Decatur County, Iowa Genealogy

United States Iowa  Decatur County

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

County Courthouse
Decatur County Courthouse 207 Main Street Leon, IA 50144-1647

(515) 446-4331

History


The county is named after U.S. naval officer Stephen Decatur (1779-1820).

Parent County
1846--Decatur County was created 13 January 1846 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Davis County prior to organization 6 March 1850. County seat: Leon

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
March 31, 1874 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged. For a list of record loss in Iowa Counties see: Iowa Counties with Burned Courthouses

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research in FamilySearch Wiki
 * Michael John Neill, Burned Counties in Family History Circle

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog

Neighboring Counties
Clarke • Lucas • Ringgold • Union • Wayne • Harrison County, Missouri • Mercer County, Missouri

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.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Garden Grove

Local Histories

 * Howell, J. M. History of Decatur County, Iowa, and its people. Chicago : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1915.
 * Vol 1 Online at FamilySearch (Free); and at Internetarchive (Free)
 * Vol 2 Online at FamilySearch (Free); and at Internetarchive (Free)
 * History of Decatur County, Iowa, and its people at Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Iowa

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


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

Civil War

 * - 4th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D
 * - 17th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
 * - 48th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company C
 * - 17th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A :- 48th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company C :- 4th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D

Newspapers
NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.
 * Leon Journal Record. 1938 Leon, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

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