Madison County, Idaho Genealogy

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County Courthouse
Madison County Madison County

County seat: Rexburg

Parent County
1913--Madison County was created by the legislature on 18 February 1913 from Fremont County. The formal organization of the Madison County government took place on 5 January 1914 when the appointed officers met to take the oath of office. Researchers seeking information on early settlers must also search Bingham County records from 1883 to 1893 as it was the pioneer county for the entire upper Snake River valley.

Boundary Changes:
26 January 1915 -- a portion of the eastern part of Madison County was removed and became part of Teton County.

Places/Localities
The following list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

This list of places in Madison County, Idaho was compiled from the Lists of Places in Idaho in Wikipedia and from the map of Madison County in Virtual Earth.

Cities
Rexburg | Sugar City

Other inhabited places
Archer | Barton | Byrne | Canyon Creek | Edmonds | Gale | Hart | Herbert | Hibbard | Hinckley | Jensen | Jolley | Lyman | Mark | Moody | Parkinson | Plano | Salem | Sunnydell | Thornton | Walker | Wamar

Neighboring Counties
Bonneville | Fremont | Jefferson | Teton

Resources
Many of the older court, land, naturalization, probate, pension, and vital records for Madison County have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and through their family history centers. They are also available at the Idaho State Historical Society's Library in Boise. Details of the county records in these respective institutions can be obtained from their online catalogs or listings. Original records which have been microfilmed and more recent records are in the county courthouse in Rexburg.

Cemeteries
The Eastern Idaho Death Index has an exhaustive listing of all of the cemeteries in Madison County. The local chapter of the Sons of Utah Pioneers have a project to attach a digital photograph of each gravestone as time and seasons permits. Burton, Rexburg and Sugar City have many images included.

The following cemeteries of Madison County have some records in the Idaho State Historical Society Public Archives and Research Library:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)
The following are local congregations (wards) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which existed in Madison County, Idaho prior to 1950. Many of the original records of these church units are in the Historical Library in Salt Lake City. Many of the membership records covering these units from the date of their creation to about 1948 have been microfilmed and are available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

History
One local history written by a Ricks College history professor can be found at this citation. Crowder, David L., Rexburg, Idaho: The first one Hundred years 1883 – 1983 (Caldwell, Idaho: Caxton Printers ltd, 1983) The Book may be hard to find.

Land
Deeds and other land records start in 1914. Some early deeds recorded in Fremont County (pre-1914) for land now located in Madison County were transcribed and are listed in the early volumes in Madison County.

Military
World War I draft registration cards, 1917-1918, for Madison County have been microfilmed. Copies of these records are available at the Family History Library (their microfilm number 1452219) and are also available online at Ancestry.com, for a subscription fee. The original cards are maintained in the Southeast Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in East Point, Georgia and have been microfilmed by the National Archives as their Microcopy M1509.

Current

 * Rexburg Standard Journal
 * Post Register

Vital Records
Birth and deaths for county residents are recorded at the Idaho State Department of Vital Statistics (see state website). It should be noted that many of these early events were not recorded and it wasn't until the 1950's that the majority of births and deaths are included in the Statewide collection.

2,286 marriages from 14 Jan 1914 to 14 Feb 1950 are listed on the Western States Marriage Index.

There are two important death related indexes for Madison County. They are: Eastern Idaho Death Index and Idaho Death Index (1911-1956).

Societies and Libraries
McKay Library Brigham Young University - Idaho 525 South Center St. Rexburg, Idaho 84440-0405 Website: BYU-Idaho Library

The Library and it's Special Collections Department provide access to a large collection of original research material on Utah and Eastern Idaho settlers. It is especially comprehensive for materials relating to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). The Upper Snake River Family History Center is hosted in the Library.

Web Sites

 * The Madison County ID GenWeb Project, a member of The IDGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
 * Family History Library Catalog