Humboldt County, Iowa Genealogical Records Information

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Humboldt County History and Information

Humboldt County Facts

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Humboldt was created on January 15, 1851 but was then legislated out of existence in July 1855. The land was given to Kossuth and Webster counties. On February 26, 1857 the county was re-established as Humboldt County from Kossuth & Webster Counties but only with 12 townships. The County was named for Friedrich Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt, the famous German scientist, explorer and statesman. The County Seat is Dakota City.

Counties adjacent to Humboldt County are Kossuth County (north), Wright County (east), Webster County (south), Pocahontas County (west). Cities and Towns Include Bode, Bradgate, Dakota City, Gilmore City, Hardy, Humboldt, Livermore, Lu Verne, Ottosen, Pioneer, Renwick, Rutland, Thor.

The first white man to build a cabin in the county was Henry Lott. In 1854, Lott killed Sidominadotah, an Indian chief, and most of his family and then fled the state. The Spirit Lake Massacre was led by Inkpaduta, brother of Sidominadotah.

The county had been in existence for 15 years before a courthouse was erected at Dakota City, which had been chosen as the county seat in 1857. This first courthouse was built at a cost of $5,000. It was constructed of bricks that were made at the courthouse site. The original size of the building was supposed to be 37-foot x 47-foot, but the final dimensions were 47-foot x 59-foot and two stories high.

After several heated debates, the citizens of Humboldt County finally agreed to the construction of a new courthouse. Some people felt Humboldt should get the new building, but Dakota City remained the county seat. Dakota City has the smallest population of any county seat in Iowa (911 as of 2000 census).

The building was dedicated on February 25, 1939. It is a three-story, 64-foot. x 104-foot gray brick building. The county paid $95,000 of the $175,000 cost. The remaining balance was furnished by the Public Works Administration. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

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

All Departments below can be contacted by clicking the link below, calling or visiting the Humboldt County Courthouse at PO Box 100, Dakota City 50529; Tel: 515-332-1806. 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. Humboldt County was attached to Boone County for a breif time. Some early records may be found there.

Humboldt County Recorder's Office has Birth Records from 1880, Marriage Records from 1858?, Death Records from 1880 and Land Records from 1855.
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.

Humboldt County Clerk of Court Office has Probate Records from 1859 and Court Records from ?.
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 Humboldt County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Humboldt County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Humboldt 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 Humboldt County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Humboldt County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Humboldt County Tax Assesors Office
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.
Humboldt County, Iowa Tax Books at Amazon.com

Humboldt 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 Humboldt County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Humboldt County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Humboldt County Genealogical Society, 30 6th St. N., Humboldt 50548-1799
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

Humboldt 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 Humboldt County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Humboldt 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 Humboldt County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Humboldt 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.
Humboldt County, Iowa Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Humboldt 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 Humboldt County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Humboldt County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Humboldt County ] [ Iowa ] [ Main Page ]
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Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Humboldt County USGenweb Archives
Humboldt County, Iowa Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

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

Humboldt is one of the Upper Des Moines River Valley counties. It is eighteen miles north and South, by twenty-four miles east and west, its superficial area being 432 square miles, 276,480 acres.

Few counties in the state are better supplied with pure running streams of water. The principal streams are the two branches of Des Moines River, Boone River, Lott's Creek, Indian Creek, Beaver Creek and Badger Creek. The west fork of the Des Moines enters the county near the northwest corner, and runs in a southeasterly course, uniting with the east fork near the south line. The east fork crosses the county from north to south near the middle. Boone River crosses the northeast corner township, passing into Wright County, and flowing south not far from the east line of Humboldt. Lott's Creek is a stream of considerable size. There are considerable bodies of timber bordering these streams, and also some groves along the smaller creeks. A large proportion of the county is prairie, but no part of it is more than eight miles from a grove of timber. The larger bodies of timber are found along the two branches of the Des Moines River. It consists chiefly of oak, ash, walnut, hickory, elm, linn and maple. There is an aggregate of about five thousand acres of native timber distributed through the county.

The surface is generally rolling, except a small portion on the east side near Owl Lake, where there is a series of grassy marshes, which, however, may be easily drained. The valleys of the principal streams can not be excelled in fertility. The soil is the warm, mellow drift peculiar to northern Iowa.

