Benton County, Iowa Genealogical Records Information

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Benton County History and Information

Benton County Facts

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Benton was created on December 21, 1837 (Organized in 1846) from Dubuque County. The County was named for Thomas Hart Benton, a senator from Missouri who pushed for westward expansion of the United States, colonel in the War of 1812. The County Seat is Vinton.

Counties adjacent to Benton County are Black Hawk County (northwest), Buchanan County (northeast), Linn County (east), Iowa County (south), Tama County (west). Cities and Towns Include Atkins, Belle Plaine, Blairstown, Garrison, Keystone, Luzerne, Mount Auburn, Newhall, Norway, Shellsburg, Urbana, Van Horne, Vinton, Walford. Townships Include Benton, Big Grove, Bruce, Canton, Cedar, City of Belle Plaine, City of Shellsburg, City of Vinton, Eden, Eldorado, Florence, Fremont, Harrison, Homer, Iowa, Jackson, Kane, Leroy, Monroe, Polk, Saint Clair, Taylor, Union.

In the spring of 1846 a county seat was selected and the county was established. It was called Northport and the town was platted the following summer. Soon the town's name was changed to Fremont, in honor of General John Charles Fremont. A town in Iowa was already named Fremont so they again changed the name, this time to Vinton, after Ohio Congressman Plynn Vinton, who paid $50 for the honor.

The first permanent courthouse was begun on July 13, 1856 with the laying of the cornerstone. This building was officially dedicated at a grand ball on December 23, 1856. The final cost of the two-story brick structure was $13,000.

When the time came to replace the old brick courthouse, there was great excitement. There was a persistent rumor that the contents of the cornerstone included a liquor bottle that would have had 49 years to age. The disappointment was just as great when no bottle was found.

The present courthouse was begun in 1905, and it was completed in 1906. The elaborate, three-story stone structure was constructed at a cost of $150,000. It has a 112-foot high tower that contains a clock and 1,500-pound bell which was donated by Paul Correll, a local merchant and farmer. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

The Benton County Official Government Website
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Benton County, Iowa History Books at Amazon.com
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Records at the Benton County Courthouse

PLEASE READ FIRST!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. The Courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1853. The county records were rescued by three courageous men who were seriously burned and died from their injuries three months after the blaze.

All Departments below can be contacted by clicking the link below, calling or visiting the Benton County Courthouse at 111 E 4th Street, PO Box 719, Vinton 52349; Tel: 319-472-4205 . See Also Courthouse Street Addresses for current courthouse addresses for all Iowa Counties. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time. Benton County was attached to Jackson & Linn Counties for a breif time. Some early records may be found there.

Benton County Recorder's Office has Birth Records from 1880, Marriage Records from 1852, Death Records from 1880 and Land Records from 1847.
The Recorder's Office was created in 1839 by the First Legislative Assembly. The Recorder continues to maintain official records of documents affecting title to real estate. Every real estate transaction that takes place begins in the Recorder's Office. One of the major duties of the office is the management of public records. As a result, accuracy and preservation of records are a must in the Recorder's Office. Instruments that are recorded are not only important for today, but serve as a historical library for all of the tomorrows.

In addition to real estate transactions, the Recorder's Office issues titles and liens; records veterans discharge papers; processes passport applications; accepts marriage applications and issues the subsequent license; issues certified copies of birth, death and marriage records as well as other numerous duties.

Benton County Clerk of Court Office has Probate Records from 1856 and Court Records from 1860.
In each of Iowa's 99 counties, a clerk of district court office manages and maintains all trial court records, including pleadings, evidence and orders. The clerks of court have hundreds of administrative duties. They accept and process fines, fees and court costs owed to the state, child support checks, and civil judgments owed to litigants. They maintain a record of liens on all real estate in the county. Clerks help with involuntary hospitalization cases. They have the authority to dispose of scheduled violations which are not contested and do not require a court hearing. Clerks are also responsible for informing state and local government agencies of court orders.

The Iowa district court has general jurisdiction of all civil, criminal and juvenile cases and probate matters in the state. The district court, which is also known as the trial court, is the point of entry in the court system for most cases. The Iowa district court is composed of different kinds of judicial officers with varying amounts of jurisdiction-judicial magistrates, associate juvenile judges, associate probate judges, district associate judges, and district court judges.

