Clinton County, Iowa Genealogy
Guide to Clinton County, Iowa ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
|Clinton County, Iowa|
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
|Founded||December 21, 1837|
- 1 County Information
- 2 County Courthouse
- 3 History
- 4 Places/Localities
- 5 Resources
- 6 Societies and Libraries
- 7 Public Libraries
- 8 References
The County was named for DeWitt Clinton. The County has Clinton as its seat and the County was created 1837. The County is located in the east area of the state.
Clinton County, Iowa Record Dates
Clinton County Courthouse
1900 North 3rd Street
P.O. Box 2957
Clinton IA 52733-2957
For animated maps illustrating Iowa County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Iowa County Boundary Maps" (1816-1872) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog
- The Biographical record of Clinton County, Iowa at Ancestry.com ($)
|Tombstone Transcriptions Online||Tombstone Transcriptions in Print||List of Cemeteries in the county|
|Findagrave.com||Family History Library||Findagrave.com|
|See Iowa Cemeteries for more information.|
- Search for your ancestor's headstone at the Iowa Gravestone Photo Project. Submit your own photos to be included in the project. Projections are that by end of 2008 there will be over 400,000 gravestone photos searchable online in the project. Currently there are over 382,000 gravestone photo records in the project.
- Also search the WPA - Works Projects Administration 1920's Graves Registration Survey for your ancestor's burial place. There are 654,159 records within 82 Iowa counties included in this index.
Iowa recorded not only the federal census but state census through out the years too. The state census contains very valuable genealogical information. Where the census information can be found, what years it was taken, mortality schedules, census substitutions and much more is discussed in the very informative Iowa Census article.
- 1895 - Iowa State Census, 1895 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1905 - Iowa State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1915 - Iowa State Census, 1915 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1925 - Iowa State Census. 1925 at FamilySearch — index and images
Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Iowa Church Records.
- Records of the American Lutheran Church, Andover, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
- Records of the American Lutheran Church, Calamus, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
- Records of the American Lutheran Church, Clinton County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
Zion Lutheran Church
- Records of the Zion Lutheran Church, Clinton County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).
Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.
See Iowa Land and Property for additional information about early Iowa land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse, where records are currently housed.
Local histories are available for Clinton County, Iowa Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Iowa Local Histories.
- The History of Clinton County, Iowa : containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, &c., biographical sketches of citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men, history of the northwest, history of Iowa, map of Clinton County, consitution of the United States, miscellaneous matters, &c. &c..Chicago : Western Historical, 1879.
- The Biographical record of Clinton County, Iowa. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1901. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
- 1835-1998 - Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998 at FamilySearch — index
- 1861-1949 - Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1862-1910 - Iowa, Records of Persons Subject to Military Duty, 1862-1910 at FamilySearch — index
Regiments. Service men in Clinton County, Iowa Genealogy served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Clinton County, Iowa Genealogy:
- - 8th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
- - 15th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
- - 16th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
- - 24th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
- - 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, all companies
- - 44th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company F
- - 15th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
:- 16th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
:- 1st Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company B
:- 24th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company B
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company C
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company D
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company E
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company F
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company H
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I
:- 26th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company K
:- 2nd Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company I
:- 44th Regiment, Iowa Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company F
:- 8th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company A
NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.
- The Clinton Mirror. 1896-1897 Clinton, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)
Online Probate Records
In most counties in Iowa, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.
The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Iowa - Clinton - Probate records.
Iowa tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. Tax lists were usually made every year, however, there may be gaps of several years. For more information, see the wiki page Iowa Taxation.
Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Iowa Department of Public Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also How to order Iowa Vital Records or order electronically online.
- 1850-1939 - Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1921-1942 - Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1518-1996 - Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
- 1838-1934 - Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934 at FamilySearch — index and images
- 1850-1990 - Iowa, Deaths and Burials 1850-1990 at FamilySearch - index
- 1880-1992 - Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — index
- 1904-1951 - Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — index and images
Societies and Libraries
Clinton County Historical Society
601 South First Street
Clinton, Iowa 52733
- Clinton Public Library
306 8th Avenue South
Clinton, IA 52732
Telephone: (563) 242-8441
Root Cellar: (563) 242-0840
Family History Centers
Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.
| Check back often with these websites. Internet offerings are growing at record rates.
Local societies and libraries may know of other websites.
|State Historical Society of Iowa||Free||Select from research collection topics|
|The Iowa Heritage Digital Collection||Free||digital images from a variety of Iowa cultural institutions - results of "clinton county" in the search box|
|State Library of Iowa||Free||electronic depository of documents intended for the general public produced by Iowa agencies - results of "clinton county" in the search box|
|IAGenWeb Project||Free||Data may be submitted by individuals or complete transcriptions|
|USGenWeb Archives||Free||Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions|
|  FamilySearch||Free||Births, 1880-1935; Deaths 1880-1992; Marriages, 1838-1934; all indexes|
|RootsWeb Resources||Free||Data may be submitted by individuals or may be complete transcriptions|
|Linkpendium||Free||Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)|
|CyndisList||Free||Click links. Some sites they link to may have fees ($)|
|StateofUS.com||Free||family history resources and government records|
Books, microfilm, or manuscripts of genealogical records
|FamilySearch Catalog||Select topics. To select towns, add a comma to the search box.|
|WorldCat||To find nearby libraries that have specific items, see WorldCat Online Catalog.|
|Allen County Public Library||located in Indiana They are heavily involved in digitizing.|
|GeneaBloggers||enter "Iowa" in search box to see list and links to Iowa blogs|
|Google+||list of groups from "iowa genealogy" search|
|list of groups from "Iowa Genealogy" search|
|genealogy.com||IA Genealogy Forum|
|ancestry.com||Clinton County Message Board|
- Wikipedia contributors, "Clinton, Iowa," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_County,_Iowa.
- Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Clinton County, Iowa. Page 230-238 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 222-225.
- The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).