Tama County, Iowa Genealogy

United States

Iowa

Tama County

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

Tama County, Iowa
Map
Location in the state of Iowa
Location of Iowa in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	February 17, 1843
County Seat	Toledo
Courthouse

County Information

Description

The County was named for Taimah, a leader of the Meskwaki Indians. The County has Toledo as its seat and the County was created 1843. The County is located in the central area of the state.

Tama County, Iowa Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1853	1880	1859	1853	1895	1847
Statewide registration started for births in July 1880 and for deaths Jan 1891. General compliance by 1924.

History

Parent County

1843--Tama County was created 17 February 1843 from Benton County. It was attached to Benton and Linn Counties prior to organization 4 July 1853. County seat:  Toledo

Tama is pronounced 'Tay-ma' (first 'a' rhymes with 'a' as in day).

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
Chelsea Clutier Dysart Elberon Garwin	Gladbrook Le Grand Lincoln Montour	Tama Toledo Traer Vining
Unincorporated communities
Buckingham	Long Point	Meskwaki Settlement
Native American communities
Meskwaki Settlement
Townships
Buckingham Carlton Carroll Clark Columbia Crystal Geneseo	Grant Highland Howard Indian Village Lincoln Oneida Otter Creek	Perry Richland Salt Creek Spring Creek Tama Toledo York

Neighboring Counties

Benton • Black Hawk • Grundy • Iowa • Jasper • Marshall • Poweshiek

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
IAGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
IAGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
Iowa Gravestones
Billion Graves
See Iowa Cemeteries for more information.

Census

State Census

• 1895 - Iowa State Census, 1895 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1905 - Iowa State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1915 - Iowa State Census, 1915 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1925 - Iowa State Census. 1925 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church

Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Iowa Church Records.

Lutheran

St. Paul's Lutheran Church

• Records of the St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Tama County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Traer

• Records of the American Lutheran Church, Traer, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Land

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Iowa Land and Property for additional information about early Iowa land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse, where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Tama County, Iowa Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Iowa Local Histories.

• History of Tama County, Iowa at Ancestry.com ($)

• A history of Tama County, Iowa. By J. R. Caldwell. Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co., 1910. Online at: Vol. 1 FamilySearch Digital Library, Vol.2 FamilySearch Digital Library.

• History of Tama County, Iowa : its cities, towns and villages with early reminiscences, personal incidents and anecdotes and a complete business directory of the county. By Samuel D. Chapman. Toledo, Iowa : Toledo Times Office, 1879. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, HathiTrust; At various libraries(WorldCat.

• Hurrah for bonnie Iowa : an authentic story of two families from Scotland who pioneered in Iowa. By Janette Stevenson Murray and Janet Murray Fiske. Lake Mills, Iowa : Graphic Pub. Co., c1963. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library.

• Tama County, Iowa in the World War, 1917-1918 : a pictorial history of an American community in the defense of democracy. Tama, Iowa : Tama News, [1919?]. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library; At various libraries(WorldCat.

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Old Antique Atlases & 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=Tama
  

Military

• 1835-1998 - Iowa, Armed Forces Grave Registrations, ca. 1835-1998 at FamilySearch — index
• 1861-1949 - Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1862-1910 - Iowa, Records of Persons Subject to Military Duty, 1862-1910 at FamilySearch — index

Civil War

Regiments. Service men in Tama County, Iowa Genealogy served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Tama County, Iowa Genealogy:

- 10th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company C

- 14th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company G

- 24th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company E

- 28th Regiment, Iowa Infantry, Company F

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1859-1990 - United States, Iowa Naturalization Records, 1859-1990 at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers

• NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Waterloo newspapers that may have included Tama County residents. This database is free at some libraries.

• 1955 — Gladbrook Tama Northern at Ancestry.com ($) — Gladbrook, IA, USA

Probate

Online Probate Records

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

In most counties in Iowa, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate ticklers, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Iowa - Tama - Probate records.

Taxation

• 1934-1958 - Iowa, Old Age Tax Assistance Records, 1934-1958 at FamilySearch — index

Iowa tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. Tax lists were usually made every year, however, there may be gaps of several years. For more information, see the wiki page Iowa Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Iowa Department of Public Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also How to order Iowa Vital Records or order electronically online.

Births

• 1850-1939 - Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1850-1939 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1921-1942 - Iowa, Birth Records, 1921-1942 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriages

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

Death

• 1850-1990 - Iowa, Deaths and Burials 1850-1990 at FamilySearch
• 1880-1992 - Iowa, County Death Records, 1880-1992 at FamilySearch — index
  
• 1904-1951 - Iowa, Death Records, 1904-1951 at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries

Tama County Tracers Genealogical Society and Historical Society
200 N. Broadway
Toledo 52342-0084
Telephone:641-484-6767
Website

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

Websites

• Tama County, IA History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• Iowa Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Iowa Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Tama County, Iowa Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)