | Probate | Census |
| 1880 | 1870 | 1880 | 1852 | 1854 | 1852 | 1847 |
History[edit | edit source]
Parent County[edit | edit source]
1851--Adair County was created in January 15, 1851 from Pottawattamie, Dallas, Mahaska, Monroe, Polk and Cass Counties. County records are housed in Greenfield. County. The county was attached to Pottawattamie and Cass Counties prior to organization 6 May 1854. County seat: Greenfield [3]
Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]
1816-1872 - 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[edit | edit source]
1889 - Courthouse burned and most court records were destroyed.
For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:
- Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle.
- When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog.
- Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.
Places/Localities[edit | edit source]
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Populated Places[edit | edit source]
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:[4]
| Cities | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
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| Townships | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
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Neighboring Counties[edit | edit source]
Adams • Audubon • Cass • Dallas • Guthrie • Madison • Union • Clarke County Genealogy
Resources[edit | edit source]
Biographies[edit | edit source]
Rootsweb, Iowa Biographics Project Click titles to see alphabetical list of biographies in that title, some with links.
Cemeteries[edit | edit source]
| 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. | ||
Transcriptions for some of these cemeteries can be found at:
The Family History library has several films with information about the cemeteries in Adair County.
Census[edit | edit source]
| Historical populations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± |
| 1860 | 984 | — |
| 1870 | 3,982 | 304.7% |
| 1880 | 11,667 | 193.0% |
| 1890 | 14,534 | 24.6% |
| 1900 | 16,192 | 11.4% |
| 1910 | 14,420 | −10.9% |
| 1920 | 14,259 | −1.1% |
| 1930 | 13,891 | −2.6% |
| 1940 | 13,196 | −5.0% |
| 1950 | 12,292 | −6.9% |
| 1960 | 10,893 | −11.4% |
| 1970 | 9,487 | −12.9% |
| 1980 | 9,509 | 0.2% |
| 1990 | 8,409 | −11.6% |
| 2000 | 8,243 | −2.0% |
| 2010 | 7,682 | −6.8% |
| Source: "Wikipedia.org". | ||
Iowa recorded not only the federal census but state census through out the years too. The state census contains very valuable genealogical information. Where the census information can be found, what years it was taken, mortality schedules, census substitutions and much more is discussed in the Iowa Census article.
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[edit | edit source]
Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Iowa Church Records.
Lutheran[edit | edit source]
- Records of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Fontenelle, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
Court[edit | edit source]
- 1907-1924 - Affidavit index, 1907-1924. [5]Microfilm of originals housed at the Clerk of the District Court, Adair County, Greenfield, Iowa. Affidavits concerning land transactions.
For more information about the courts in Iowa see the Iowa Court Records page.
Genealogy[edit | edit source]
- Ancestral lineage, Mildred Olive Bates McCann: Adair County, Iowa, Prince George County, Virginia; with index. at Ancestry.com ($)
Land[edit | edit source]
Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.
See Iowa Land and Property for additional information about early Iowa land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse, where records are currently housed.
- 1855-1918 - Town lot deed records 1855-1918,
- 1855-1920 - Index 1855-1920,
- 1858-1916 - Land transfer records 1858-1916;
- 1867-1991 - Town lot transfer records 1867-1991;
- 1870-1991 - Index 1870-1991 [6]
- 1873-1954 - Tax deed records 1873-1954,
- 1878-1972 - Homestead records 1878-1972,
- 1880-1911 - Miscellaneous records, 1880-1911;
- 1880-1916 - Index 1880-1916,
- 1907-1924 - Affidavit index, 1907-1924. [7]Microfilm of originals housed at the Clerk of the District Court, Adair County, Greenfield, Iowa. Affidavits concerning land transactions.
Libraries[edit | edit source]
- Greenfield Public Library
202 S 1st Street
Phone: 641-743-6120 - See also a List of Iowa Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies at Random Acts.
Local Histories[edit | edit source]
Local histories are available for Adair 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.
- History of Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa
- Adair County History in Photos
- Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa History at Ancestry.com ($)
- History of Guthrie and Adair counties, Iowa : together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of old settlers and representative citizens. Springfield, Illinois : Continental Historical Co., 1884.
- Online at FamilySearch (Free)
- Kilburn, Lucian Moody. History of the Adair County, Iowa, and its people. Chicago, Illinois : Pioneer Pub. Co., 1915.
- Online at FamilySearch (Free)
Maps[edit | edit source]
for more resources
- Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Iowa
- David Rumsey Map Collection is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.
- Map of Adair County, Iowa 1882. [8] Includes inset maps of Greenfield, Adair, Orient, Casey, Stuart, Port Union, Fontanelle and the state of Iowa.
- Standard atlas or Adair County, Iowa: including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county. [9]Landowners are shown on the township maps.
Migration[edit | edit source]
Early migration routes to and from Adair County, Iowa Genealogy for European settlers included:
- 1846 - Mormon Trail 1846, from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah[10]
Military[edit | edit source]
- 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
- 1887-1952 - Soldiers discharge record, 1887-1952 [11] Microfilm of original records found in the Adair County Courthouse. Adair - Military records; World War, 1914-1918. World War, 1939-1945.
