Iowa Church Records

Church records have been kept in Iowa since the 1830s. Information from church records varies greatly, depending upon the denomination and the record keeper. Records may contain such information about members of the congregation as age, dates of baptism, christening, or birth, marriage information, wife’s maiden name, and death dates. Records may include names of other relatives who were witnesses at church events or members of the congregation. The members of some churches were predominately of one nationality or ethnic group. Knowing this may help you find the foreign town from which your ancestors immigrated.

Before 1900 the largest religious groups were the Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.

The Society of Friends (Quakers) and other small groups were also early settlers.

The Family History Library has:


 * Records of churches, including Catholic, Presbyterian and the Society of Friends (see the Family History Library 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:

Petersen, William J. Iowa History Reference Guide.

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:

Baptist
North American Baptist Conference 1 South 210 Summit Avenue Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181 Telephone: 630-495-2000 Fax: 630-495-0333 Internet: http://www.nabconference.org/

Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Wartburg Theological Seminary 333 Wartburg Place Dubuque, IA 52001 Telephone: 319-589-0200 Fax: 319-589-0333 Internet: http://www.elca.org/

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 Archives. ALC Congregations on Microfilm. Dubuque, Iowa: The Archives, [197-?]. (FHL fiche 6330690–93.) The list is alphabetical by state and then by city. Fiche 6330690 has records from Iowa.

American Lutheran Church Shelf List Index to Their Church Records Microfilmed as of 1987. N. p., 1988. (FHL book 973 K2aL)

Methodist
Iowa Wesleyan College Library Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641 Telephone: 319-385-6317 Fax: 319-385-6324 Internet address: Central/index.htm http://www.iwc.edu/Campus%20Central/index.htm

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

Iowa Churches: A File at the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1975. (FHL films 956387–417.) 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. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1975. (FHL films 956418–42.) These films contain biographies, mainly of Methodist ministers.

Presbyterian
The Presbyterian Historical Society 425 Lombard Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Telephone: 215-627-1852 Fax: 215-627-0509 Internet: http://www.history.pcusa.org/

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 Telephone: 816-833-1000 Fax: 816-521-3089 Internet address: www.rlds.org

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 Telephone: 319-324-1911 Fax: 319-324-5842 Internet: http://www.davenportdiocese.org/

Diocese of Sioux City 1821 Jackson Street Sioux City, IA 51105 Telephone: 712-255-7933 Fax: 712-233-7598 Internet: http://www.scdiocese.org/

Diocese of Des Moines 610 Grand Avenue Des Moines, IA 50309 Telephone: 515-243-7653 Fax: 515-237-5070 Internet: http://www.dmdiocese.org/

Society of Friends (Quaker)
Friends Historical Library Swarthmore College 500 College Avenue Swarthmore, PA 19081 Telephone: 610-328-8496 Fax: 610-328-7329 Internet address: http://www.swarthmore.edu/x6672.xml

Magill Library Haverford College Haverford, PA 19041-1392 Telephone: 610-896-1161 Fax: 610-896-1102 Internet address: http://www.haverford.edu/library/about/news/news30.html

Two collections of the Iowa Society of Friends records are:

Hinshaw, William Wade. Index to Iowa Quaker Meeting Records. 11 vols. N.p., 19--? (FHL book 977.7 K28h; films 924025–27; fiche 6051154.)

Hinshaw, William Wade. The William Wade Hinshaw Index to Quaker Meeting Records in the Friends Library in Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1957. (FHL films 002146–213, and 175409–13.) Film 002148 has an index to surnames and indicates in which monthly meetings those surnames are found. These microfilms contain records of many Iowa monthly meetings.

The Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog lists church records under:

IOWA - CHURCH RECORDS

IOWA, [COUNTY] - CHURCH RECORDS

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