Click Here to Search Iowa Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Benton County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Benton County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Benton County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

The tax rolls for personal property and real estate were kept by the auditor or the treasurer of each county. A few of these records have been microfilmed and are available at the State Historical Society of Iowa. Original county tax rolls are usually not transferred.

Old age pension tax is a resource genealogists should consider in Iowa. A 1934 directive to collect an old age assistance tax was based on a list of all persons over twenty-one years of age. Although the tax was discontinued in 1936, the information included could be important: name, address, sex, date of birth, place of birth, and names of both parents. Many counties have had these lists microfilmed and they are available through the FHL.

Below is a list of online resources for Benton County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Benton County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Benton County Tax Assesors Office, Phone: 319-472-5211
The Treasurer is responsible for collection of property taxes and other fees for state, county, city, school districts, community colleges, and other taxing entities such as townships, fire districts, and drainage districts.
Benton County, Iowa Tax Books at Amazon.com

Benton County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Iowa Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Benton County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Benton County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Benton County Genealogical Society, 1808 9th Avenue, Belle Plaine, IA 52208
Benton County Historical Society, PO Box 22, Vinton, IA 52349; Phone: (319) 472-4325
Local Iowa Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
State Historical Society of Iowa, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, IA 50319
Iowa Genealogical Society, 6000 Douglas, P.O. Box 7735, Des Moines, IA 50322
State Historical Society of Iowa Research Library, 402 Iowa Avenue, Iowa City, IA 52240
State Historical Society of Iowa Library, Capitol Complex, Des Moines, IA 50319
National Archives; Central Plains Region, Kansas City, 2312 East Bannister Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64131-3011; Email: kansascity.archives@nara.gov; Phone: 816-268-8000
Iowa Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Iowa Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Benton County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Iowa Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Benton County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Benton County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Predominant church groups in Iowa include Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, and Baptist. Less in size, but equally important in religious history in the state are the Quakers, Mormons, Mennonites, and Congregationalists. The first church building in Iowa, a Methodist church built of logs, was constructed in Dubuque in 1834. A year later the Catholics erected a parish building in the same city. In 1843 the “Iowa Band” of Congregational and Presbyterian clergy began ministering to the settlers in Iowa. In 1854 a small group of the Community of True Inspiration arrived from Germany, settling along the Iowa River in the mid-section of the state. A year later additional members of their group joined them, establishing the unique Amana colonies of present-day Iowa.

Many of the local chapters of the Iowa Genealogical Society have publications of cemetery records in their respective counties which can be ordered through the chapter. A state-wide publication listing is available through the state society. A large number of cemetery transcription collections as well as records of funeral homes, casket lists, and obituary indexes are held by the FHL

Below is a list of online resources for Benton County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Benton County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

IOWA WPA GRAVES REGISTRATION SURVEY - These records contain burials throughout much of Iowa that were compiled by WPA workers in the 1930 s, including grave markers which no longer exist today. Records may be searched within a county or state-wide.
Iowa Cemetery Records: These cemetery records represent seventy-six counties and Graceland Cemetery of Sioux City, Iowa, in the united States, that were transcribed by the Works Project Administration. Records in this database generally include the page number where the record can be found in the WPA index, the name of the deceased, birth date, death date, age, cemetery name, town name, and additional comments if any.
Iowa Civil War Soldier Burial Records: Listing of 30,000 Civil War veterans who served or lived in Iowa following the war.
Benton County, Iowa Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Benton County, Iowa Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Iowa Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Benton County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Benton County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Benton County USGenweb Archives
Benton County, Iowa Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

This is one of the largest counties in the central portion of the state, lying in the fifth tier from the south, and is the fourth west from the Mississippi River. It is thirty miles in length from north to south, and twenty-four in width, embracing an area of twenty congressional townships, or 720 square miles – 470,800 acres – each township being six miles square, and are designated in the government survey as townships 82, 83, 84, 85, and 86, in ranges 9, 10, 11, and 12. The boundaries of the civil townships correspond with those of the congressional, and are named as follows, Harrison, Cedar, Bruce, Monroe, Jackson, Taylor, Benton, Canton, Eden, Big Grove, Homer, Hane, Union, Eldorado, Fremont, Florence, St. Clair, Leroy, and Iowa.

