Franklin County, Iowa Genealogy

Guide to Franklin County, Iowa ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for Benjamin Franklin. The County has Hampton as its seat and the County was created 1851. The County is located in the north central area of the state.

Parent County
1851--Franklin County was created 15 January 1851 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Chickasaw, Fayette, and Hardin Counties prior to organization 3 March 1856. County seat: Hampton

Boundary Changes
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.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities
Town/city records in the FamilySearch Catalog



Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities and towns

 * Ackley
 * Alexander
 * Coulter
 * Dows
 * Geneva
 * Hampton
 * Hansell
 * Latimer
 * Popejoy
 * Sheffield

Unincorporated communities

Bradford Chapin

Neighboring Counties
Butler • Cerro Gordo •  Floyd •  Grundy •  Hamilton •  Hancock •  Hardin •  Wright

Census
State Census
 * 1895 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1905 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1915 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1925 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Lutheran

 * Records of the Zion Lutheran Church, Sheffield, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Local Histories
1883 Biographies


 * Union Publishing Company. History of Franklin and Cerro Gordo counties, Iowa... and biographies of representative citizens. : History of Iowa, embracing accounts of the pre-historic races... Springfield, Ill. : Union Publishing Co., 1883.
 * Online at FamilySearch (Free)
 * Stuart, I. L. History of Franklin County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement. Chicago, Illinois : S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1914.
 * Online at Internetarchive (Free)
 * History of Franklin County, Iowa : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement at Ancestry.com ($)


 * Franklin County history, Iowa at Ancestry.com ($)

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Iowa
 * Iowa USGS Topographic Choose Airport, Bridge, Building, Cemetery, Church, Civil, Hospital, Lake, Locale, Park, Populated Place, Post Office, School, Stream, Summit, Trail http://www.topozone.com/states/Iowa.asp?county=Franklin

Military

 * 1835-1998 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1861-1949 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1862-1910 - at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

 * - 2nd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company F
 * - 2nd Regiment, Iowa Cavalry, Company F

Newspapers
NewspaperArchive.com ($) has a large collection of digitized Iowa newspapers online. This database is sometimes free at libraries.


 * Hampton Chronicle. 1951-2963, 1966 Hampton, IA, USA. Online at: Ancestry.com ($)

Probate
Online Probate Records


 * 1758 - 1997 Iowa Wills and Probate Records 1758-1997 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Taxation

 * 1934-1958 - at FamilySearch — index

Births

 * 1850-1939 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1921-1942 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

 * 1518-1996 - Iowa, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1838-1934 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Deaths

 * 1850-1990 - at FamilySearch - index
 * 1880-1992 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1904-1951 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Franklin County Genealogical Society 4 Federal Street Hampton IA 50441-1934

Franklin County Historical Museum 1008 Central Ave W Hampton, IA 50441 Telephone:641-456-5777 E-mail: [mailto:info@historyinfranklincounty.org info@historyinfranklincounty.org] Website

Dows Historical Society 1896 Railroad Street Dows IA 50071-0287