Monona County, Iowa Genealogical Records Information

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Monona County History and Information

Monona County Facts

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Monona was created on January 15, 1851 (Organized in 1854) from Pottawattomie County & Unorganized Land. The County was named for a word of uncertain Native American meaning. The word may mean “Peaceful Valley” or “Beautiful Valley.” The County Seat is ?. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

Counties adjacent to Monona County are Woodbury County (north), Crawford County (east), Harrison County (south), Burt County, Nebraska (southwest), Thurston County, Nebraska (west). Cities and Towns Include Blencoe, Castana, Mapleton, Moorhead, Onawa, Rodney, Soldier, Turin, Ute, Whiting.

The county’s business was first transacted at the Mormon village called Preparation, in Spring Valley Township, where some of the first settlements were made. When Ashton (originally called Bloomfield) was named the county seat in the fall of 1854, a log house served as the first courthouse. Ashton remained the county seat for only four years.

Following an election, county records were removed to Onawa, where a frame courthouse was built during the summer of 1858, at a cost of about $7,000. Attempts were made from 1861 until 1889 to remove the county seat to Belvidere, Arcola, and East Mapleton, but each contest in its turn ended in favor of Onawa.

A courthouse was built in 1891-1892 by S.E. Maxon and Company of Omaha. This brick Romanesque building, with gabled roof surmounted by a tower, is located on the same site as the previous courthouse. A one-story addition was built on the West side of the courthouse in 1967, and another on the East side in 1973. The old jail was condemned, and Monona County joined with the City of Onawa to construct a law enforcement center, including jail facilities, which was completed in September 1974.

An annex to the courthouse was built in 1980 and dedicated in 1981. This annex was built for court facilities. The original judge’s bench, furniture, and fixtures were restored and are being used in the new courtroom. Also an entire third floor of the building was built and now houses the Department of Human Services. And finally, the basement annex was remodeled to house the county health nurses and the magistrate court.

The Monona County Official Government Website
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Monona County, Iowa History Books at Amazon.com
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Records at the Monona 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 Monona County Courthouse at 610 Iowa Avenue,PO Box 14, Onawa 51040; Tel: 712-423-2491. 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. Monona County was attached to Harrison County for a breif time. Some early records may be found there.

Monona County Recorder's Office has Birth Records from 1880, Marriage Records from 1856, Death Records from 1880 and Land Records from 1858.
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.

Monona County Clerk of Court Office has Probate Records from 1860 and Court Records from 1926?.
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 Monona County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Monona County Court Records by clicking the link below:

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

Monona 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.
Monona County, Iowa Tax Books at Amazon.com

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

Monona County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 16, Onawa 51040-0016
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

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

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

County History

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

This county lies on the Missouri River, and is in the fifth tier from the northern and southern boundary of the state. In extent it is twenty-four miles north and south, by an average of nearly thirty east and west, containing sixteen full congressional townships, and some four or five that are fractional, and embraces an area of about six hundred and eighty square miles. The Missouri River, which forms the western boundary, here runs in a southeasterly direction, making the southern boundary line of the county some twelve miles shorter than the northern.

The first permanent settler in the county was Isaac Ashton, who, in 1852, located about two miles north of the present town of Onawa, where, in 1855, he laid out the town of Ashton. Other settlers came in the Summer of 1855, among whom were Josiah Sumner and Aaron Cook, the former locating in the vicinity of Onawa. Among others who came prior to 1855, were C. E. Whiting, Robert Lindley, Timothy Elliott, J. E. Morrison, J. B. P. Day, and B. D. Holbrook. Several of the early settlers came from the eastern part of Iowa, while others were from Illinois and the Eastern States.

Among the early settlers of the county, was one Charles B. Thompson, a Mormon leader, who, with a number of followers, located on Soldier River, in what is now called Spring Valley Township, about fifteen miles southeast of the present town of Onawa. They commenced their settlement in 1854. Thompson called the place Preparation, as he designed here to prepare his disciples for the "good time coming." As Charles B. Thompson was an important man in the early history of Monona County, some account of him, and of the enterprise in which he was the leader, will be interesting to the reader. He had been a follower and disciple of Joe Smith at Nauvoo, but went to St. Louis in 1852, and organized a church. In the Summer of 1853, he sent some of his followers as commissioners to look for and select a location for his people in Iowa. They finally made selection of the valley of the Soldier, in the south part of Monona County, all the land at that time being vacant. In 1854 he brought some fifty or sixty families, and pre-empted several thousand acres of the best land to be found in that region. Some of the land he subsequently entered. Thompson regulated and controlled all the affairs of the colony, both temporal and spiritual, pretending that he had authority to do so under the direction of a spirit which he called Baneemy. Among other assumptions, he pretended that he was the veritable Ephraim of the Scriptures, and taught his people to call him father Ephraim. A strict compliance with his teaching divested his followers of all worldly care, and prepared them for the further essential doctrine of his religion—that, in order to obtain the kingdom, they must sacrifice all their worldly possessions. They accordingly conveyed to him all their lands and other property, including even their wearing apparel and the right to their services.

