Butler County, Iowa Genealogy

Guide to Butler 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 William Orlando Butler, a general and hero of the Mexican–American War, who ran as Vice President of the United States in 1848. The County has Allison as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the north area of the state.

County Courthouse
Butler County Courthouse P. O. Box 325 Allison, IA 50602

(319) 267-2487

Butler County

History

 * Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa History at Ancestry.com ($)

Parent County
1851--Butler County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. The county was attached to Buchanan and Black Hawk Counties prior to its organization 2 October 1854. County seat:  Allison

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
Black Hawk • Bremer •  Cerro Gordo •  Chickasaw •  Floyd •  Franklin •  Grundy •  Hardin

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

Lutheran
Butler County


 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Butler County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Parkersburg


 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Parkersburg, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

St. James Lutheran Church, Allison


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

Shell Rock


 * Records of the American Lutheran Church, Shell Rock, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories

 * History of Butler County Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress, and Achievement Vol. 1 Volume 2 includes biographies.
 * Vol 1 Online at FamilySearch (Free) and at Internetarchive (Free) and at Hathitrust (Free)
 * Vol 2 Online at FamilySearch (Free) and at Hathitrust (Free)
 * History of Butler and Bremer counties, Iowa : together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history ; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens : History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the prehistoric race, and a brief review of its civil, political, and military history. Springfield, Illinois : Union Pub. Co., 1883.
 * Online at Hathitrust (Free) and at Googlebooks (Free) and at Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa
 * Iowa USGS Topographic Choose Airport, Bridge, Building, Cemetery, Church, Civil, Hospital, Lake, Locale, Park, Populated Place, Post Office, School, Stream, Summit, Trail http://www.topozone.com/states/Iowa.asp?county=Butler

Military

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

Civil War

 * - 3rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I
 * - 44th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company E
 * - 3rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I :- 44th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company E

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Waterloo newspapers that may have included Butler County residents. This database is free at some libraries.
 * The Iowa Recorder. 1937-1956 Greene, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * The Greene Recorder. 1950, 1957-1969, 1973-1975 Greene, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * The Marble Rock News. 1929, 1930, 1948 Greene, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

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
 * 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
Butler County Iowa Genealogical Society c/o Clarksville Public Library 103 W. Greene Street Clarksville, IA 50619 Telephone:319-278-1168 Website