Louisa County Genealogical Society
Prepared for the web by Norma F. Jennings
Copyright 
1997,
1998
This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without my written consent.
- The first people to inhabit Louisa County were the Mound Builders.
These pre-historic people left traces of their occupancy which are notable
today. The village of Toolesboro contains the largest number of those
remaining mounds. Regrettably, many have been obliterated by years of cultivation.
These mounds were found along the bluffs of most of the rivers in what
is now Louisa County.
- Census: 4c- Louisa Co. 1858, 1885, Federal 1850; 4d - Louisa Co. 1858, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1920, 1925.
- Vital Records: Birth and death start 1880: 2, 4c, 4d, marriages, obituaries
- Probate and related records: 1, start 1839: 5a
- Maps, atlases and gazetteers: 1, 2, 3, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d
- Court records: 1
- Church, Bible: 2, 3, 4a, 4c, 4d
- Military: 1, 2, 3, 4a, 4c, 4d
- Newspapers: 2; 4a, Columbus Gazette (microfilm); 4c, Morning Sun Herald (original and film); 4d, all Louisa Co. newspapers on film from 1847
- Lineage and Service organizations: American Legion: Columbus Jct., Oakville, Morning Sun. Veterans of Foreign Wars: Columbus Jct, Wapello
- Educational, Business and Other: 2, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, high school yearbooks. Publications: 1889, 1912
- Histories of Louisa Co.: 2, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d, Three articles in Hawkeye Heritage 27 publications through Iowa Genealogy Society
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- SECTION IV: CREDITS
- William H. "Bill" Matthews
- Eleanor Jones
- Edited by Norma Jennings
- These ancient peoples were replaced by the Woodlawn Indians who
remained in possession of the land until the coming of the white man.
The white men started to settle here even before it had been acquired by
the dubious purchase called "The Blackhawk Purchase."
After the area was acquired by the U.S. Government, white settlers from Europe started to come in large numbers. Two of the predominant groups were the Welch and Germans with a sprinkling of Swedes, English, Irish and native born whites from Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Christopher Shuck is thought to have been the first white settler, coming about 1834. In 1835, a few more brave men came in and settled. In 1836, the Indian Chief, Keokuk, and his followers gave peacable possession and in 1837 great droves of white settlers came into the county.
The Welsh in Louisa County came from central Wales where they had been farmers. The first wave of Welsh settlers in Louisa County came in the mid 1800s. The congregation of the Welsh churches in the Cotter area formed the largest concentration of Welsh immigrants in Iowa.
Many Germans also came to this area in the mid 1800s; some seeking a better life, some to escape compulsory military service in Germany and some to work on the Air Line Railway. The German immigrants settled mostly in the Grandview and Wapello area. They attended Congregational churches or the German speaking Methodist churches.
Louisa County became the home for several Covenenter families who migrated from Pennsylvania. There was a settlement near Wyman and two congregations in the Morning Sun community. These were Reformed Presbyterian churches but also called Covenenters. Very few churches of this denomination settled west of the Mississippi River. There is still one active congregation in the Sharon community near Morning Sun.
Towns and Zip Codes:
Columbus Junction, 52738; Cotter, 52221; Fredonia, 52738; Grandview
52752; Letts, 52754;Morning Sun, 52640; Oakville, 52648; and Wapello, 52653
(zip codes). A few years ago, the following towns were also incorporated:
Bard, Cairo, Elrick Junction, Gladwin, Marsh, Newport, Toolesboro, and
Wyman. These were all in existence in 1912. Abandoned towns are Altoona,
Cuba City, Florence, Forest Hill, Hillsboro, Hope Farm, Iow Town, Lafayette,
Oakland, Odessa, Palo Alto, Pittsburg, Port Allen, Port Louisa, Port Washington,
Spring Run, Sterling, Tecumseh, Virginia Grove and Yellow Banks.
SECTION II: RESEARCH RESOURCES
1. Courthouse: Louisa County Courthouse, 117 S. Main St., Wapello, Iowa 52653-1547
2. Genealogical Society: Louisa County Genealogical Society, 507 Highway 61 North, Wapello, Iowa 52653 Ph: 319-523-8381
3. Heritage Center: Louisa County Historical Society, 509 Highway 61 North, Wapello, Iowa 52653 Ph: 319-523-8381
4. Libraries with Genealogical and Historical Collections:
- a. Columbus Junction Public Library, 122 Maple St., Ph: 319-728-7972.
Columbus Junction, Iowa. Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 3:30-7:30p.m.
On Wednesdays: 10 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 1 p.m.
b. Letts Public Library, 135 S. Cherry St., Letts, Iowa 52754Ph: 319-726-5121. Hours: Monday, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. ; Tuesday and Friday, 1-6 p.m.; Wednesday, 9 a.m. - noon; Thursday, 2 - 7 p.m.
c. Mellinger Memorial Library, 11 Division St., Morning Sun, Ia. 52640. Ph: 319-868-7505 Hours: Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. - ?
d. Keck Memorial Library, 119 N. Second St, Wapello, Iowa 52653
a. Louisa County Heritage Center, Wapello
b. Toolesboro Indian Mounds, Hwy 99 west of Toolesboro
c. Swinging Bridge, Columbus Junction
d. RFD Postal Museum, Division and Main Streets, Morning Sun, Iowa, opened November 1996.