Adair County, Iowa Genealogy

United States Iowa Adair County   

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

Parent County
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

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
1889 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged. For a list of record loss in Iowa Counties see: Iowa Counties with Burned Courthouses

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
 * Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Extinct Communities

 * Berea

Neighboring Counties
Adams •  Audubon  •  Cass  •  Dallas  •  Guthrie  •  Madison  •  Union  •  Clark County Genealogy

Biographies
Rootsweb Iowa Biographics Project Click titles to see alphabetical list of biographies in that title, some with links

Cemeteries
Cemeteries for Adair County are:

Transcriptions for some of these cemeteries can be found at:


 * FindAGrave.com
 * Interment.net cemetery records.
 * Iowa WPA Graves Registration
 * Iowa Gravestone Photo Project
 * Saving Graves
 * Tombstone Transcription Project

The has several films with information about the cemeteries in Adair County. For more information about cemeteries in Iowa see the Iowa Cemeteries page.

Census
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.

Lutheran

 * Records of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Fontenelle, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court

 * Affidavit index, 1907-1924. 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

 * Ancestral lineage, Mildred Olive Bates McCann : Adair County, Iowa, Prince George County, Virginia ; with index. at Ancestry.com ($)

Land

 * Affidavit index, 1907-1924. Microfilm of originals housed at the Clerk of the District Court, Adair County, Greenfield, Iowa. Affidavits concerning land transactions.


 * Homestead records 1878-1972, Land transfer records 1858-1916; index 1855-1920, Miscellaneous records, 1880-1911; index 1880-1916, Tax deed records 1873-1954, Town lot deed records 1855-1918, Town lot transfer records 1867-1991; index 1870-1991

Libraries

 * Greenfield Public Library 202 S 1st Street Phone: 641-743-6120 [[Image:]]641-743-6120 
 * See also a List of Iowa Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

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

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; 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. 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. Landowners are shown on the township maps.

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European settlers included:


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

Military

 * Soldiers discharge record, 1887-1952 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

 * - 4th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company I
 * - 29th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D

Newspapers

 * Adair News
 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries under the name AccessNewspaperArchive.

Obituaries

 * Adair County, Iowa obituaries, 1907-1959. Micro reproduction of originals housed at the Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, Iowa.


 * Adair County, Iowa obituaries, Obituaries 1934-1978. Micro reproduction of originals housed at the Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, Iowa. Also includes Death records 1940-1959.

Probate
Online Probate Records


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


 * contains information about administrator's, executor's, and guardian's bonds, 1858-1902; Probate packets, 1854-1926; index, 1854-1926; Probate records 1857-1952; index, 1857-1965; Probate register, 1868-1886; Will records, 1858-1979.

Birth
FamilySearch.org Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935

Marriage
FamilySearch.org Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934

Death
FamilySearch.org Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992

Societies
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 &amp; Genealogical Societies

Sources and Footnotes
Call Send SMS Add to Skype You'll need Skype Credit Free via Skype