Appanoose County, Iowa Genealogy

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

Description
Appanoose County was named for Chief Appanoose and is located in the south-central Iowa.

County Courthouse
Appanoose County Courthouse 201 North 12th Street Centerville, IA 52544 Phone: 641-437-7178 Appanoose County Website

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:

History Timeline

 * Established in 1843, Appanoose County was named for a chief of the Sac and the Fox Indian tribes that lead the peace party during the Black Hawk War. Appanoose means "A Chief When a Child."
 * During the first part of the 20th century, mining was a major factor in Appanoose.

Biographies

 * Appanoose County, Iowa Biographies Project at RootsWeb — links to biographies and local histories
 * Lewis, S. Thompson. Biographical and Genealogical History of Appanoose and Monroe Counties, Iowa. The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1903. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * Biographical and Historical Record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa: containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland. Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1886. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Archive; Google Books.
 * Iowa Labor History Oral Project Online at: Iowa Digital Library.

Business, Commerce, and Occupations

 * Iowa State Planning Board, Committee on Business and Industry. The Industrial History of Appanoose County, Iowa. Des Moines, IA, 1935 Online at: Wikipedia

Census Records
State Census
 * 1885 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1895 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images (individual cards, not family context)
 * 1915 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1925 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Church Records
Lutheran United Methodist Church Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
 * FamilySearch Places
 * 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry ($)
 * Iowa Churches: A File at the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Films at FamilySearch.org - Church histories, anniversary programs, and newspaper clippings. Search by towns or the name of the church.
 * Ministerial Biographies: A File in the Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Films at FamilySearch.org — biographies mainly of Methodist ministers.
 * Camp of Israel at The Joseph Smith Papers — later referred to as Zion's Camp.

Genealogies

 * Lewis, S. Thompson. Biographical and Genealogical History of Appanoose and Monroe Counties, Iowa. The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, 1903.  Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Internet Archive; Ancestry — index and images ($)

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1847-1903   at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1850-1907   at FamilySearch Catalog - images

Local Histories
Online Local Histories and indexes
 * 1986 Appanoose County History Book Index. (Centerville, IA: Appanoose County Genealogical Society, 1990). Online at: Open Library.
 * Biographical and Historical Record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa: containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Cleveland. Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, IL., 1886. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; Internet Archive; Ancestry — index and images ($).
 * The history of Appanoose County, Iowa, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., a biographical directory of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of the Northwest, history of Iowa. Western Historical Company, Chicago, IL. 1878. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Google Books, Internet Archive.
 * Mott, David C. Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa. The Annals of Iowa, Volume XVII, Nos. 6, 7 and 8, and Volume XVIII, Nos. 1, 2 and 3, (State Historical Society of Iowa, 1930-1932). Online at Iowa State Library — PDF format
 * Taylor, L.L., Ed., Past and Present of Appanoose County, Iowa. The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago, IL., 1913. Online at:  FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 1, FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol 2, Google Books, Vol. 1,  Internet Archive, Vol. 1, Internet Archive, Vol 2.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Heusinkveld, W.M., County Historical Atlas; Centerville, IA, (Appanoose County Sesquicentennial Commission, 1996), reprinted by the Appanoose County Historical and Coal Mining Museum in 2010; — Online at AppanooseCounty.Iowa.gov
 * David Rumsey Map Collection is a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Migration
Early migration routes to and from Appanoose County for European settlers included:
 * 1846 Mormon Trail, 1846 from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Military Records
Multiple Wars


 * 1835-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index only
 * 1862-1910 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Civil War
 * 1861-1949 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Civil War service men in Appanoose County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed here:
 * - 3rd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company I
 * - 6th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Companies D and F
 * - 7th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company F
 * - 8th Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Companies F and H
 * - 17th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company F
 * - 18th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company F
 * - 36th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Companies C, F, G and I
 * - 47th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company B

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalizations Indexes and Records
 * 1859-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Newspapers

 * 1870-1872 The Weekly Citizen (Centerville, Iowa) at Ancestry — index and images, ($)
 * 1872-1873, 1881 The Centerville Citizen (Centerville, Iowa) at Ancestry — index and images, ($)
 * 1881-1882 The Appanoose Times (Centerville, Iowa) at Ancestry — index and images, ($)
 * 1881-1882 Centerville Times (Centerville, Iowa) at Ancestry — index and images, ($)
 * The Newspaper Directory on the Library of Congress' Chronicling America lists newspapers which have been published in Appanoose County, Iowa.
 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.

Obituaries

 * 1899-1939, 1910-1950 Singley, Eva B, Book of obituaries, Appanoose County, Iowa. Online at FamilySearch — images.

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records


 * 1758-1997 Iowa, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997 at Ancestry — index and images ($).
 * 1854-1933   at FamilySearch Catalog - images
 * 1941-1980  at FamilySearch Catalog - images

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry — index and images, ($)

Tax Records
Online Tax Indexes and Records
 * 1934-1958 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Birth

 * 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1880-1935 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection, index
 * 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images

Marriage

 * 1518-1996 Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index ($)
 * 1809-1992 Iowa, Marriages, 1809-1992 at MyHeritage — index ($)
 * 1836-1926 Iowa, Marriages, 1836 - 1926 at MyHeritage — index ($)
 * 1838-1934 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1880-1951 Iowa, U.S., Marriage Records, 1880-1951 at Ancestry — index and images ($)

Death

 * 1850-1990 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and some images
 * 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1900-1939 Iowa Death Index, 1900-1939 at MyHeritage — index ($)
 * 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1920-1967 Iowa, U.S., Death Records, 1920-1967 at Ancestry — index and images ($)

Family History Centers

 * Centerville Iowa Family History Center

Libraries
Drake Public Library 115 Drake Ave Centerville, IA 52544 641-856-6676 Email: [mailto:drake@centerville.lib.ia.us drake@centerville.lib.ia.us] Website Garrett Memorial Library 123 S Main St Moulton, IA 52572 641-642-3664 Email: [mailto:Chelsey.wentz@moulton.lib.ia.us Chelsey.wentz@moulton.lib.ia.us] Website

Museums
The Appanoose County Historical & Coal Mining Museum 100 W Maple Centerville, IA 52544 641-856-8040 Email: [mailto:appanoosehistory@yahoo.com appanoosehistory@yahoo.com] Website

Societies
Appanoose County Genealogical Society PO Box 684 Centerville, IA 52544-0684 Email: [mailto:acgs2005@hotmail.com acgs2005@hotmail.com] Website The Appanoose County Historical Society 100 W Maple Centerville, IA 52544 641-856-8040 Email: [mailto:appanoosehistory@yahoo.com appanoosehistory@yahoo.com] Website

Websites

 * Appanoose County at IAGenWeb Project.
 * Appanoose County at USGenWeb Archives.
 * State Historical Society of Iowa — Select from research collection topic links
 * The Iowa Heritage Digital Collection — digital images from a variety of Iowa cultural insitutions
 * State Library of Iowa — electronic depository of documents intended for the general public produced by Iowa agencies
 * Appanoose County at Cyndi's List.
 * Appanoose County at Genealogy Trails.
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.