Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Muscatine County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Deeds and land
County government
Cemeteries and burial
- Cemetery Records · Clerk1916-1919
Court records
- Circuit Court-Appearance Docket · Clerk1869-1888
- Circuit Court-General Index · Clerk1869-1888
- Circuit Court-Record · Clerk1869-1887
- District Court-Appearance Docket · Clerk1837-1843
- District Court-Application for Pensions for the Blind · Clerk1915-1922
- District Court-Combined District Court Docket & Fee Book · Clerk1863-1930
- District Court-Combined District Court Docket & Fee Book-Index · Clerk1863-1896
- District Court-Complete District Court Record · Clerk1839-1863
- District Court-Fee Book · Clerk1849-1852
- District Court-Record · Clerk1838-1922
- District Court-Record-Index · Clerk1883-1922
- District Court-Sheriff's Sales · Clerk1851-1899
- District Court-Widow's & Dependent Children · Clerk1909-1943
Marriages, births and deaths
- County Judge's Minute Book (including county business & marriage licenses) · Clerk1853-1860
- Vital Statistics-Divorces · Clerk1907-1945
- Vital Statistics-Births-Card Index & Record · Recorder1880-1935
- Vital Statistics-Births-Certificates · Recorder1909-1935
- Vital Statistics-Births-Record · Recorder1880-1910
- Vital Statistics-Deaths-Record · Recorder1880-1904; 1906-1935
- Vital Statistics-Marriages-Index · Recorder1837-1991
- Vital Statistics-Marriages-Record · Recorder1837-1940
Other records
- County Judge's Minute Book-Index · Clerk1840-1900
- Affidavits-Index · Recorder1907-1925
- Original Entries, abstract · Recorder1838-1855
Naturalization records
- Naturalizations-Declaration of Intent · Clerk1855-1953
- Naturalizations-Final Oaths · Clerk1855-1872
- Naturalizations-Index · Clerk1837-1944
- Naturalizations-Military Petitions · Clerk1863-1901
- Naturalizations-Minors · Clerk1855-1872
- Naturalizations-Miscellaneous Papers · Clerk1839-1937
- Naturalizations-Petition & Record · Clerk1904-1945
- Naturalizations-Petitions Granted & Denied · Clerk1930-1945
- Naturalizations-Record · Clerk1872-1906
- Naturalizations-Repatriation Certificates · Clerk1941-1944
Wills and estates
- Probate-Admitted to Probate · Clerk1904-1929
- Probate-Appearance Docket · Clerk1866-1912
- Probate-Bonds, Oaths, & Letters-Administrator, Executor, Guardian · Clerk1909-1941
- Probate-Calendar · Clerk1871-1874
- Probate-Combined Probate Docket · Clerk1912-1925
- Probate-Complete Probate Record · Clerk1844-1919
- Probate-General Index · Clerk1843-1992
- Probate-Record · Clerk1838-1918
- Probate-Record of Heirs & Estates · Clerk1861-1895
- Probate-Wills-Record · Clerk1882-1916
Tax records
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
- Muscatine 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, Muscatine" 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: Des Moines County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Des Moines County
Later formed partly from Muscatine County: Johnson County, Scott County, Washington County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1836, 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.