Under this arrangement "Father Ephraim" and Baneemyism progressed swimmingly until the Fall of 1855, when a little rebellion appeared under the leadership of an Elder named Hugh Lytle. This man, and some twenty others of the disaffected, commenced a suit in the courts for the recovery of their property, but they failed, and the matter was subsequently adjusted by a compromise, whereby the Lytle party received a portion of their property and withdrew from the society. The remainder adhered to Thompson without further serious difficulty until the Fall of 1958. During the Summer of that year, most of the male adults of the society were absent in other states preaching the doctrines of Baneemyism to the Gentiles. Thompson, who arrogated to himself the title of "Chief Steward of the Lord," took advantage of the absence of his friends, and conveyed all the realty to his wife, Catherine Thompson, and to one Guy C. Barnum, reserving only forty acres as a homestead for himself. His disciples, hearing of this transaction, returned and immediately called on "Father Ephraim,""Chief Steward of the Lord" to render an account of his stewardship. Being unable to obtain a satisfactory adjustment of the matter, they notified him that on a stated day he would be expected to meet them in Preparation to make a settlement. In the meantime they sent word to the Lytelites, and all others who had from time to time withdrawn, to appear on the day of settlement and present their claims. But the "Chief Steward of the Lord," and Barnum whom he styled his "Assistant Chief Steward of the Lord," had not the courage to meet the gathering of the tribes on that occasion, and so they found it convenient to be absent at Onawa. On the next day, however, they started for Preparation, hoping that the people had dispersed. About a mile from the village they were met by a young woman, whose faith in "Father Ephraim" seems to have remained unshaken, who told them that they must not come in, as the people were all there and would surely hang them if they made their appearance. At that moment they saw the men coming from Preparation at full speed on horseback over the hill toward them. They sprang from the wagon in which they were riding, unhitched the horses, and mounting them bare-back, wheeled about for Onawa. After a lively race of fifteen miles, not excelled in thrilling interest by that of John Gilpin, across prairies and over creeks and ravines, the "Prophet" and his "Assistant" arrived about a half mile ahead of their followers.

Thompson remained at Onawa two or three days under the protection of the citizens, and then went to St. Louis. Barnum remained at Onawa until the next Spring, when he removed to Nebraska, where he became a prominent citizen. Thompson while at St. Louis again made conveyances of all the lands to his brother and other parties. He then attempted to found another religious society, but failed to obtain followers. He wrote and published a book on the Origin of the Black and Mixed Races, pretending to translate largely from the Hebrew and Greek, of which languages it is said he was utterly ignorant. This seems to have been the last heard of him by his old friends in Monona County until in 1867, when they learned that he was in Philadelphia, in destitute circumstances. After his flight from Preparation, his former followers sent his family with a feather bed and a few household effects after him to Onawa and then divided all the balance of the personal property among themselves, each taking what he could identify as his own. The same Fall they commenced an action in chancery to set aside the conveyances of the real estate. The suit was contested in all its stages by Thompson's grantees, and not finally settled until December, 1866 being eight years in litigation. At that time the Supreme Court of the State of Iowa declared all the conveyances fraudulent, and set them aside, the court holding that Thompson only held the property as trustee. The property was sold under the order of the court, and the proceeds divided among the original contributors in proportion to the amount contributed by each. Of the sixty families that Thompson brought to the settlement at Preparation in 1854, only three or four remain. Thus ended Baneemyism in Monona County.

The county was organized in 1854, by the County Judge of Harrison County, who appointed Charles B. Thompson the first County Judge. This was before the location of the county seat, so that the first county business was transacted at Preparation. In the Fall of 1854, the county seat was located by commissioners appointed by the Legislature. They gave the place selected the name of Bloomfield, but there being another town of that name in the state, it was changed to Ashton. The county seat remained there until the Spring of 1858, when it was removed to Onawa by a vote of the people. The following were the first county officers; Charles B. Thompson, County Judge; Guy C. Barnum, Treasurer; Hugh Lytle, Clerk; and Homer C. Hoyt, Sheriff. Monona County then embraced what is now the west range of townships of Crawford County, but the change was made in accordance with the vote of both counties in the Fall of 1865. In 1860, a vote was taken on the question of the removal of the county seat from Onawa to Belvidere, and another vote in 1862, on the removal to Arcola. Both attempts failed, and the question is doubtless finally settled by the location of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad.

ONAWA - This is the County Seat, and is situated near the middle line of the county, north and south, and about eight miles east of the Missouri River, but only about four miles from the nearest point on the river south-west. It was laid out by the Monona Land Company in 1857, and embraces an area of about 600 acres, with about 600 acres additional of out-lots, each containing two acres or less. The principal streets run east and west, and are one hundred and fifty feet wide, while the others are eighty feet, and alleys sixteen feet wide cross the blocks north and south. Two blocks 396x264 feet have been reserved in the north part of town for public parks.

Monona County Courthouse

The county seat of Monona was originally Ashton, but changed to Onawa in 1858. At Onawa, county officials were housed in a small building known as Mechanics' Hall.

Onawa was constantly being challenged for the honor of being the county seat. The citizens of Onawa raised $12,500 to be used for a new courthouse if it were to retain the county seat. In an election against East Mapleton, Onawa won and a $7,000 courthouse was erected.

The present courthouse was built in 1892 in Onawa. It is of typically late Victorian architecture. The design is similar to that of the courthouse in Adair County.

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