The principal county building is the court house, which is a substantial two-story brick structure, some forty by sixty feet square, and situated in the public square near the business portion of the town. The grounds are handsomely laid out, studded with shrubs, evergreens, and the different varieties of ornamental trees, forming a very attractive place of resort during the heat of summer. The second story is devoted to court and jury rooms, which are conveniently arranged and airy, while the first story is occupied by the different county officers, fire-proof vaults for the records, etc. etc. It was built during the administration of Honorable Samuel Douglas, County Judge, in 1856, and cost $16,000.

The early history of Benton County is somewhat curious and peculiar, containing, as it does, more than the ordinary amount of ludicrous, exciting and amusing incidents. The first permanent settlement was made in the Spring of 1839, by Samuel Lockheart, in the northeastern part of the county, at or near the little village called Marysville, where he still resides. This village was the nucleus of the first settlement, and was better known to the early pioneers as "Hoosier Point," owing to the fact that a large proportion of the first settlers were from Indiana. Samuel Parker came in the same season, and settled at Parker's Grove, while Gilmore Clark located about one mile southeast of the present village of Shellsburg. They all built cabins, made claims, and did a little breaking that season, raising a few garden vegetables. The following Spring, Stedman Penrose came with his wife and children and located about one and a half miles east of Shellsburg. L. F. North came at the same time, and located with him, while soon after two Englishmen, by the names of George Wright and John Smith, made a claim a mile or two southeast of Pemrose's. Reuben Buskirk also came the same Spring and settled near the east line of the county, directly east of Vinton, where he built a cabin and made some improvements. He died October 10, 1842, which was the first death that occurred in the county. As there was no lumber to be had it was impossible to make a coffin, and his few neighbors, cutting a linn tree, rift it into punchions, and arranged his grave as well as they could under the circumstances. The funeral was attended by five men, and three women, only a portion of whom lived in Benton County. In April, 1842, Jacob Cantonwine made a claim at Shellsburg, while L. D. Bordwell—or "Black King", as he was generally called—bought out the claim of Wright & Smith, who had built a good log cabin, fenced, broke and had under cultivation some forty acres. For some ten or twelve years after the first settlement was made in this county, the increase in population was very slow, yet it is a notable fact that nearly all who once located became permanent settlers. As there is no record of these events, except in the memory of a very few early settlers, it is impossible to be positively certain as to the dates of occurrences which took place thirty and thirty-five years ago. The historian will not, therefore, attempt to give the exact dates, or the names of all who settled here at an early day, but will content himself by mentioning the names of a few more pioneers, who materially aided in transforming the wild prairies and woodlands, which for centuries had been the home and favorite hunting grounds of the wild savage, into the rich farms, populous villages, and the impressively beautiful scenes of life, animation and advanced civilization which now form the wealthy county of Benton. James Downs, Thos. Way, Thomas and Price Kendrick settled at and with some others founded the little village of Marysville, while the following are a few of those who settled prior to 1850; Isaac Onstott, Henry Dillon, Wm. Davis, Daniel Harris, George Sanders, John Royal, John Mason, Beal Dorsey, Dr. C.W. Huffman, J. W. Filkins, A.D. Stephens, who was Indian agent, J.R. Pratt, L.W. Hayes, Francis Saunders, and his six sons, James, Joseph, William, Flem, George and Francis Jr., Fielding Bryson, James Harmely, Martin Webb, Stephen Brody, Chancy Leverich, Anderson Amos, Joseph Bryson, Joseph Remington, William Mitchell, James Pooly, Jesse Brody, Josiah Helm, Thos. Mahan, G. Billy White, James Leverich, John Alexander, I.D. Simpson, J.F. Young. In 1850 and 51, A. H. Johnson, David Jewell, Samuel Roseberry, Alex. Moody, John S. Epperson, Chas. N. Moberly, Elias Done, John Leard, L.W. Bryson, Wm. Cline and Abel Cox, while in 1852 there were John S. Tilford, J. S. Forsythe, Aaron Webb, John Parks, John Renfrew, C.C. Charles, James F. Beckett, D.S. Bruebecker, W.O. Saunders, M.D.L. Webb, Caleb Stephen, James Chapin, James Rice, W.C. Stanberry, Wm. Bells, J.C. Traer, R. Jones, E. Evans, John R. Speak, Chas. Stewart, James Wood, John Shank, Wm. Riley, Geo. McCoy, John C. Rouse, and Davis Fouts.

