Warren County, Iowa Genealogy

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

Iowa Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for General Joseph Warren, a hero in the American Revolutionary War. The County has Indianola as its seat and the County was created 1846. The County is located in the south central area of the state.

County Courthouse

 * Warren County homepage

Parent County
1846--Warren County was created 13 January 1846 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Mahaska County prior to organization 10 February 1849. County seat: Indianola

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
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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
Clarke • Dallas •  Lucas •  Madison •  Marion •  Polk

Biographies

 * All of the family biographies from the History of Warren County, Iowa (1879) by Union Historical Company are available free online at My Genealogy Hound.

Cemeteries

 * Warren County Cemeteries list as found in Cemetery and Death Records of Warren County, Iowa by the Warren County Genealogical Society, 1980
 * Warren County gravestones Iowa gravestone project

Census

 * 1850 Warren County, Iowa
 * 1853 Warren County, Iowa State Census
 * 1860 Warren County, Iowa link to index pages and transcriptions

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

Church
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Lutheran

 * Records of the St. Paul Lutheran Church, Martensdale, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Lutheran

 * Records of the St. Paul Lutheran Church, Martensdale, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Directories

 * Fold3.com ($) has Des Moines City Directories 1881-1913 (2 yrs. missing) and miscellaneous years going back to 1866 available online.
 * 1875 Patrons of the Iowa State Atlas (Warren County)
 * 1875 Warren County Business Directory
 * 1879 City Directories for Warren Countylink to index of City's indexed and mapped

Local Histories

 * History of Warren County, Iowa (Des Moines: Union Historical Company, 1879) Bioindex, all 644 bios online
 * History of Warren County, Iowa...to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1908. - index, 27 bios online


 * Circle 'round the square: pictures from an Iowa childhood. Drawings by Sam Kweskin. By Dorothy Daniel. New York: W. Funk, c1959. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library;.

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa
 * 1899 Map of the City of Indianola
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military

 * 1835-1998 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1949 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * List of Warren County Pensioners on the Roll Jan 1, 1883
 * 1862-1910 - at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

 * 1861-1864 - Civil War Soldiers Enlistment Records (1861-1864)
 * Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Card File for Union Soldiers in the Civil War
 * - 1st Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company D
 * - 3rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G
 * - 10th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company B
 * - 10th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G
 * - 15th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G
 * - 17th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company K
 * - 48th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company A

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Warren County Newspapers 1855-1896


 * Altoona Public Library Archives, Polk County (1876-2000)
 * Johnston Historical Society Archive, Polk County (1970-2007)
 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Des Moines newspapers. This database is free at some libraries.

Probate
Online Probate Indexes and Records


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


 * Warren County, Iowa Probate Index provided by the Warren County Historical Society

Taxation

 * Warren County, Iowa Tax Lists
 * 1934-1958 - at FamilySearch — index

Births

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

Marriages

 * 1518-1996 - Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1809-1992 Iowa, Marriages, 1809-1992 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1838-1934 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1849-1899 - Index of Warren County Marriages (1849-1899) provided by the Warren County Historical Society
 * 1880-1951 Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1951 at Ancestry.com ($) — index and images

Deaths

 * 1850-1990 - at FamilySearch
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1900-1939 Iowa Death Index, 1900-1939 at MyHeritage ($) — index
 * 1904-1951 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1920-1967 Iowa, Death Records, 1920-1967 at Ancestry.com ($) — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Warren County Genealogical Society Box 151 Indianola, Iowa 50125 E-mail: [mailto:wcgs@warrencountygenes.org wcgs@warrencountygenes.org] Website

Warren County Historical Society 1400 W 2nd Ave P.O. Box 256 Indianola, IA 50125 Telephone:515-961-8085 E-mail: [mailto:contact@warrencountyhistory.org contact@warrencountyhistory.org] Website

Family History Centers

 * Indianola Iowa Family History Center

Websites

 * Warren County, IA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Iowa Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Iowa Genweb: Warren County
 * Rootsweb: Warren County message board
 * Warren County, Iowa Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Warren County, Iowa Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)