Butler County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Butler County

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

Butler County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	January 15, 1851
County Seat	Allison
Courthouse
Address	Butler County Courthouse P. O. Box 325 Allison, IA 50602 Phone: (319) 267-2487 Butler County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for William Orlando Butler, a general and hero of the Mexican–American War, who ran as Vice President of the United States in 1848. The County has Allison as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the north area of the state.

Butler County, Iowa Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1854	1880	1861	1854	1800s	1847
Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths Jan 1891. General compliance by 1924.

County Courthouse

Butler County Courthouse
P. O. Box 325
Allison, IA 50602

(319) 267-2487

Butler County

History

• Butler and Bremer Counties, Iowa History at Ancestry.com ($)

Parent County

1851--Butler County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. The county was attached to Buchanan and Black Hawk Counties prior to its organization 2 October 1854.  County seat:  Allison

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:

Cities
Allison Aplington Aredale Bristow	Clarksville Dumont Greene	New Hartford Parkersburg Shell Rock
Unincorporated communities
Austinville	Kesley	Sinclair
Townships
Albion Beaver Bennezette Butler Coldwater Dayton	Fremont Jackson Jefferson Madison Monroe	Pittsford Ripley Shell Rock Washington West Point

Neighboring Counties

Black Hawk • Bremer • Cerro Gordo • Chickasaw • Floyd • Franklin • Grundy • Hardin

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
IAGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
IAGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
Iowa Gravestones
Billion Graves
See Iowa Cemeteries for more information.

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 - Iowa State Census, 1895 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1905 - Iowa State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1915 - Iowa State Census, 1915 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1925 - Iowa State Census. 1925 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church

Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Iowa Church Records.

Lutheran

Butler County

• Records of the American Lutheran Church, Butler County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Parkersburg

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

St. James Lutheran Church, Allison

• Records of the St. James Lutheran Church, Allison, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Shell Rock

• Records of the American Lutheran Church, Shell Rock, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Land

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Iowa Land and Property for additional information about early Iowa land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Butler County, Iowa Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Iowa Local Histories.

• History of Butler County Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress, and Achievement Vol. 1 Volume 2 includes biographies.
  • Vol 1 Online at FamilySearch (Free) and at Internetarchive (Free) and at Hathitrust (Free)
  • Vol 2 Online at FamilySearch (Free) and at Hathitrust (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 Hathitrust (Free) and at Googlebooks (Free) and at Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & 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=Butler

Military

• 1835-1998 - Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1949 - Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1862-1910 - Iowa, Records of Persons Subject to Military Duty, 1862-1910 at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Butler County, Iowa Genealogy 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 in Butler County, Iowa Genealogy:

- 3rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I

- 44th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company E

- 3rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I
:- 44th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company E

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1859-1990 - United States, Iowa Naturalization Records, 1859-1990 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

• NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Waterloo newspapers that may have included Butler County residents. This database is free at some libraries.
• The Iowa Recorder. 1937-1956 Greene, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
• The Greene Recorder. 1950, 1957-1969, 1973-1975 Greene, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
• The Marble Rock News. 1929, 1930, 1948 Greene, IA, USA Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

Probate

Online Probate Records

• 1758 - 1997 Iowa Wills and Probate Records 1758-1997 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

In most counties in Iowa, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Iowa - Butler - Probate records.

Taxation

Iowa tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. Tax lists were usually made every year, however, there may be gaps of several years. For more information, see the wiki page Iowa Taxation.

• 1934-1958 - Iowa, Old Age Tax Assistance Records, 1934-1958 at FamilySearch — index

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Iowa Department of Public Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also How to order Iowa Vital Records or order electronically online.

Births

• 1850-1939 - Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1921-1942 - Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

• 1518-1996 - Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1838-1934 - Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934 at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

• 1850-1990 - Iowa, Deaths and Burials 1850-1990 at FamilySearch - index
• 1880-1992 - Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — index
  
• 1904-1951 - Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries

Butler County Iowa Genealogical Society
c/o Clarksville Public Library
103 W. Greene Street
Clarksville, IA 50619
Telephone:319-278-1168
Website

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

Websites

Sites with online indexes or images of records pertaining to Butler County, Iowa Genealogy
State Historical Society of Iowa	Free	Select from research collection topics
The Iowa Heritage Digital Collection	Free	digital images from a variety of Iowa cultural institutions - results of "butler county" in the search box
State Library of Iowa	Free	electronic depository of documents intended for the general public produced by Iowa agencies - results of "butler county" in the search box
IAGenWeb Project	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions
USGenWeb Archives	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
[1] [2][3] FamilySearch	Free	Births, 1880-1935; Deaths 1880-1992; Marriages, 1838-1934; all indexes

Sites that search for links pertaining to Butler County, Iowa Genealogy
RootsWeb Resources	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions
Linkpendium	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
CyndisList	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
StateofUS.com	Free	family history resources and government records

Major catalogs for hard copy collections of Butler County, Iowa Genealogy Books, microfilm, or manuscripts of genealogical records
FamilySearch Catalog	Select topics. To select towns, add a comma to the search box.
WorldCat	To find nearby libraries that have specific items, see WorldCat Online Catalog.
Allen County Public Library	located in Indiana They are heavily involved in digitizing.
See also local libraries and Iowa Archives and Libraries

Social networking sites pertaining to Butler County, Iowa Genealogy
GeneaBloggers	enter "Iowa" in search box to see list and links to Iowa blogs
Google+	list of groups from "iowa genealogy" search
Facebook	list of groups from "Iowa Genealogy" search
genealogy.com	Iowa Genealogy Forum
ancestry.com	Butler County Message Board

To access available information, first log into FamilySearch.