Hancock County, Iowa Genealogy

Guide to Hancock 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 Hancock. The County has Gamer as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the north centre area of the state.

Parent County
1851--Hancock County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Boone and Webster Counties prior to organization 25 November 1858. County seat:  Garner

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
Cerro Gordo • Franklin •  Humboldt •  Kossuth •  Winnebago •  Worth •  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 First Lutheran Church, Forest City, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories

 * History of Kossuth, Hancock and Winnebago counties, Iowa : together with sketches of their cities, villages and townships; history of Iowa. Springfield, Illinois : Union Pub. Co., 1884.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free) and at Internetarchive (Free)and at Hathitrust (Free)
 * History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress, and achievement. Chicago : Pioneer Pub., 1917.
 * Vol 1 Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Vol 2 Online at FamilySearch (Free)

Military

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

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


 * The Britt News Tribune. 1951-55. Britt, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
 * Forest City Summit. 1955 Forest City, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

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
Hancock County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 8 Klemme, IA 50449-0081 E-mail: [mailto:hancoiagensoc@comm1net.net hancoiagensoc@comm1net.net] Website