Clarke County Genealogical Society of Iowa

04/07/2026

Good meeting this evening! We navigated through the Find A Grave website.

04/04/2026

Its the beginning of April and that means a different township! The display is at the Osceola Public Library.

This month will feature Doyle Township which is home to the Hopeville Music Reunion that is held each fall and serves the best pie around!

04/03/2026

180 Years of Clarke County!

Each month, the Clarke County Genealogical Society will highlight one of the 12 Townships of the county.
Stop by the Osceola Public Library and see pictures of the pioneers, map of the township, country school pictures and more!

03/22/2026

This a free event! In person or via Zoom

Come to the Library for a presentation and conversation with Civil War re-enactor, historian, and writer O.J. Fargo as part of the Ames History Museum Lecture Series:

Just Before the Battle Mother: A Visit from a Civil War Soldier
Tuesday, March 24
7pm, Auditorium and online via Zoom

Dressed in full Union Army regalia, O.J. Fargo focuses his first person presentation on an individual Iowa soldier’s Civil War experience. He will detail the experiences of an Iowan during the conflict.

Fargo will also bring an artifact display and full electronic Civil War roster of all men who served in and from Iowa, searchable by name, city, county and/or birthplace.

Find out more at www.ameshistory.org

Ames History Museum

03/06/2026

Find A Grave is a great free resource for any genealogist!

Below is a link to Maple Hill Cemetery in Osceola.

The World’s largest gravesite collection. Contribute, create and discover gravesites from all over the world. .

08/08/2025

Out of the 500 who enlisted from Clarke County, these 86 did not return to their families. The oldest were in their 40's, the youngest still teenagers. Many were not old enough to vote and some had been born in other countries and may not yet have become a naturalized citizen.

Too many of them died of disease; some before they left the training camps here in Iowa.

It was written in the 1886 History of Clarke County that only one man in the county had been drafted.

A curated virtual cemetery.

04/17/2025

In 1846, the year that Iowa became a state and the year that Clarke County was surveyed by government surveyors, a historic migration was beginning; one that left stories of incredible hardship and will ... and also left wheel ruts that can be seen unto this day.

Back in 1994, Don Reasoner and others came together to research and maintain a local history of that migration.
Also back in the 1990's, Murray students became Citizen Scientists through their research and searching for the remains of that migration that went through Murray... 20 years before the town was founded.

03/13/2025

1854, August - Census of the town of Osceola
The numbers after the names are for
(male-female-voter-militia)

There were 3 men who were too old to be required to be subject to militia. 39 men were of age to vote.
12 of the 39 men were unmarried... or at least their wives were not in Clarke County with them yet.

The site of the town of Osceola was decided in 1851 by state officials. Building lots were sold in 1852. At this census, the town would have been in existence a couple of years.

02/07/2025

Timeline and overview of history of black residents of Clarke County.

02/07/2025

Here is the beginning of a collection of the early black residents of Clarke County. Though there are numerous obituaries which say burial was in Maple Hill, in many instances there is no longer any remaining headstone or marker.
That is also true for many former residents who are buried in Des Moines.

This link to the black community in Clarke County records is to Clarke County GenWeb.
https://iagenweb.org/clarke/afram.html

A curated virtual cemetery for names in Early Black residents: Clarke County, Iowa.

11/17/2024

Having researched some on the history of the black community in post Civil War Clarke County, I was aware of the Bryant family's century-long connection with Clarke County.

The 6 sons are now linked with their parents through their Findagrave memorials and their obituaries have been added there.

The parents had experienced slavery in Missouri but by the end of The War of the Rebellion, as it was called then, John and Mary Bryant had come north to Osceola soon after their marriage there. All of their children were born here... and most of them are buried here.

Only in the last few days did I become aware that their son George was a well-known musician in Omaha. His brother, Frank, known as 'Haley,' was even better known in Clarke County... and his obituary. is also a most interesting glimpse into his life and the life of early Osceola. The obituaries are available both on Findagrave and at Clarke County GenWeb. http://iagenweb.org/boards/clarke/obituaries/index.cgi?read=895690

Mickey Thomas also wrote articles in the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune about some of the other local black families that contributed greatly to the history of Clarke County.

The link to the digitized newspapers of Osceola and Murray can be found on the Osceola Public Library webpage.

Digitization is made possible by donations received by the Osceola Library Foundation. The digital collection includes issues through December of 2023.

According to his burial card he lived at 2423 Grant Street, died March 8, 1971, age 93 years, and was buried March 12 following services at St. Benedict's Catholic Church. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''' The Omaha Star, March 11, 1971, p. 3, col. 4 Long Time Omaha Band Leader Passes George Bryant, 94 ye...

05/20/2023

Bethel Chapel Cemetery Tour!
Happening soon!
Mark your calendars for Memorial Day Weekend!

Come take a self-guided tour of the cemetery, visit the church, learn about how to property clean tombstones and more! There will be information on pioneer families, church records and cemetery plat maps to view!

Bethel Chapel Church is the oldest Union Christian Church still standing in Iowa!

Come out and see a bit of Clarke County history.
Saturday, May 27th 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 28th 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Church and Cemetery address - 1152 330th Ave, Liberty Township

Directions from Osceola –
Take Hwy 34 East to 330th St, this is the Woodburn Corner, go north on 330th. Follow 330th to the church. The road does turn but stay on 330th to get to the church.

Bethel Chapel Cemetery Tour committee chairpersons:
Samantha Edgerton 641-203-6070
Cindy Henry