A strip of land on the east side, comprising about one tier of townships, was within the Black Hawk Purchase of September 21, 1832, and was therefore open for settlement several years prior to the time when the remaining portion of the county was ceded to the whites by the Sac and Fox Indians. A few years after the first settlement, as the county began to be more populace, a class of desperados, taking advantage of the fact that it was located on the very outskirts of civilization, organized themselves into bands that were the terror of the peaceable, honest and law-abiding citizens. These outlaws, systematically engaging in horse stealing and other amusements generally indulged in by frontier banditti, acquired such power and influence in the county, as for a time, to force a suspension of all law and judicial proceedings. The three or four years prior to 1851 is generally referred to by old settlers as the "dark ages," for between the horse thieves and robbers on the one side, and the self-styled "Regulators," or "Vigilance Committees," on the other, no peaceable, law-abiding citizen was safe from molestation. For three years courts were not held in the county, and some of the officials were suspicioned of being in sympathy with the thieves, while others were known to be active members of the "Regulators." For a time it was uncertain which party was the most damaging to the county as both of them often prevented the peaceable administration of the law and under one pretext or another postponed the holding of courts, and the performance of other official duties by the regularly elected officers of the county. While many of the best men were connected with, and active members of the "Regulators," yet a number of the thieving gang joined them, the better to conceal their operations, and to obtain an opportunity of wreaking vengeance upon the heads of some innocent party who had thwarted them in their plans. It therefore became necessary to re-organize for better self-protection, and the character of the society was much improved, although they afterwards committed depredations, individually, and as a body, which would not stand the light of legal investigation. As the constitution of this organization is a somewhat curious and important document pertaining to the early history of Benton County, the historian has thought best to reproduce it with the names of the originators and members in this county.

The document reads as follows;"This Society shall be called the Iowa Protection Company.

ART. 1. The object of this Society shall be to protect the property of the members of this company, and particularly their horses, from the depredations of robbers and thieves, and also to trace out the perpetrators of thefts, rescue and restore property stolen, and assist in a due and faithful administration of law and justice.
ART.2. The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, Secretary, and Treasurer, to be chosen riva roce at any stated meeting, and to hold their offices during good behavior.
ART. 3. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all regular meetings of the Society, and in his absence, the Society may choose a President pro tem; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to record all the proceedings of the Society, and preserve the same; and it shall be the duty of each member to pay to the Treasurer such sums of money from time to time as the Society shall dictate. He shall keep a correct book in which he shall enter the amount received and expended, and the purpose for which it was expended.
ART. 4. The Society shall appoint such committees as may be necessary to carry out the objects of the Society.
ART. 5. Each and every member shall sign the constitution and hold themselves subject to its provisions, and on revealing its proceedings in any respect, shall be excluded from its benefits.
ART. 6. This Society shall be convened at any time by notice from the President.
ART. 7. No person shall be entitled to vote unless a member of the Society.
ART. 8. This constitution may be altered or amended at any regular meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present.
ART. 9. No person shall be admitted a member of this Society who is under suspicion of horse-stealing, or any other theft, or for harboring thieves or robbers.
ART. 10. The regular meeting of this Society shall be the Saturday before the full moon, at such place as may be designated."

J.S. Epperson, W.W. Hopkins, Robt. Osborn, John S. Vanclave, John D. Vanclave, Alex. Wood, Joseph Remington, Able Cox. S.M. Lockhart, Wm. Bells, Elijah Evans, Harrison Berry, Jacob Remington, Sanford Moberly, A.H. Johnson, Jacob Fouts, John C. McCoy, J.M. Broad, C.M. Moberly, Joel W. Miller, Thos. G. Lockhart, Groly Osborn, Elmyra Howard, John Osborn, Chas. Stewart, John Sauks, Wm. A. Bryson, Hiram Roszell, Wm. A. Griffin, Wm. Riley, Spencer Johnson, James Downs, Chas. Epperson, Alex. Johnson, David Jewell, Geo. McCoy, John R. Speak, Lewis W. Bryson, Stephen D. Jewell, Davis Fouts, John C. Rouse, Martin Johnson, Lauslot Johnson, Edwin C. Hall, James Johnson, Hiram T. Epperson, and A. Taylor. The organization was perfected by the election of Judge J.S. Forsythe as President, Elijah Evans, Secretary, and George McCoy, Treasurer.