The county is well supplied with good stone for building purposes. Beds of limestone of the sub-carboniferous formation are exposed along both branches of the Des Moines River. The oolitic limestone at Humboldt is manufactured into a superior quality of quick-lime. At this place the exposed thickness of the strata for a considerable distance along the west fork is from twelve to fifteen feet. Above Dakota on the east fork, there is an exposure of about thirteen feet, made up of the following strata; Fragmentary, gray limestone, one foot; indurated, sandy clay, two feet; calcareous sandstone, in thin layers, six feet; and magnesian limestone, four feet. The last named is an excellent building stone. Peat exists in limited quantities in the eastern part of the county. In the southern part of the county, coal has been mined to a limited extent.

Both branches of the Des Moines River supply an abundance of fine water power, which, when improved and fully developed, will constitute an important element in the future wealth of the county.

Henry Lott was the first white man who is known to have erected his cabin in Humboldt County. In 1852, Lott and his step-son went up from Webster County and squatted on what is now called Lott's Creek. They cleared an acre or two of ground in the timber, while thousands of acres of the finest prairie lay spread out before them in every direction. A short distance below the mouth of Lott's Creek, on the west bank of the east fork of the Des Moines River, the Indian Chief, Si-dom-I-na-do-ta, and his family, nine persons in all, at that time had their lodge. In 1847, this Indian had been instrumental in ejecting Lott from what was then Indian Territory, near the mouth of Boone River. Burning with revenge for the old offense, Lott conceived and carried into execution the horrible project of murdering Si-dom-I-na-do-ta and his entire family. He and his step-son disguised themselves as Indians, in order to conceal their guilt. The chief was shot a short distance from his lodge, and two squaws and four children were murdered at the lodge. Two others, a boy and girl, made their escape to tell of the perpetrators of the deed. Years after this tragedy, the white settlers found earrings and other Indian trinkets where the murders were committed. Lott and his step-son burned their cabin and immediately left the country. The murders were committed in the Winter of 1852-'53, and were avenged by Ink-pa-du-tah and his band in the horrible butchery of the white settlers at Spirit Lake. The creek on which the murder was committed has since been known as Bloody Run.Among the first who arrived and made permanent settlement and improvement in the county, were Charles Bergk, August Zahten, C. Hackmann, Edward McKnight, Newton Dowling, and Solomon Hand, all of whom came in the Fall of 1854. The next year came George W. Hand, Fletcher Hand, Elias Casey, J. C. Casey, Eber Stone, William Miller, and perhaps others. The first settlements were made on the east fork of the Des Moines River, at and above Dakota City.Dakota City was laid out in 1856, at which time the county embraced another tier of townships on the south. These four townships were subsequently annexed to Webster County, a measure which gave rise to some feeling between the friends of Fort Dodge and Dakota City, the two points then aspiring to become the county seats respectively of Webster and Humboldt Counties. Both points, however, succeeded. Under an act of the General Assembly, approved January 28, 1857, two of the commissioners appointed for the purpose, Asa C. Call and William C. Safford, in the Spring of the same year, located the County Seat of Humboldt County at Dakota City. Prior to the change in county boundary, this was near the geographical center. A post office was established at this place in May, 1856, being the first in the county, Charles Bergk being the post master.The first election for county officers was held on the first Monday of April, 1857; but the persons elected failed to qualify, and others were elected at the August election of the same year.

DAKOTA CITY. This is the county seat, and is located on a high prairie, adjoining a grove of timber, between the two branches of the Des Moines River, but near the east fork, and about three miles above the junction. Edward McKnight was the original proprietor, and assisted in making some of the early improvements. The place was originally called Dakota City, but now the word City is usually omitted. A substantial brick court house was erected in 1873. There is a very neat Methodist Church and a substantial school house.

The first religious meeting was held by the Methodists in Dakota City, in 1856. The first school, was taught at the same place, by Miss Hannah Thomas.

Charles Bergk and Edward McKnight at an early day erected a saw mill at Dakota City, which sawed most of the lumber used.

The first newspaper published in the county, was the Humboldt County Independent, the initiatory number of which appeared August 2, 1860. It was published by A. S. White and Charles Bergk, at Dakota City.

