Adams County, Iowa Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for John Adams. The County has Corning as its seat and the County was created March 12, 1853. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Adams County Courthouse 500 9th St. Corning, IA 50841

(515) 322-4711

Adams County

Parent County
1851 - Adams County was created 15 January 1851 from Pottawattamie County. The county was organized 7 March 1853. County seat: Corning

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
1888 - Courthouse burned on February 1, 1888 and some early records were destroyed.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



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:

Neighboring Counties
Adair • Cass •  Montgomery •  Page •  Ringgold •  Taylor •  Union

Biographies
Rootsweb Iowa Biographics Project Click title to see alphabetical list, some with links

Cemeteries
Transcriptions of these cemeteries can be found at:


 * Saving graves

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 very informative Iowa Census article.

State Census
 * 1895 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1905 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1915 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1925 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories
Biographical History of Montgomery and Adams Counties, Iowa


 * A Brief history of Corning and Adams County, Iowa, on the occasion of observing Corning's first 100 years : 1857-1957 Corning Iowa centurama. Corning, Iowa : Free Press Publishing Co., 1957.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Adams County History Book Committee (Corning, Iowa). History of Adams County, Iowa. Corning, Iowa : Corning Departmental Club and Civic Department, c1984.
 * 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.

Military

 * 1835-1998 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1949 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1862-1910 - at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

 * - 4th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company H
 * - 29th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * 1890-2000 - Adams County Newspaper Archives (1890-2000)


 * Adams County Free Press. Corning, Iowa, United States Of America. Database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

Probate
Online Probate Records


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

Taxation

 * 1934-1958 - at FamilySearch — index

Births

 * 1850-1939 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1880-1935 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1942 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

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

Deaths

 * 1850-1990 - at FamilySearch - index
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1904-1951 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Adams County Genealogical Society % Public Library 603 9th Street Corning IA 50841-1034