For more information about the Military in Adair see the Iowa Military Records page.
Civil War[edit | edit source]
Regiments. Service men in Adair 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 Adair County, Iowa Genealogy:
- - 4th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company I
- - 29th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D
Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]
- 1859-1990 - United States, Iowa Naturalization Records, 1859-1990 at FamilySearch — index and images
Newspapers[edit | edit source]
- Adair News
- NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries under the name AccessNewspaperArchive.
Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Adair County, Iowa Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:
- WorldCat
- FamilySearch. Do a Adair County, Iowa Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see, FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).
Obituaries[edit | edit source]
- 1907-1959 - Adair County, Iowa obituaries, 1907-1959. [12]Micro reproduction of originals housed at the Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, Iowa.
Probate[edit | edit source]
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.
The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Iowa - Adair - Probate records.
- Family History Films contains information about the following:
- 1858-1902 - Administrator's, executor's, and guardian's bonds, 1858-1902;
- 1854-1926 - Probate packets, 1854-1926; index, 1854-1926;
- 1857-1952 - Probate records 1857-1952; index, 1857-1965;
- 1868-1886 - Probate register, 1868-1886;
- 1858-1979 - Will records, 1858-1979.
- 1858-1902 - Administrator's, executor's, and guardian's bonds, 1858-1902;
Taxation[edit | edit source]
Iowa tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. Tax lists were usually made every year, however, there may be gaps of several years. For more information, see the wiki page Iowa Taxation.
- 1934-1958 - Iowa, Old Age Tax Assistance Records, 1934-1958 at FamilySearch — index
Vital Records[edit | edit source]
Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Iowa Department of Public Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also How to order Iowa Vital Records or order electronically online.
Birth[edit | edit source]
- 1850-1939 - Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1880-1935 - Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935 at FamilySearch index
- 1921-1942 - Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — index and images
Marriage[edit | edit source]
- 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 index
- 1880-1951 Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1951 at Ancestry.com ($) — index and images
Death[edit | edit source]
- 1850-1990 - Iowa, Deaths and Burials 1850-1990 at FamilySearch - index
- 1880-1992 - Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — index
- 1900-1939 Iowa Death Index, 1900-1939 at MyHeritage ($) — index
- 1904-1951 - Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1920-1967 Iowa, Death Records, 1920-1967 at Ancestry.com ($) — index and images
Societies[edit | edit source]
Adair County Anquestors Genealogy Society
c/o Greenfield Public Library
P. O. Box 328
Greenfield, IA 50849-0328
Website
See also a List of Iowa Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies
Family History Centers[edit | edit source]
Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.
Local Centers and Libraries
Websites[edit | edit source]
 |
Check back often with these websites. Internet offerings are growing at record rates. Local societies and libraries may know of other websites. |
| State Historical Society of Iowa | Free | Select from research collection topics |
| The Iowa Heritage Digital Collection | Free | digital images from a variety of Iowa cultural insitutions - results of "adair county" in the search box |
| State Library of Iowa | Free | electronic depository of documents intended for the general public produced by Iowa agencies - results of "adair county" in the search box |
| IAGenWeb Project | Free | Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions |
| USGenWeb Archives | Free | Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions |
| Birth, Death, and Marriage records on FamilySearch | Free | Births, 1880-1935; Deaths 1880-1992; Marriages, 1838-1934; all indexes |
| RootsWeb Resources | Free | Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions |
| Linkpendium | Free | Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($) |
| CyndisList | Free | Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($) |
| Geneology Inc. | Free | family history resources and government records |
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. |
| GeneaBloggers | enter "Iowa" in search box to see list and links to Iowa blogs | |
| list of groups from "Iowa Genealogy" search | ||
| genealogy.com | Iowa Genealogy Forum | |
| ancestry.com | Adair County Message Board | |
Sources and Footnotes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Adair, Iowa," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adair_County,_Iowa.
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Adair County, Iowa. Page 230-238 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 222-225.
- ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Adair County, Iowa," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adair_County,_Iowa, accessed 15 September 2018.
- ↑ Adair County (Iowa). Clerk of the District Court (Main Author),Affidavit index, 1907-1924 Family History Film FHL US/CAN Film 1787316 Items 2-3.
- ↑ Family History Library
- ↑ Adair County (Iowa). Clerk of the District Court (Main Author),Affidavit index, 1907-1924 Family History Film FHL US/CAN Film 1787316 Items 2-3.
- ↑ Allen, C. R. Map of Adair County, Iowa 1882. Family History Book 977.773 E7
- ↑ Micro-reproduction of original published: Chicago : Ogle, 1901. 53, 28 p. Standard atlas or Adair County, Iowa : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county. Family History FHL US/CAN Film 985415 Item 1
- ↑ National Park Service, "Auto Tour Route Maps" in Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail at http://www.nps.gov/mopi/planyourvisit/maps.htm (accessed 18 July 2011).
- ↑ Adair County (Iowa). County Recorder Soldiers discharge record, 1887-1952. Family History Film US/CAN Film 1034838 Item 5
- ↑ Rivenburgh, Myrtle. Adair County, Iowa obituaries, 1907-1959. FHL US/CAN Film 1845781 Items 8-10
