Many experts recommend starting your research with the death records first. The death record is the most recent record, so it will more likely be available to you. Death records are kept in the state where your ancestor died, not where they were buried. However these records can provide a burial location. Death records are especially helpful because they may provide important information on a person’s birth, spouse, and parents. Some researchers look first for death records because there are often death records for persons who have no birth or marriage records.
Early death records, like cemetery records, generally give the name, date, and place of death. Twentieth-century certificates usually include the age or date of birth (and sometimes the place), race, length of residence in the county or state, cause of death, name of hospital and funeral home, burial information, and the informant’s name (often a relative). They often provide the name of a spouse or parents. Since 1950, social security numbers are given on most death certificates. Birth and other information in a death record may not be accurate because the informant may not have had complete information.
Prior to death registers being recorded at the local county court house, a record of burial may be found in Church records. The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is a database whose records reveal an individuals’ full name and residence at time of application, birth and death dates and last known residence.
A death record is considered a primary source.
- Iowa Vital Records
This page provides links to statewide vital records for Iowa, including deaths. Please reference this in the event you can not find the information you need directly from the county links. - Iowa Cemetery Records
These are Iowa cemetery transcriptions listings listed by county. Browse these listings for particular cemeteries in each state that have interments and/or gravestone photos found online.
Adair County Iowa Death Records
- Adair County Death Certificates (Jan.-June 1917, 1920-1939)
- Adair County Obituaries and Death Notices
The Adair Anquestors have been working on a catalog of obituaries, death notices, funerals, and probate fillings from the various county newspapers. - Index to Obituaries and Death Certificates – Adair County IAGenWeb
- Obituaries submitted by visitors to Adair County IAGenWeb
- Adair County Iowa Obituaries Board – IAGenWeb
Adams County Iowa Death Records
- Adams County Death Certificates (July 1921-1922, 1936-1939)
- Adams County Death Certificate Index: 1921-1922 & 1936-1939
Allamakee County Iowa Death Records
- Harris Funeral Home records
- Allamakee County Death Certificates (1936-1939)
- Church Records
- German Evangelical Churches Columbus Ridge and Lansing Ridge
- Death Cases 1 (1869-1891)
- Death Cases 2 (1891-1903)
- Iowa River Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Immaculate Conception Catholic Church – Lansing
- Old East Paint Creek Church – Center twp.
- Salem United Church of Christ – Ludlow twp.
- St. Joseph Catholic – Paint Rock
- St. Joseph’s Catholic Church – New Albin
- St. Patrick’s Church – Waukon
- St. Paul’s United Methodist Church – Waukon
- Record of Deaths of Members
- St. Pius Church, Cherry Mound Parish – Linton twp.
- Immaculate Conception Catholic Church – Wexford
- German Evangelical Churches Columbus Ridge and Lansing Ridge
- Allamakee County Iowa Obituary Index
This index is for the obituaries that have been posted on the Allamakee county obituary board.
Appanoose County Iowa Death Records
- Appanoose County Death Certificates (1928-1939)
- Appanoose County IAGenWeb
- Appanoose County Obituaries
- Appanoose County Obituary Index Submissions
- Appanoose County Iowa Probate Records, Book A, 1846-1855
- Appanoose Cemeteries
- Appanoose County Mining Fatalities 1883-1959
From State Historical Society of Iowa Archives, Mining Fatalities Index
Audobon County Iowa Death Records
- Audubon County Death Certificates (July 1921-June 1922, 1928-1939)
- Death Cert. Index (1921-1922, 1928-1933)
- Obituaries
- Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Homes
Obituaries beginning in 2006 are online. Services Adair, Atlantic, Anita and Audubon Iowa. - Kessler Funeral Home
Obituaries beginning in 2008 are online. Services Audubon and Exira, Iowa. - Ohde Funeral Home
Obituaries beginning in 2006 are online. Services Coon Rapids, Kimballton, and Manning Iowa. - Roland Funeral Service
Obituaries beginning in 2001 are online. Services Atlantic, Iowa. - Audubon County Iowa Obituaries Board – IAGenWeb
- Audubon County, Iowa Obituaries
Posted on the Audubon Co. Message Board at Ancestry.com June 2008 – December 2010 - Audubon County Advocate Journal Obituaries
Obituaries beginning in 2009 are online.
Atlantic News Telegraph Obituaries
Obituaries beginning in 2009 are online. - Des Moines Register Obituaries
Obituaries beginning in 2006 are online.
- Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Homes
Benton County Iowa Death Records
Black Hawk County Iowa Death Records
Boone County Iowa Death Records
- Boone County Iowa Death records, 1880-1921
Microfilm of original records at the Boone County Courthouse, Boone, Iowa. Registers list name, sex, color, age, occupation, death date, marital status, nationality, birthplace, residency, death place, death cause, burial date, burial place. Transcripts list residence, name, birthdate, birthdate, age, marital status, birthplace, father, birthplace, mother, occupation, informant, death date, death cause, burial date, burial place. - Boone County Indiana Death Index
This listing was transcribed from handwritten death records at the Boone County Courthouse.- 1880-1896
- Pages 1-20 Abbas – Brown, Alma
- Pages 21-40 Brown, Daniel – Dillman, Robert
- Pages 41-60 Dillman, Simon – Gugger, Raymond
- Pages 61-80 Guild – Johnson, John F.
- Pages 81-100 Johnson, John Henry – Mansfield, Clara
- Pages 101-120 Mansfield, Elizabeth – Olson, Ella
- Pages 121-140 Olson, Frank Wallace – Royster, Ned
- Pages 141-160 Royster, Robert – Thangren
- Pages 161-179 Thede – Zunkl
- Iowa, Boone County, death records, 1904-1929
Digital images of originals held by the State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa. - Boone County Death Certificates (1922-1939)
- Boone County Death Records (1922-1933)
There are substantial gaps in the county film for deaths between 1917 and 1934. The State Historical Society of Iowa is in the process of indexing pre-1935 state level death records that are not on County Record Microfilm, however there is no longer a link to the work at the Historical Society. - Mining Fatalities, 1883-1945
Bremer County Iowa Death Records
- Bremer County Death Certificates (Jan.-June 1918, July 1921-June 1922, 1936-1939)
- Obituary Records from the Waverly Phoenix of Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa, 1892-1924
This collection of nearly 2800 obituaries was extracted from the Waverley Phoenix 1892–1924 microfilm located at the Waverley Public Library and the limited selection of Waverley Phoenix newspapers in the collections of the Bremer County Historical Society. The Phoenix is a German language newspaper.
Buchanan County Iowa Death Records
Buena Vista County Iowa Death Records
Butler County Iowa Death Records
Calhoun County Iowa Death Records
Carroll County Iowa Death Records
Cass County Iowa Death Records
Cedar County Iowa Death Records
Cerro Gordo County Iowa Death Records
Cherokee County Iowa Death Records
- Cherokee County Death Certificates (1937-1939)
- Cherokee County: Oak Hill Cemetery Burials (Cherokee, Iowa)
Chickasaw County Iowa Death Records
Clarke County Iowa Death Records
Clayton County Iowa Death Records
Clinton County Iowa Death Records
Dallas County Iowa Death Records
Davis County Iowa Death Records
- Davis County Cemetery Records
- Davis County Death Records Indexes, 1880-1900
- Davis County Death Certificates (1938-1939)
Decatur County Iowa Death Records
Delaware County Iowa Death Records
Des Moines County Iowa Death Records
- Des Moines County, Iowa Cemetery Transcriptions
- Des Moines County: Burlington Public Library Genealogy Index
- Des Moines County Death Certificates (July 1921-1939)
Dickinson County Iowa Death Records
Dubuque County Iowa Death Records
- Dubuque Telegraph Herald Obituaries Search
- Dubuque County, Iowa Cemeteries
- Dubuque County Death Certificates (1917-1939)
- Dubuque co. Iowa Death Records 1883 – 1987
Persons who died in Dubuque co. & who are buried in Allamakee co. or Clayton co. Iowa
Emmet County Iowa Death Records
Fayette County Iowa Death Records
- Fayette County: Grandview Cemetery Records
- Fayette County Death Certificates (July 1918-1922, 1935-1939)
- Fayette co. Iowa Death Records 1892 – 1989
Persons who died in Dubuque co. & who are buried in Allamakee co. or Clayton co. Iowa
Floyd County Iowa Death Records
Fremont County Iowa Death Records
Greene County Iowa Death Records
Grundy County Iowa Death Records
Hamilton County Iowa Death Records
Hancock County Iowa Death Records
- Hancock County Birth, Marriage, and Death Indexes
- Hancock County Death Certificates (July 1918-June 1919, July 1920-1921, 1934-1939)
Hardin County Iowa Death Records
Harrison County Iowa Death Records
Henry County Iowa Death Records
Howard County Iowa Death Records
