Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Bremer County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Military records
Deeds and land
- Real Estate Transfer- Lands · Auditor1855-1937
- Real Estate Transfers-Lands & Town Lots-Index · Auditor1855-1890
- Real Estate Transfers-Town Lots · Auditor1860-1920
- Probate-Deed Records · Clerk1875-1961
- Deeds-Cemetery Deed Record · Recorder1898-1931
- Deeds-Lands-Index & Record · Recorder1852-1905
- Deeds-Mortgages-Lands-Index · Recorder1852-1859
- Deeds-Town Lots-Index & Record · Recorder1855-1902
- Deeds/Mortgages-Lands · Recorder1853-1856
Marriages, births and deaths
- County Court-Record (including marriages, naturalizations & divorces) · Clerk1853-1866
- Vital Statistics - Marriages-Index · Recorder1853-1873
- Vital Statistics - Marriages-Record · Recorder1853-1918; 1920-1931
- Vital Stats-Births-Index · Recorder1880-1909
- Vital Stats-Births-Record · Recorder1880-1940
- Vital Stats-Deaths-Index · Recorder1880-1909
- Vital Stats-Deaths-Record · Recorder1880-1941
- Vital Stats-Delayed Birth Record · Recorder1869-1940
Court records
- District Court-General Index · Clerk1871-1929
- District Court-Record · Clerk1854-1862
- Justice of the Peace-Civil Docket · Clerk1906-1921
Naturalization records
- Naturalizations-Certificates · Clerk1905-1926
- Naturalizations-Declaration of Intent · Clerk1907-1947
- Naturalizations-First Papers · Clerk1873-1906
- Naturalizations-Minors · Clerk1883-1902
- Naturalizations-Petition and Record · Clerk1907-1929
- Naturalizations-Register · Clerk1854-1873
- Naturalizations-Second Papers · Clerk1860-1906
Wills and estates
- Probate-Accounts · Clerk1872-1894
- Probate-Bonds, Oaths and Letters-Administrator, Executor, Guardian · Clerk1866-1936
- Probate-Calendar - Estates · Clerk1865-1904
- Probate-Calendar - Guardians · Clerk1868-1928
- Probate-Combined Probate Docket · Clerk1911-1926
- Probate-General Index · Clerk1852-1925
- Probate-Record · Clerk1852-1925
- Probate-Record of Heirs & Estates · Clerk1860-1910
- Probate-Wills · Clerk1856-1929
Tax records
Cemeteries and burial
- Church & Cemetery Records · Private1800s-1900s
Other records
- Affidavits-Index · Recorder1907-1936
- Homestead Record · Recorder1858-1885
- Miscellaneous Record · Recorder1881-1933
- Miscellaneous Record-Index · Recorder1859-1948
- Original Entries, abstract · Recorder1850-1859
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected county microfilm held by the State Historical Society of Iowa. The office after each title identifies the creating office, not necessarily the present custodian. Ask the Research Center to confirm location, availability, restrictions and any copy or loan fees. Date spans may contain gaps; this list does not promise online images or complete county holdings.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Bremer County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county recorder, the clerk of the district court and the State Historical Society of Iowa, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county recorder
Deeds and other land records, and, in most counties, the older birth, death and marriage registers.
- The clerk of the district court
Probate (wills and estates), divorces and court cases.
- The State Historical Society of Iowa
In Des Moines and Iowa City: the state censuses, county records on microfilm and newspapers.
- State Historical Society of Iowafree
The state historical society's libraries and archives in Des Moines and Iowa City: state censuses, county records on microfilm and newspapers.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Iowa, Bremer" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Land not yet in any county
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1851, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Iowa took a state census every ten years from 1885 to 1925 (and earlier ones too), halfway between the federal censuses. The 1925 census asks for each person's parents' names and birthplaces.