Clarke Co. Vital Records

For an explanation of State Vital Records and how to obtain them

Clarke County Courthouse
100 S. Main
Osceola, Iowa 50213

Court House Phone Numbers

Clerk of Court - ( 641) 342-6096

Recorder - (641) 342-3313

Treasurer - (641) 342-3311

CENSUS

• 1860-1920 Federal censuses
• 1856-1925 Iowa censuses (microfilm at Osceola Public Library)

VITAL RECORDS

• Marriage records - 1853 to present (Recorder's Office); 1853-1900 (microfilm at Osceola Public Library)
• Birth records - 1880 to1991 (Recorder's Office) The cost of certified birth certificates in Iowa are going up from $10 to
• $15 on July 1, 2003; 1880-1897 (book at Osceola & Murray Public Libraries)
• Death records - 1880 to present (Recorder's Office); some obituary clippings at Osceola & Murray Public Libraries and Historical Museum

PROBATE & RELATED RECORDS

• Wills & Probates - 1853 to present (Clerk's Office); abstracts of first 5 will books (Historical Museum)

LAND & RELATED RECORDS

• 1853 to present (Recorder's Office); some abstracts (Historical Museum)

MAPS, ATLASES

• 1902, 1909, 1915 & 1930 plat atlases and farm directory atlases from 1950s (Historical Museum and Osceola & Murray Public Libraries)

COURT RECORDS

• earliest records incomplete (Clerk's Office)

CEMETERY, FUNERAL HOME RECORDS

• WPA Graves Registration (Osceola & Murray Public Libraries)
• Webster Funeral Home Records (Osceola) -transcribed 1900-1905; 1915-22; 1922-28; 1928-34; 1934-44; 1944-49 (Osceola Public Library)
• Forster's Funeral Home of Woodburn (Osceola Public Library)

CHURCH, BIBLE RECORDS

• Some Bible records & church histories (Historical Museum)

MILITARY

• Military Discharge records - 1919 to present and a few Civil War (Recorder's Office)
• Iowa Roster (Civil War) and some transcribed GAR records (Osceola Public Library)

NEWSPAPERS

• bound -The Osceola Sentinel 1951 to 1982; The Osceola Tribune 1951 to 1982; The Osceola Sentinel-Tribune 1983 to present (Osceola Public Library)
• microfilm -The Osceola Sentinal 1863-1868; 1883-1992 (issues missing in early years); The Osceola Democrat 1898-1914, 1917-18; the Osceola tribune 1925-1982 (Osceola Public Library)

PUBLICATIONS

• Clarke County Historical & Biographical Record, 1886 Lewis Publishing (Historical Museum and Osceola Public Library)
• Clarke County Birth Records 1880-1897 by Celia Davis (Osceola & Murray Public Libraries)
• Murray Centennial 1868-1968 (Historical Museum and Osceola & Murray Public Libraries)
• Murray Quasquicentennial 1868-1993 by Joan Callison (Murray Public Library)
• Historic Hopeville and Vicinity, 1850-1982 by Dorothy Jones & Kathy Parmenter (Historical Museum and Osceola Public Library)
• Clarke County Historical Society Bicentennial Picture Book (Historical Museum and Osceola Public Libary)