Bremer County, Iowa Genealogy

Guide to Bremer 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 Fredrika Bremer. The County has Waverly as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the northeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Bremer County Courthouse 415 E. Bremer Avenue Waverly, IA 50677

(319) 352-5661

Bremer County

Parent County
1851--Bremer County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Buchanan County prior to organization 15 August 1853. County seat: Waverly

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 • Buchanan •  Butler •  Chickasaw •  Fayette •  Floyd

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
Readlyn


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

St. John's Lutheran Church, Plainfield


 * Records of the St. John's Lutheran Church, Plainfield, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Waverly


 * Records of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Waverly, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories

 * Grawe, J. F. History of Bremer County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement. Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1914.
 * Vol 1 Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Vol 2 Online at FamilySearch (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 FamilySearch (Free) also at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Lucas, W. V. Pioneer days of Bremer County, Iowa. Waverly, Iowa : Waverly Democrat, 1918.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa

Military

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

Civil War

 * - 9th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G
 * - 9th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1859-1990 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

 * Sumner Public Library Archives, Bremer County has the Sumner Gazette (1881-2008) available online.


 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Waterloo newspapers that may have included Bremer County residents. This database is free at some libraries.
 * Bremer County Independent And Waverly Republican. 1956 Waverly, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Plainfield News. 1976 Plainfield, 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
Bremer County Iowa Genealogical Society 426 Washington Street Denver, IA 5062 Membership: 2392 Hilton Avenue Waverly, IA 50677-9033 Website

Bremer County Historical Society 402 W. Bremer Ave Waverly, IA 50677 Telephone:319.352.1309 E-mail: [mailto:bremercountyhistoricalsociety@gmail.com bremercountyhistoricalsociety@gmail.com] Website

Websites

 * The Internet site, Genealogy Projects and Links, Bremer County, Iowa has Waverly Newspaper German Obituaries, burials of German immigrants in Bremer County, Bremer County 1875 Atlas Township Maps, the contents of some local church records and a list of Bremer County Iowa men registered for World War II draft.

www.karensgen.com/buch/projects/projiowa.php