Adair County, Iowa Genealogy

Guide to Adair 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 Adair. The County has Greenfield as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

Parent County
1851--Adair County was created in January 15, 1851 from Pottawattamie, Dallas, Mahaska, Monroe, Polk and Cass Counties. County records are housed in Greenfield. County. The county was attached to Pottawattamie and Cass Counties prior to organization 6 May 1854. County seat: Greenfield

Boundary Changes
1816-1872 - 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
1889 - Courthouse burned and most court 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
Adams •  Audubon  •  Cass  •  Dallas  •  Guthrie  •  Madison  •  Union  •  Clarke County Genealogy

Biographies
Rootsweb, Iowa Biographics Project Click titles to see alphabetical list of biographies in that title, some with links.

Cemeteries
Transcriptions for some of these cemeteries can be found at:


 * Interment.net cemetery records.
 * Iowa WPA Graves Registration
 * Saving Graves

The has several films with information about the cemeteries in Adair County.

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 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

 * Records of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Fontenelle, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court

 * 1907-1924 - Affidavit index, 1907-1924. Microfilm of originals housed at the Clerk of the District Court, Adair County, Greenfield, Iowa. Affidavits concerning land transactions.

For more information about the courts in Iowa see the Iowa Court Records page.

Genealogy

 * Ancestral lineage, Mildred Olive Bates McCann: Adair County, Iowa, Prince George County, Virginia; with index. at Ancestry.com ($)

Land

 * 1855-1918 - Town lot deed records 1855-1918,
 * 1855-1920 - Index 1855-1920,
 * 1858-1916 - Land transfer records 1858-1916;
 * 1867-1991 - Town lot transfer records 1867-1991;
 * 1870-1991 - Index 1870-1991
 * 1873-1954 - Tax deed records 1873-1954,
 * 1878-1972 - Homestead records 1878-1972,
 * 1880-1911 - Miscellaneous records, 1880-1911;
 * 1880-1916 - Index 1880-1916,
 * 1907-1924 - Affidavit index, 1907-1924. Microfilm of originals housed at the Clerk of the District Court, Adair County, Greenfield, Iowa. Affidavits concerning land transactions.

Libraries

 * Greenfield Public Library 202 S 1st Street Phone: 641-743-6120
 * See also a List of Iowa Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies at Random Acts.

Local Histories

 * History of Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa
 * Adair County History in Photos
 * Guthrie and Adair Counties, Iowa History at Ancestry.com ($)
 * History of Guthrie and Adair counties, Iowa : together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of old settlers and representative citizens. Springfield, Illinois : Continental Historical Co., 1884.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Kilburn, Lucian Moody. History of the Adair County, Iowa, and its people. Chicago, Illinois : Pioneer Pub. Co., 1915.
 * 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.


 * Map of Adair County, Iowa 1882. Includes inset maps of Greenfield, Adair, Orient, Casey, Stuart, Port Union, Fontanelle and the state of Iowa.
 * Standard atlas or Adair County, Iowa: including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county. Landowners are shown on the township maps.

Migration
Early migration routes to and from for European settlers included:


 * 1846 - Mormon Trail 1846, from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah

Military

 * 1835-1998 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1949 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1862-1910 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1887-1952 - Soldiers discharge record, 1887-1952 Microfilm of original records found in the Adair County Courthouse. Adair - Military records; World War, 1914-1918. World War, 1939-1945.

For more information about the Military in Adair see the Iowa Military Records page.

Civil War

 * - 4th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company I
 * - 29th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Adair News
 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries under the name AccessNewspaperArchive.

Obituaries

 * 1907-1959 - Adair County, Iowa obituaries, 1907-1959. Micro reproduction of originals housed at the Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, Iowa.

Probate
Online Probate Records


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


 * contains information about the following:
 * 1858-1902 - Administrator's, executor's, and guardian's bonds, 1858-1902;
 * 1854-1926 - Probate packets, 1854-1926; index, 1854-1926;
 * 1857-1952 - Probate records 1857-1952; index, 1857-1965;
 * 1868-1886 - Probate register, 1868-1886;
 * 1858-1979 - Will records, 1858-1979.

Taxation

 * 1934-1958 - at FamilySearch — index

Birth

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

Marriage

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

Death

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

Societies
Adair County Anquestors Genealogy Society c/o Greenfield Public Library P. O. Box 328 Greenfield, IA 50849-0328 Website

See also a List of Iowa Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Sources and Footnotes
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