Biography of John Shirley

John Shirley, one of Santa Ana’s most respected citizens, is a native of Hancock County, Ohio, born in 1835, and his parents were Daniel and Annie (Crow) Shirley, natives of Virginia. His father, a farmer and blacksmith, moved to Jackson County, Iowa, in 1850, and died there in 1872. When a lad the subject of this sketch drove an ox team across the plains to this State, and for the first several years here he followed mining at Placerville and other places till 1864, when he came with the soldiers to Southern California and Arizona. He enlisted in Company K, … Read more

Iowa Atlases, Farm Directories, and Plat Books

1859 Map of Washington County Iowa

This collection contains digital atlases, farm directories, and plat books for all 99 Iowa counties. We have collated these from a variety of online sources, and provide them here as a single source for all online Iowa County Atlases, Farm Directories, and Plat Books.

Woodland Complexes in Northeastern Iowa

Woodland complexes in northeastern Iowa

This book, written by Wilfred D. Logan, an archeologist with many years of experience in the National Park Service, increases our understanding of the peoples whose burial mounds are preserved within the national monument and other sites in the surrounding locale. The volume presents data, not heretofore analyzed, from a large number of excavations in northeastern Iowa, and systematizes the material to develop a background against which to view the Effigy Mounds and the people who built them.

Biographical Sketch of James Brown

Jim Brown purchased land in Section 25 of Battle Township, Ida County, Iowa, on October 10, 1873. On March 29, 1874, he came back to live on the farm. James Brown was born in Perry County, Ohio, January 16, 1843. He was from a family of 13 children, nine sons and 4 daughters. His father was John Brown and he was born in 1800 in Waterford County, Ireland, and at the age of 15 came to the United States, landing at New Orleans. He worked for 7 years in the Carolinas and Georgia, and then located in Perry County, Ohio, … Read more

Biography of William Fisk Eastman

William Fiske Eastman, co-editor with P. S. McGlynn, of the Moline Daily Dispatch and Weekly Review-Dispatch, and postmaster of Moline, was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson County, New York, November 11, 1844. His parents were Charles W. Eastman, Doctor of Medicine, and Cynthia (Fiske) Eastman. He attended the public schools of his native village and Union Academy in the neighboring village of Belleville. Graduating there he attended Union College at Schenectady, New York, graduating in the scientific course in 1866, and taking first honors of that course. In the meantime he had been teaching in the district schools, earning in this … Read more

Biography of Charles Landon Martin

When Charles Landon Martin started out in the business world it was as an employe in a woodenware house, and throughout the intervening period to the present he has continued in the same line of business, being now the vice president of the Crunden-Martin Manufacturing Company. He was born in Maquoketa, Iowa, on the 11th of March, 1858, his parents being James W. and Lois (Weaver) Martin. His father was a veteran of the Civil war, serving for three years as captain of Company I of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry. He participated in many hotly contested engagements, including the battle … Read more

Biography of Carter W. Burns

Among the public officials of Elmore county is Carter W. Burns, of Mountain Home, who is now acceptably serving as sheriff. His entire life has been spent west of the Mississippi, his birth having occurred in Jackson county, Iowa, on the 5th of April 1856. The family is of Scotch descent and was early founded in the state of Missouri, the paternal grandfather of our subject having taken up his residence there when the region was an almost unbroken wilderness Jerome Samuel Burns, the father of our subject, was born in Missouri and wedded Miss Mary Kuntz, a native of … Read more

Biography of Benjamin Franklin Strong, M. D.

Benjamin Franklin Strong, M. D. Now engaged in practice as a physician and surgeon at Chautauqua, Doctor Strong had a wide acquaintance in the two states of Kansas and Missouri, had practiced medicine in both states and had also a successful business record to his credit prior to his entrance into the medical profession. He was born in Sabula, Iowa, June 4, 1861. He represents an old American family. His first American ancestor was Elder John Strong, who was the founder of Northampton, Massachusetts. The Strong family originated in Scotland but this branch of it came from England. Many generations … Read more

WPA Iowa Graves Registration Survey

WPA – Work Projects Administration – 1930’s Iowa Graves Registration Survey Adair County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Adams County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Allamakee County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Audubon County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Black Hawk County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Boone County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Bremer County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Buchanan County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Buena Vista County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Butler County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Calhoun County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Carroll County Iowa – WPA Grave Registration Cass County Iowa … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. A. Barrick

He was one of the representative business men of Battle Creek, Ida County, Ia., since 1881. In 1878, he married Hannah Gillmore of Jackson County, Iowa. They had two children: Roy and Archie. He is a native of Chicago, Illinois, born June 5, 1852, son of William and Elizabeth Barrick, natives of England. When A. A. was a year old, his father moved to Clinton County, Ia., and on a farm he grew to manhood. He served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith’s trade and was engaged in business on the Maquoketa road one year. He engaged in blacksmithing in Morris … Read more

Iowa Death Records by County

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 … Read more