Humboldt County Iowa Death Records
Ida County Iowa Death Records
Iowa County Iowa Death Records
Jackson County Iowa Death Records
Jasper County Iowa Death Records
- Jasper County Genealogy Indexes
- Jasper County: City of Newton – Union Cemetery Burials
- Jasper County Death Certificates (July 1918-June 1921, 1925-1939)
Jefferson County Iowa Death Records
Johnson County Iowa Death Records
- Johnson County: Oakland Cemetery Burials (in Iowa City)
- Johnson County Local News Index, 1962-recent
- Johnson County Death Certificates (July 1919-June 1921, July 1932-1939)
Jones County Iowa Death Records
- Jones County Death Register 1880-1897, and Cemetery Records
- Jones County Death Certificates (July 1918-1939)
Kossuth County Iowa Death Records
Lee County Iowa Death Records
Linn County Iowa Death Records
- Linn County Obituary Index 1930-1989
- Linn County: Oak Hill Cemetery Burial Database (Cedar Rapids)
- Linn County Death Certificates (July 1919-1922, 1925-1939)
Louisa County Iowa Death Records
Lucas County Iowa Death Records
- Lucas County: Chariton Newspaper Index 1867-2005
- Lucas County Death Certificates (July 1918-1922, 1935-1939
Lyon County Iowa Death Records
Madison County Iowa Death Records
- Madison County Genealogy Indexes
- Madison County Death Certificates (1917-1919, 1921-June 1925, 1938-1939)
Mahaska County Iowa Death Records
- Mahaska County: Forest Cemetery Burial Records
- Mahaska County Death Certificates (July 1919-June 1921, 1930-1939)
Marion County Iowa Death Records
Marshall County Iowa Death Records
Mills County Iowa Death Records
Mitchell County Iowa Death Records
Monona County Iowa Death Records
Monroe County Iowa Death Records
Montgomery County Iowa Death Records
Muscatine County Iowa Death Records
- Muscatine County: Musser Public Library Birth, Marriage and Death Index 1840-present
- Muscatine County Death Certificates (1936-1939)
O’Brien County Iowa Death Records
Page County Iowa Death Records
- Page County: Abstracted Newspaper Indexes of Page and Taylor Counties, Iowa
- Page County Death Certificates (1917-1921, 1936-1939)
Palo Alto County Iowa Death Records
Pocahontas County Iowa Death Records
Polk County Iowa Death Records
- Polk County: Des Moines Obituary Index
- Polk County Probate Case Files Index, 1846-1925
- Polk County: Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery Burials
- Polk County Death Certificates (1917-1939)
- Ankeny Area Obituaries 1886-2006
- Iowa Genealogical Society User Contributed Obituaries 1942-2005
Most are from the Des Moines Register or Des Moines Tribune which covers central Iowa but some are from locations more than a 100 miles from Des Moines. - Des Moines
Pottawattamie County Iowa Death Records
Poweshiek County Iowa Death Records
- Poweshiek County: Drake Community Library Obituary Database
- Poweshiek County Death Certificates (July 1918-June 1922, 1931-1939
Ringgold County Iowa Death Records
Sac County Iowa Death Records
Scott County Iowa Death Records
- Scott County Death Certificates (1918-June 1921, 1932-1939)
- Davenport Public Library Free Local Genealogy Databases
- Scott County Iowa Cemetery Search
- Pine Hill Cemetery Burials (in Davenport)
Shelby County Iowa Death Records
Sioux County Iowa Death Records
Story County Iowa Death Records
- Story County Death Certificate Index
- Story County Death Certificates (July 1919-June 1921 and 1934-1938)
Tama County Iowa Death Records
Taylor County Iowa Death Records
- Taylor County Tombstone Inscriptions and Cemetery Burials
- Taylor County Death Certificates (July 1919-1922, July 1935-1939)
Union County Iowa Death Records
Wapello County Iowa Death Records
Warren County Iowa Death Records
Washington County Iowa Death Records
Wayne County Iowa Death Records
Webster County Iowa Death Records
- Webster County Death Certificate Index, 1925-1933
- Webster County Death Certificates (July 1919-June 1921, 1925-1939)
Winnebago County Iowa Death Records
Winneshiek County Iowa Death Records
- Winneshiek County Death Certificates (July 1919-June 1921, 1934-1939)
- Winneshiek co. Iowa Death Records 1880 – 1989
Persons who died in Dubuque co. & who are buried in Allamakee co. or Clayton co. Iowa
Woodbury County Iowa Death Records
- Woodbury County Death Certificates (1919-1923, 1927-1939)
- Woodbury County: The Sioux City Journal Index December 1981-present
- Woodbury County Cemeteries