Franklin County, Iowa Genealogy

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

Parent County
1851--Franklin County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Chickasaw, Fayette, and Hardin Counties prior to organization 3 March 1856. County seat: Hampton

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



Cities and towns

 * Ackley
 * Alexander
 * Coulter
 * Dows
 * Geneva
 * Hampton
 * Hansell
 * Latimer
 * Popejoy
 * Sheffield

Unincorporated communities

Bradford Chapin

Neighboring Counties
Butler • Cerro Gordo •  Floyd •  Grundy •  Hamilton •  Hancock •  Hardin •  Wright

Census
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 the Zion Lutheran Church, Sheffield, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories
1883 Biographies


 * Union Publishing Company. History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa... and biographies of representative citizens. : History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races... Springfield, Ill. : Union Publishing Co., 1883.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Stuart, I. L. History of Franklin County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement. Chicago, Illinois : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1914.
 * Online at Internetarchive (Free)
 * History of Franklin County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Franklin County history, Iowa 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=Franklin

Military

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

Civil War

 * - 2nd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company F
 * - 2nd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company F

Newspapers
NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.


 * Hampton Chronicle. 1951-2963, 1966 Hampton, 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 $

Births

 * 1850-1939 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

 * 1838-1934 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

 * 1850-1990 - at FamilySearch - index
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1921-1940 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Franklin County Genealogical Society 4 Federal Street Hampton IA 50441-1934

Franklin County Historical Museum 1008 Central Ave W Hampton, IA 50441 Telephone:641-456-5777 E-mail: [mailto:info@historyinfranklincounty.org info@historyinfranklincounty.org] Website

Dows Historical Society 1896 Railroad Street Dows IA 50071-0287