Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Iowa

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of an index of grave registrations from the Soldiers Relief Commission (Polk County, Iowa) for the years 1776 to 1998. The collection is arranged alphabetically. The images that can be viewed will be located through the library catalog Armed Forces Grave Registration Records, 1776-1998.These records were acquired from the Iowa State Historical Society in Des Moines.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
The information found in the record varies by type of form and informant. You may find any of the following:


 * County in Iowa
 * War served in
 * Veteran's name
 * Gender
 * Race
 * Age at last birthday
 * Date and place of birth
 * Date and place of death
 * Marital status
 * Name and relationship of nearest relative
 * Names of parents
 * Name of spouse
 * Names of children
 * Residence and age at the time of enrollment
 * Enlistment date and place
 * Discharge date, place and rank
 * Organization served in
 * Foreign countries served in
 * Military serial number
 * Burial place, city and township
 * Name of cemetery
 * Character of grave marker
 * Burial lot description, addition, block number, lot number, grave number
 * If buried in a foreign country, where and date of removal
 * If cremated
 * Name and address of funeral home
 * Membership in veteran's organization
 * Amount of pension or compensation
 * Amount of war risk insurance
 * Name and address of person or organization furnishing this information

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 date of burial.
 * 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.

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.

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 grave registration, 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 soldier's death record to obtain a copy of the original death certificate from the county.
 * Use the location of burial to begin search for family in census records nearby.
 * Use the name of person applying for burial to identify possible relatives.
 * 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.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.

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

 * 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):