Monroe County, Iowa Genealogical Records Information

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Monroe County History and Information

Monroe County Facts

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Monroe County, originally called Kishkekosh County, was created on February 17, 1843 (Organized in 1845) from Unorganized Territory. The County was named for James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States. The County Seat is Albia.

Counties adjacent to Monroe County are Marion County (northwest), Mahaska County (northeast), Wapello County (east), Appanoose County (south), Lucas County (west). Cities and Towns Include Albia, Eddyville, Lovilia, Melrose.

The county was established in 1843. When the county was being settled, there was considerable controversy over the location of the county seat. The battle was between the towns of Princeton (now Albia) and Clark's Point (Clarksville). On August 5, 1845 a committee appointed to choose the county seat selected Princeton as the county seat. In 1846 the Iowa Legislature changed the name of Princeton to Albia, because there was already a Princeton in Iowa.

The first courthouse of Monroe County was a small log cabin, which was rented out for $1 a month when court was not in session. This courthouse was 20-foot x 20-foot and one and one-half stories high. The contractor was paid $75 when it was completed in 1846. This courthouse was used until 1858 when it was replaced by the second Monroe County courthouse. This building was built of brick at a cost of $10,900 and located in the center of the town park.

The present courthouse replaced the second one on October 26, 1903. The original price tag of this building was to be $75,000 but the actual price ended up being $93,000. The Renaissance style building is built from stone and brick. The architect was O. O. Smith and the contractor was James Rowson & Sons. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

The Monroe County Official Government Website
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Monroe County, Iowa History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Monroe 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 Monroe County Courthouse at 10 Benton Avenue East, Albia 52531; Tel: 641-932-5212. 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. Monroe County was attached to Jefferson & Wapello Counties for a breif time. Some early records may be found there.

Monroe County Recorder's Office has Birth Records from 1880, Marriage Records from 1845, 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.

Monroe County Clerk of Court Office has Probate Records from 1848 and Court Records from 1847.
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 Monroe County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Monroe County Court Records by clicking the link below:

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

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

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

Monroe County Genealogical Society, 203 Benton Ave. E., Albia 52531-2036
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

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

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

County History

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

Monroe is the fifth county west from the Mississippi River in the second tier of counties from the south line of the state. This tier comprises only three townships in breadth, west of Henry County, hence its counties are, nearly all of them, of smaller size as compared with other Iowa counties. Monroe is one of these, comprising twelve congressional townships equivalent to 432 square miles of 276,480 acres.

Monroe County was included within the territory purchased of the Sac & Fox Indians in1842, and opened for settlement on the first of May, 1843. It was originally named Kishkekosh, in honor of an Indian chief among the Sacs and Foxes, but the name was subsequently changed.

The first settlement was made in the northeast part of the county, about two miles west of Eddyville on the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 3, township 73, range 16, by John B. Gray, in May, 1843. His son, John S. Gray, born September 15th of that year, was the first white child born in the county. Mr. Gray was from Burlington, Iowa. Among other settlers of that and the succeeding year, were James and Josiah Boggs, James Myers, W. G. and John Clark, James Hilton, William N. Beadle, William Miller, T. and A. Templeton, J. McMullen, G. Gunter, R. Ingham, J. Wells, J. McIntire, Israel Green, W. Buchanan, N. B. Preston, Riley Wescoat, D. and O. Rowles, J. Lower, J. N. Massey, J. Mock, J. Webb, W. H. Clark, P. Barber, S. H. Warden, E. P. Coree and H. Smith.

The county was organized in the Summer of 1845, by Joseph Hayne, Sheriff of Wapello County. The first election ever held in the county was at Clark's Point, two miles north of the present town of Albia, in 1844, when W. G. Clark was elected justice of the peace. The first county officers were elected in August, 1845, and were as follows; W. G. Clark, Probate Judge; James Hilton, Clerk of the District Court; J. Miller, Commissioners' Clerk; T. Templeton, Treasurer; J. Clark, Sheriff; and J. McMullen, M. H. Clark, and J. S. Bradley, County Commissioners. The first entry in the county commissioners' record is headed as follows; "Kishkekosh Co., Territory of Iowa."

In 1845, a town was laid out at Clark's Point, to which the name of Clarksville was given, and at that time aspired to the honors of the county seat. The first district court was held at this place in 1845, Charles Mason, of Burlington, presiding as judge.

In 1845, James A. Gallaher, of Jefferson County, and Israel Kister, of David County, two of the commissioners appointed to locate the permanent county seat, made selection of the place where the town of Albia is now situated, and a town was laid out there called Princeton. The name was subsequently changed to Albia.

One of the earliest (perhaps the first) deaths which occurred in the county was that of the wife of Riley Wescoat, in 1844. At that time there were neither saw mills nor undertakers in the county. In preparing for the burial of the deceased the question of providing a coffin became an important one. The trees in the forest were all they had, and to them they resorted. Out of them they hewed puncheons, such as are used for cabin floors, and with the aid of S. H. Warden, a cabinetmaker, they succeeded in making a very respectable coffin for her who had so soon left their small circle. The first religious meeting held in the county was at the house of Israel Green, by Rev. Mr. Post, a Baptist preacher from Davis County, in 1844.

ALBIA - This town is laid out like many other county towns in this section of Iowa where the ground was selected before any improvements were made, and the site surveyed into lots under the supervision of the county commissioners. As they could shape the new town according to their own pleasure in any form which they should deem best adapted to the purpose for which it was intended, they usually laid out and reserved the best ground near the center in the form of a square for public uses. In due time a court house reared its stately walls exactly in the center of these public grounds. It was usually the most expensive and important building in the town, and the business rows ranged themselves as near as they could get on the adjacent streets all looking toward the central structure apparently in admiration, but really because the situation afforded the best business locations. Albia is thus laid out, and a substantial brick court house stands upon the central square. The streets are regularly laid out, wide and handsome. Many good business blocks and buildings of two and three stories surround the court house square and extend along some of the principal streets. Handsome residences and tastily ornamented grounds are an attractive feature of the place. Upon one side is the depot of the Central Railroad of Iowa, and just beyond handsome fair grounds and trotting park. Along the side of the town nearly opposite runs the track of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad and the Albia, Knoxville & Des Moines Railroad, now in process of construction, extends from its depot. There are good flouring mills, warehouses, etc. There are unmistakable indications of business activity and progress observable in its numerous stores, shops, hotels, banks, and other business establishments conducted by enterprising men of experience and capital. The professions are equally well represented. The education of the youth of the city is well provided for by excellent graded schools maintained at a very liberal outlay of public funds. Several fine church buildings adorn its precincts, and show that its citizens are not unmindful of their spiritual welfare.

Monroe County Courthouse

A plan for the first courthouse was developed in 1846. A half story above the courtroom was used to provide privacy for the jurors when they considered a case. This courthouse was torn down in 1860.

At that time, Judge James Hilton ordered a new courthouse to be built in the center of the town park. He chose a medieval style building which was used until 1902.

The present three-story courthouse is fashioned from heavy stone and was built for approximately $100,000. The cornerstone for this Renaissance style building was laid on August 29, 1902.

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