History
Mills County was established in 1851 from Pottawattamie County. The county was named after Frederick Mills, a young officer from Burlington, Iowa who was killed in the Mexican War in the Battle of Cherubusco.
The county is located in southwest Iowa along the Missouri River and in the heart of the Loess Hills. The earliest settlement was by the Mormons in 1846. It was named Rushville and is located near present day Glenwood.
Boundaries
Mills County is located on
the Missouri River in southwestern Iowa. It is bounded as follows: West: Cass
and Sarpy Counties, Nebraska; North: Pottawattamie Co., East: Montgomery Co.;
SE: Page Co., and South: Freemont Co.
Current towns and communities (Zip codes given for towns having Post Offices)
1890 1990
Emerson 51533 Indian Creek 404 476
Glenwood 51534 Glenwood 1,890 4,960
Hastings 51540 Indian Creek 322 187
Henderson 51541 Anderson 201 206
Malvern 51551 Silver Creek 1,003 1,210
Mineola 51554 Oak 300
Pacific Junction 51561 Plattville 744 548
Silver City 51571 Ingraham 324 252
Abandoned towns
Town Township
Town Township
Alps
Lyons Jewel
Silver Creek
Ashleigh unknown Lewis City became Mineola
Balfour Center Louden Center
Benton Anderson Milton Station became Malvern
Bethlehem Plattville Mt. Olive Center
Boxelder Anderson Pacific City Plattville
California City Plattville Plattville Plattville
Cerro Gordo St. Marys Potter Anderson
Coonville Glenwood Rushville Lyons
Egypt Lyons St. Marys St. Marys
Etta Anderson Sharpsburg Plattville
Fayette Center Strahan White Cloud
Florence Plattville Solomon Deer Creek
Folsom Oak Tubbsville unknown
Harmony Indian Creek Turner Deer Creek
Haynie Lyons Wahaghbonsey Rawles
Henton Oak Walnut Grove unknown
Hillsdale Center Ward Ingraham
Indian Creek Indian Creek Weston Indian Creek
Ingraham Ingraham
Section II: Resource Centers
Courthouse:
· [MCCH] Mills County Court House
Glenwood, Iowa 51534
Genealogical Society
· [MCGS] Mills County Genealogical Society
c/o Glenwood Public Library, 109 North Vine Street
Glenwood, Iowa 51534
Historical Societies
· [MCHS] Mills County Historical Society
406 Third Street
Glenwood, Iowa 51534
Libraries with Genealogical or Historical Collections
· [EPL] Emerson Public Library
410 Manchester Street
Emerson, Iowa 51553
· [GPL] Glenwood Public Library
109 N. Vine Street
Glenwood, Iowa 41434
· [MPL] Malvern Public Library
502 Main Street
Malvern, Iowa 51551
· [SCL] Silver City Library
408 Main Street
Silver City, Iowa 51571
· [FHL] LDS Family History Center
Vine and Sharp Street
Glenwood, Iowa 51534
· [IGSL] Iowa Genealogical Society Library
628 East Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
· [ISHL] Iowa State Historical Library
600 East Locust Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Section III: Records – records may be found at the record sites
abbreviated after each entry. See Section II for complete record site
information.
Census
· Federal: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, microfilm: [IGSL] , [ISHL]
· Federal Indices: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1920: [IGSL] , [ISHL]
· State: 1885, 1895, 1910, 1915, 1925: [IGSL] , [ISHL]
Vital Records
· Births: from 1880, originals: [MCCH]; 1880-1940, microfilm: [IGSL], [ISHL], [FHL]
· Boileau: Mills Co. Register of Births, 1880-1919, (1982): [IGSL]
· Marriages: from 1880, originals: [MCCH]; 1852-1925, microfilm: [IGSL], [ISHL]
· Mills Co. Marriage records, 1851-1857, 1880-1885, transcript: [IGSL]
· McDonald: Mills County, Iowa Marriages 1880-1885, (1975): [ISHL], [FHL], [GPL]
· Deaths: from 1880, originals: [MCCH]; 1880-1919, microfilm: [IGSL], [ISHL], [FHL]
· Mills Co. Deaths, 1880-1919, transcript: [IGSL], [GPL]
Probate and related records
· Probate records, (from1852), originals: [MCCH]
· Probate bond record book, (1913-1919), microfilm: [IGSL]
· Probate calendar, (1878-1909), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Probate index, (from 1854), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Wills, (1858-1877, 1884-1933), microfilm: [ISHL]
Land and related records
· Land records, (from1853), originals: [MCCH]
· Property transfers, (1866-1949), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Town lot transfers, (1867-1899), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Deeds index, (1857-1904), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Land Deeds, (1851-1909), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Town lot deeds, (1852-1906), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Homestead records, (1850-1970), microfilm: [ISHL]