HUMBOLDT. This place was originally called Springvale, and is situated on the east side of the west fork of the Des Moines River, about three miles above the junction. The town is located in the valley, with the sloping high prairie forming a crescent on the east, while the river forms the west boundary. The place is handsomely laid out, with broad streets and ample parks, several of which were planted with trees several years ago. This is the seat of Humboldt College.

The publication of a newspaper was commenced at this place in June, 1866, Rev. S. H. Taft being editor and proprietor. It was called the True Democrat. The name was subsequently changed to Springvale Republican, and finally to Humboldt Kosmos, and is still published.

The school house at this place is built of limestone, and cost four thousand dollars.

RUTLAND is four miles west of Humboldt. It has a fine water-power, and two mills in successful operation.

The other villages, or postoffices, are Addison, McKnight's Point, Park Grove, Viona, Von, Wacousta, Nora, Sumner and Randolph.

Humboldt County, as first created in 1851, embraced sixteen townships,including the four northern townships of Webster. In 1855 the GeneralAssembly apportioned the territory constituting Humboldt, equally betweenKossuth and Webster, and on the 1st of July following, Humboldt Countybecame extinct. On the 26th of February, 1857, the county was againestablished with its original boundaries. Through some unexplainedmanipulation of the bill for the restoration of the county it wasdiscovered, that, after its passage and before it reached the Governor forhis approval, the south tier of townships had been erased from the act. Thenext Legislature attempted to correct the error but in the meantime the newConstitution had been adopted which provided that county boundaries couldnot be changed without the consent of a majority of the electors of eachcounty affected. The legality of the act for the correction of the errorwas attacked in the courts and it was decided that the act for correctionwas in conflict with the Constitution and void. This left Humboldt Countywith but twelve townships.

The county lied in the second tier south of the Minnesota line, in thefifth east of the Missouri River and named for Baron Alexander von Humboldtthe German scientist. The east and west forks of the Des Moines River flowthrough he county from the north and unite near its southern boundary andthe Boone River crosses its northeast corner, all affording excellent waterpower.

The first white man to build a cabin within the limits of the county wasthe desperado Henry Lott, who in 1852, located on the stream which has beennamed Lott's Creek. The first permanent settlers were Edward McKnight,Charles Bergk, Soloman Hand, Newton Dowling and E. Hackman who settled onthe east fork of the Des Moines River about three miles above the junctionof the two branches, in the year 1854. The following year they were joinedby J.C. Cusey, George W. and Fletcher Hand, Eber Stone and William Millerwith their families. Dakota City was laid out by Edward McKnight in 1856and in 1857 was made the county-seat. A mill was built on the river byBergk and McKnight and a post-office established with Charles Bergk aspostmaster. The Methodists organized a society in 1856.

The county government was established in 1857. The following were the firstofficers chosen at the August election in 1857: Jonathon Hutchison, judge;J.F. Williams, clerk; Alexander McLean, treasurer; D.H. Nivers, sheriff,and J.S. Ellis, prosecuting attorney. In August, 1860, A.S. White andCharles Bergk issued the first number of a newspaper named the HumboldtCounty Independent. In 1863 Rev. S.H. Taft arrived with a colony of someforty persons from central New York, who settled upon ten sections of landlying along the west fork of the Des Moines River west of Dakota City. Herethe6y laid out a town named Springdale, built a dam across the river,erected a sawmill and flouring-mill. Mr. Taft also founded Humboldt Collegewhich was established in a large stone building erected for that purpose.The town made a rapid growth and in time the name was changed to Humboldt.The Northwestern and the Minneapolis railroads run through the county.

Humboldt County Courthouse

Dakota City was chosen as the county seat of Humboldt County in 1857. However, a formal courthouse was not constructed until 1873. The structure cost $5,000 and it overlooked the twin valleys of the Des Moines River. This courthouse was two-story building with six chimneys. It was situated in the midst of a prairie-like setting, where carriages and horse carts blended in quite well.

The present courthouse was begun in 1939 and cost $170,000. It is a modest three-story building of substantial proportions, which was constructed from gray brick and trimmed with Bedford stone.

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