Benton County was surveyed in 1845, '46, 47, by I.A. Brown, I.N. Higbee and Jas. Fanning, Deputy Surveyors of the United States. It was organized early in the spring of 1846, in accordance with an act of the Territorial Legislature passed the previous winter, and the county seat located on section 21 by commissioners, who namedit Vinton, in honour of Hon. Plynn Vinton, a former member of Congress from Ohio, who sent a considerable amount of money to be donated to the county if the commissioners would name the county town Vinton. A year or two later, C. Leverich and J. Alexander, who were interested in property lying nearer the river where the present business portion of Vinton now stands, determined to make an attempt to move the county seat, and accordingly got up a petition asking the legislature to grant a re-location by a vote of the people. To prevent all opposition, and make the thing doubly sure, at the same time when they circulated the petition, they carried a remonstrance which they asked all to sign when they would not put their names to the petition. In that way they secured the signatures of nearly all the citizens of the county, and by attaching them all to the petition they made a very strong showing and without opposition secured the passage of a special act ordering an election in 1849. It was accordingly held, when votes were cast for the present site, and for a point on the opposite side of the river three miles northeast and near or at the residence of Thomas Ways, which resulted in the same number of votes being cast for both places. Another election was held the following August, and the location was fixed at its present site by a majority of twelve. Previous to this election a hewed log courthouse, twenty-four feet square, had been erected on the site first selected by the commissioners. It cost the county fifty dollars, but was never completed or occupied. After the change of the location a cheap two-story frame house, costing some six or seven hundred dollars, was built in one corner of the present court house square, a portion of which was first occupied as a store, and afterwards for school, church and political purposes until the Winter of 1852, when it was burned.

The first election in which any of the citizens of this county participated was held on the first Monday in August, 1843, at which time they voted for officers of Lynn County, to which Benton was then attached. The first election after the organization of the county took place in April, 1846, at which time there was but one voting precinct, Parker's Grove, some two and a half miles southeast of Shellsburg. Beal Dorcey, Stedman Pemrose and L.D. Bordwell were judges, and David Pratt and John Royal, clerks. The total number of votes cast was twenty-nine which resulted in the election of John Royal for Sheriff, David Pratt, District Court Clerk: L.D. Bordwell, Justice of the Peace, and –Hamline, Constable. These officers were only chosen to hold until the general election, which occurred in the following August, at which time there were two voting precincts—Canton on the west side and Polk on the east side of the river. There were between forty and fifty votes cast at this election and J.R. Pratt was elected Clerk of District Court, I.D. Summerson, School Commissioner; James Downs, Sheriff, L.W. Hayes, Treasurer and Recorder; James Mitchell, Judge of Probate; L.F. North, Samuel Lockhart and Samuel Parker, County Commissioners.

