Why Iowa is Special

Iowa was my home for a while.  I found it fascinating geographically, historically and genealogically.    I enjoyed looking at the fields of soybeans, changing to their golden color in the fall, farm yards with squealing pigs and rolling hills of terraced farming.  Often I would imagine how my ancestors (and yours) saw the land when they first arrived when Iowa was a territory and then a new state.  Unbroken ground ... a new life ... a challenging life.

Having spent so many years in Nebraska, I soon realized that things were a bit different in Iowa when doing research. Some courthouse records are referred to differently and some are the same.  Nebraska's recording of names of parents, including mother's maiden names, does not particularly hold true in Iowa.  You may luck out and find the names!  Naturally the records are older in Iowa than in Nebraska.

One major difference is in the census records.  Those records, although some are not completely extant, begin in 1836.  Iowa took state enumerations every few years, making it very easy to keep track of your Iowa ancestors.  Combine that with the federal census and you have a wonderful profile of your ancestor, including migrations and family additions or deaths.  The last census taken in Iowa was in 1925.  Because of the information contained in that census, it is extremely valuable to researchers. You are lucky if you can identify ancestors or relatives on that enumeration because it lists names of parents, including mother's maiden name, along with place of birth and marriage and ages if living.

These are just some of the items that you can read about in my new book, Iowa Genealogical Research.  The book contains 416 pages and is spiral bound.  It is a great reference book for anybody doing research in Iowa.  There are hundreds of URLs for Internet sites, along with addresses, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers.

This is the link to order the book online, http://genealogyworks.weebly.com/store/p1/Iowa_Genealogical_Research.html

Iowa Civil War Project

All states who supplied men for the Civil War should have web pages such as the Iowa Civil War Project. It is a special project of the IAGenWeb and worth checking if you have an Iowa Civil War ancestor.

The web site contains the six volumes of Civil War Records for Iowa, the full citation being Iowa, Adjutant General Office. Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, Together with Historical Sketches of Volunteer Organization 1861-1866 Des Moines: E.H. English, State Printer, E.D. Chassell, State Binder, 1908-1911.

There is a list of correspondence, dates, sources and notes. You can explore this further for information pertaining to your ancestor or his unit. The web page contains Letters to Headquarters, such as Rock Island Barracks May 1864.

If you know your ancestor's infantry, be sure to check out the Infantry, History and Rosters. There is a separate section for Iowa Cavalry, History and Rosters, as well as Artillery.

The entire web page seems rather complex and time consuming, but help is available at the click of the mouse. Toward the top and before Correspondence/Topic/Title you will see "If you want to search all of these records go to the main Civil War page and utilize the FreeFind search engine there."

Not only can you search the site at the main page, but you can also find instructions for joining the Iowa Civil War mailing list. There are links to gravestone photos, more about the regiments, Civil War prisons, photo album, county data and descendant/researcher lists.

Plan on spending time at this web page, particularly if you have more than one Iowa Civil War soldier in your lineage.