Sac County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Sac County

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

Sac County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	January 15, 1851
County Seat	Sac City
Courthouse

County Information

Description

The County was named for Sauk people. The County has Sac City as its seat and the County was created January 15, 1851. The County is located in the west central area of the state.

Sac County, Iowa Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1888	1888	1888	1888	1856	1888	1847
Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths Jan 1891. General compliance by 1924.

Quick Facts

Parent County

1851 Sac County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Woodbury and Greene Counties prior to organization 7 April 1856. County seat: Sac City

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

1888 The courthouse burned, but some charred records were recovered.

For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:

• Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill. Online at: Family History Circle.
• When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle. Online at: Tennessee Genealogy Blog.
• Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

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
Auburn Early Lake View	Lytton Nemaha Odebolt	Sac City Schaller Wall Lake
Unincorporated communities
Carnarvon
Townships
Boyer Valley Cedar Clinton Cook Coon Valley Delaware	Douglas Eden Eureka Jackson Levey	Richland Sac Viola Wall Lake Wheeler

Neighboring Counties

Buena Vista • Calhoun • Carroll • Cherokee • Crawford • Ida • Pocahontas

Resources

Biography

• Biographical history of Crawford, Ida and Sac Counties, Iowa : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, 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
Iowa Gravestones
Billion Graves
See Iowa Cemeteries for more information.

Census

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.

History

Local histories are available for Sac 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.

• Biographical history of Crawford, Ida and Sac Counties, Iowa : containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States, at Ancestry.com ($)

• History of Sac County, Iowa : with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families. Indianapolis, Ind. : F. F. Bowen & Co., 1914. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Iowa

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

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Sac County, Iowa Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat
• FamilySearch. Do a Sac County, Iowa Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see, FamilySearch Catalog Place-name Search).

• Schaller Herald. 1957. Schaller, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
• Sac Sun. 1955. Sac County, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

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 - Sac - 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

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
• 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

Sac County Genealogical Society
P.O. Box 54
Sac City, Iowa 50583
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

• Sac County, IA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Iowa Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Iowa Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Sac County, Iowa Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)