Wayne County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Wayne County

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

Wayne County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	January 13, 1846
County Seat	Corydon
Courthouse

County Information

Description

The County was named for Anthony Wayne. The County has Corydon as its seat and the County was created 1846. The County is located in the south central area of the state.

Wayne County, Iowa Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1851	1880	1875	1851	1891	1847
Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths Jan 1891. General compliance by 1924.

History

Anthony Wayne

The county is named after Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne (1745-1796).

• Biographical and historical record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa : containing portraits of all the presidents of the Un at Ancestry.com ($)

Parent County

1846--Wayne County was created 13 January 1846 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Davis County prior to organization 27 January 1851. County seat:  Corydon

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

• Bethlehem

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
Allerton Clio Corydon	Humeston Lineville Millerton	Promise City Seymour
Unincorporated communities
Cambria Confidence	Harvard New York	Sewal
Townships
Benton Clay Clinton Corydon Grand River Howard	Jackson Jefferson Monroe Richman South Fork	Union Walnut Warren Washington Wright
Ghost towns
Big Spring

Neighboring Counties

Appanoose • Clarke • Decatur • Lucas • Monroe • Mercer County, Missouri • Putnam County, Missouri

Resources

Biographies

• Biographical and historical record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa : containing portraits of all the presidents of the Un 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.

Pioneer cemeteries being restored, 2014.

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.

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Bethlehem

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 Wayne 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 and Historical Record of Wayne and Appanoose Counties, Iowa 

• Biographical and historical record of Wayne and Appanoose counties, Iowa : containing a condensed history of the state of Iowa, portraits and biographies of the governors, personal histories of many of the leading families. Chicago, Illinois : Inter-State, 1886. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, HathiTrust.

• History of Wayne County, Iowa. By Warren H. Burton. [S.l. : s.n.], 1955, 1957. Online at:Vol.1 FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol. 2: FamilySearch Digital Library.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Iowa

Migration

Early migration routes to and from Wayne County, Iowa Genealogy for European settlers included:

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

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

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 Wayne 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 Wayne County, Iowa Genealogy:

- 4th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I

- 23rd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D

- 46th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company H

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 Wayne County, Iowa Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

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

• 1900-04 and 1906-21 — The Humeston New Era at Ancestry.com ($) — Humeston, IA, USA
• 1885-91 and 1893-1900 — The New Era at Ancestry.com ($) — Humeston, IA, USA
• 1903-04 — Humeston Advocate at Ancestry.com ($) — Humeston, IA, USA

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 - Wayne - Probate records.

School

A large collection of school records are held by the Prairie Trails Museum, Wayne County Historical Society, Haighway 2 East, Post Office Box 104, Corydon 50060-0104; http://www.prairietrailsmuseum.org

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

Wayne County Genealogical Society
304 North Franklin
Corydon IA 50060-1330

Wayne County Historical Society
P. O. Box 104
Corydon, Iowa 50060
Website

Prairie Trails Museum of Wayne County and Historical and Genealogical Library
515 East Jefferson Street (Route #2)
Corydon, Iowa 50060
See it's collections and resources for local and family history research.

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

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