The first term of the District Court was appointed to be held in this county in 1846, but for some reason the judge did not appear, and the clerk, J.R. Pratt, adjourned it for one day, when the judge still remaining absent, he adjourned it without date. The court was to have been held at the house of Thomas Ways, which was then the best house in the county, and was situated some three or four miles northeast of the present site of Vinton. There were eighteen grand and seventeen petit jurors present. On the 31st day of May, 1847, the first term of District Court was convened at the house of Thomas Ways, by Honorable James P. Carlton, Judge of the Fourth Judicial District; I.D. Sommerson, Clerk, James Downs, Sheriff and James Mitchell, Prosecuting Attorney. The household furniture and cooking utensils were removed by the good house wife to the shelter of a neighboring tree, and his Honor, James P. Carlton, took his seat on a three-legged stool, with a rough table before him, on which were the books and papers of the clerk, I.D. Sommerson who occupied a low bench at the left of the Court. The attorneys present were N.W. Isabell, afterwards one the judges of the Supreme Court, J.M. Preston, John David and D.P. Palmer-- all since distinguished lawyers. About the first business transacted was the examination of William Smythe, since District Judge, and his admission to the bar. James Mitchell was also examined and refused admission, and afterwards ousted from the office of Prosecuting Attorney by an information in the nature of quo warranto, filed by Stephen Holcomb. I.M. Preston was appointed pro tem Prosecuting Attorney.The following are the names of the grand jurors: Fielding Bryson, James Harmely, Joseph Remington, John Bryson, Charles Graham, Stephen Brody, Jesse Brody, Josiah Halm, David Jewel, William Mitchell, Samuel M. Lockhart, James Polly, Chaney Leverich, Anderson Amos, James M. Denison, Joseph Bryson, L.D. Bordwell, Samuel Stephenson, eighteen good and lawful men of said county. Samuel M. Lockhart was appointed foreman of this first grand jury. The first criminal case that appeared of record was the State of Iowa vs. Jual Leverich for passing counterfeit money and having in his possession counterfeiter's tools. The second term of District Court was convened at Thomas Way's, April 24, 1848, and the third term was opened in the Courthouse at Vinton, September 18, 1848, after which there was no court held until June 18, 1851. The first Circuit Court was assembled in the Courthouse at Vinton, January 4, 1859, and presided over by Honorable W.E. Miller, now Chief Justice of the State; Honorable B.R. Sherman, present State Auditor, Clerk; and Henry M. Wilson, Sheriff.

The first instrument recorded in the records of Benton County, was a bill of sale of one yoke of oxen, one two-horse wagon, three log chains, one brown cow, and one yearling calf, made by Charles Hinkley to S.H. Tryon. It was executed and recorded January 13, 1847, acknowledged before L.W. Hayes, a Justice of the Peace, recorded by L.W. Hayes, Recorder, and witnessed by L.W. Hayes and Joel Natin. The first paper affecting real estate recorded, was a warrantee deed, executed October 15, 1846, by Charles A. Belknap and Elizabeth L. Belknap, his wife, to Levi Lewis, conveying forty acres of land, for a consideration of one dollar per acre. The oldest town plat now on record, is that of Marysville, which was laid out May 5, 1847, by L.I. Riguad, County surveyor, and recorded five days later. The plat of the first town of Vinton, was recorded February 20, 1848, having been surveyed a few days previous, by I.D. Simmerson, County Surveyor. The plat was signed by Samuel M. Lockhart, Loyal F. North, and Thomas Way, County Commissioners.The first white child born in the county was Mary, a daughter of I.F. North. She was born January 8, 1843; while the second was Lucinda, daughter of L.D. Bordwell, born July 5, 1844. Bordwell also had a son, William, born January 21, 1847, who was the first male child born in the county. The first marriage license was issued by Dept. District Clerk, David R. Pratt, to Joseph Oustott and Miss Sarah Patch, who were duly joined in marriage by L.D. Bordwell, a justice of the peace, June 20, 1847. This was the first marriage celebrated in the county, and might have occurred sooner as far as the age of the parties was concerned, as they were both forty-five at the time.A saw-mill was erected on Mud Creek about one and a half miles southeast of Vinton,. in the Summer or Fall of 1849, by John Royal and C.C. Charles, which was the first one in the county. The first school taught in the county was at or near Marysville.

From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875

Benton County Courthouse

The first Benton county courthouse at Vinton was a log structure. However, it had no roof and no floor. Since this made court particularly difficult when it rained, residents of the court eventually moved to a local log home for the session.

The second courthouse stood unfinished for many years because of a dispute over the location of the county seat. It was finally completed in 1852, but was destroyed by fire in 1853. The county records were rescued by three courageous men who were seriously burned and died from their injuries three months after the blaze.

In December 1856, a courthouse dedication was held to celebrate the completion of the third courthouse. This $13,000 building would be replaced by a $105,000 courthouse in 1906. This fourth courthouse stands today with its 112-foot high tower containing an illuminated clock and a 1500-pound B-flat bell. The exterior is made of Buckeye gray sandstone. Extensive repairs were done on the roof and other areas of the building in 1974. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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