Maps, atlases and gazetteers
· Mills County Patrons from Andreas Atlas, 1875: [IGSL]
· Greater Omaha Gen. Soc.: Index to the 1913 Atlas of Mills and Pottawattamie Cos. (c1989): [IGSL]
· Atlas of Mills County, Iowa (1921): [GPL]
· Rockford Map Publishers: Atlas Directory, Mills County, Iowa, (1971): [FHL]
Court records
· Court records, (from 1888), originals: [MCCH]
· Divorce records, (from 1880), originals: [MCCH]
· Bonds and oaths, (1876-1892), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Bonds for guardians, (1873-1875), microfilm: [ISHL]
· Administrators, executors and guardians (1905-1935): [ISHL]
· Court Docket, (1869-1889), microfilm: [ISHL]
Cemetery
· Mills Co. Gen. Soc.: Mills County Cemeteries and Index, n.d.: [IGSL], [GPL]
· Emerson and North Grove Cemeteries: [IGSL]
· Works Progress Administration: Mills County grave registration, (c1938): [IGSL], [ISHL], microfilm: [ISHL], [FHL]
· Cemetery lots, (1926-1970): [MCCH]; microfilm: [ISHL], [GPL]
· Fremont and Mills County Cemeteries (1865-1988), microfilm: [FHL]
· Clarinda Publishing Co.: Mills County, Iowa Cemeteries, (1982): [ISHL]
· Yambar: Martin’s Chapel Cemetery, Platteville Township, n.d.: [ISHL]
Funeral homes (Current)
· Glenwood
· Hardeman-Raynor
112 North Vine Street, Glenwood, Iowa 51534
· Peterson Mortuary
212 South Locust Street, Glenwood, Iowa 51534
· Malvern
· Mansfield Hertz Funeral Home
208 East 4th Street, Malvern, Iowa 51551
Church, Bible
· Wesley Chapel Centennial, (1956): [ISHL]
Military
· Glenwood Opinion: Mills Co. Men who have answered their country’s call: (c1920): [IGSL], [ISHL]
· Military discharge records, (1865-1904), microfilm: [ISHL]
Newspapers:
· Area newspapers: [GPL]
Newspapers from the following towns are on microfilm:
· Emerson
· Mills County Chronicle, (1879): [ISHL]
· The Emerson Chronicle, (1890): [ISHL]
· Emersonian, (1963-64): [ISHL]
· Glenwood
· Glenwood Opinion, (1876, 1897-1927): [ISHL]
· Mills County Journal, (1879, 1893-1896): [ISHL]
· Mills County Tribune, (1893-1922): [ISHL]
· Glenwood Opinion Tribune, (1927-1971): [ISHL]
· Opinion Tribune, (1971-1997): [ISHL]
· Malvern
· Malvern Leader, (1896, 1922-1997): [ISHL]
· Pacific Junction
· The Pacific Junction Gazzette, (1882): [ISHL]
Miscellaneous
· First Landowners, Mills County, Iowa: [IGSL]
· Orphan’s Home in Glenwood, 1870: [IGSL]
· Mills County Genealogical Society Newsletter: [IGSL]
· Byers: The Byers Family History … …Early Day History of Glenwood, (1978): [ISHL]
· Wearin: A Century on an Iowa Farm, 1854-1959, n.d.: [ISHL]
County & Local Histories:
· State Historical Co.: History of Mills Co., Iowa, (1881): [FHL]
· Index to the 1881 History of Mills Co., Iowa, [FHL]
· Lewis Pub. Co.: History of Fremont and Mills Counties, (1901): [ISHL]
· Mills Co. History Book Committee: History of Mills County, (1985): [IGSL], [ISHL], [FHL], [GPL]
· Centennial History of Henderson, Iowa, 1881-1981, (1981): [IGSL], [ISHL]
· History of Emerson, Iowa: [IGSL]
· Todd: Early settlement and growth of western Iowa: [IGSL]
· Wearin: The story of a court house 1857-1957, (1957): [IGSL], [ISHL]
· Wortman: Ghost Towns of Mills County, (1975): [ISHL]
· Malvern Centennial Committee: Malvern, Iowa Centennial 1869-1969, [ISHL], [IGSL]
Publications
· Iowa Genealogical Society: Hawkeye Heritage articles through 1993, [IGSL] (Entries indicate year, issue number and page number.)
· 1870 Residents of the Iowa Orphan Asylum (1984), 2:75
· Death Record Book I, 1880-1890, (1983), 4:177
· First Land Owners, from History of Mills County, 1876, (1983), 4:174
· Mills County History, (1983), 4:174
· Medical Attendants, Book 1, Record of Births, 1880-1897, (1989), 3:137
· Muster and Descriptive Roll of Wahaghbonsey Ranters, 1862, (1989), 3:139
· Research in Fremont and Mills Counties of Southwest Iowa, (1986), 1:39
· Some Old Timers, (1989), 1:33
· The following Mills County Publications are for sale through the Iowa Genealogical Society. Consult the Iowa Genealogical Society Website for a detailed listing and availability.
· Mills County marriages, 1880-1885
Section IV: Credits
We wish to acknowledge the contributions made by members of the Mills County Genealogical Society, Mills County Historical Society, the Mills County Courthouse, the Iowa State Historical Society and volunteers at the Iowa Genealogical Society for providing data contained in this research guide. Their efforts have been of immeasurable help in gathering this information.
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