Grundy County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Grundy County

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

Grundy County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	information needed
County Seat	Clarion
Courthouse

County Information

Description

The County was named for Felix Grundy. The County has Grundy Center as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the centre area of the state.

Grundy County, Iowa Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1856	1881	1880	1863	1870	1847
Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths Jan 1891. General compliance by 1924.

History

The county is named after U.S. Attorney General Felix Grundy (1777-1840).

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
Beaman Conrad Dike	Grundy Center Holland Morrison	Reinbeck Stout Wellsburg
Townships
Beaver Black Hawk Clay Colfax Fairfield	Felix German Grant Lincoln Melrose	Palermo Pleasant Valley Shiloh Washington

Neighboring Counties

Black Hawk • Butler • Franklin • Hardin • Marshall • Tama

Resources

Biography

• Jasper, Marshall, and Grundy Counties, Iowa Biographical Dictionary at Ancestry.com ($)

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.

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 Grundy 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.

• Strohbehn, Fred. From tall grass prairies to huge grainfields : 150 years of Grundy County farm changes, farming, producing and trading livestock. Reinbeck, Iowa : F. Strohbehn, 2006.
  • Online at FamilySearch (Free)
• Beckman, E. H. A history of Grundy County from the earliest records up to July 4th, 1876 : a valuable and exhaustive collection.... Grundy Center, Iowa : Atlas Print, 1876.
  • Online at FamilySearch (Free)
• Portrait and Biographical Record of Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, Iowa, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the Counties. Chicago, IL, USA: Biographical Publishing, 1894. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• 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=Grundy
  

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

Naturalization and Citizenship

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

Newspapers

• NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Waterloo newspapers that may have included Grundy County residents. This database is free at some libraries.
• The Grundy Register. 1931, 1950, and 1952. Grundy Center, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

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 - Grundy - Probate records.

Taxation

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

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.

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

Marriage

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

Death

• 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

Grundy County Genealogical Society
18419 205th Street
Grundy Center, IA 50638-8733

Grundy County Historical Society
Rt. 1
Grundy Center, IA 50638
Telephone:319- 824-3585

Wellsburg Historical Foundation
P.O. Box 490
Wellsburg, Iowa 50680

Ostfriesian Heritage Society
1207 Ninth Street
Grundy Center, Iowa 50638-1206

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

The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

Sites with online indexes or images of records pertaining to Grundy 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 "grundy 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 "grundy 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
genealogytrails.com	Free	Data may be submitted by individuals or 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 Grundy 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 ($)
CyndisList	Free	Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)
Grundy County IA at LDS Genealogy	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 Grundy 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 Grundy 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	IA Genealogy Forum
ancestry.com	Grundy County Message Board