Iowa, Death Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Iowa

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of an index and images of death records from the State Historical Society of Iowa for the years 1939 to 1940. This is a joint project with Ancestry.com.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Death records may include:


 * Name of the deceased
 * Date of birth
 * Place of birth
 * Marital status
 * Gender
 * Race
 * Age at death
 * Occupation
 * Date of death
 * Time of death
 * Place of death
 * Address of the deceased
 * Parents’ names
 * Places of birth of the parents
 * Date of burial
 * Place of burial
 * Cause of death
 * Name and address of the informant

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate date of death.
 * The place of death.
 * The names of family members and their relationships.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the “County” category ⇒ Select the “Record Type, Date Range and Volume” category which takes you to the images

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

With either search keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s death record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the death record to identify where people lived and search the census.
 * Use the death record to determine if church records hold information about your family.
 * Search for additional records in the county about your family.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.
 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: