applicant supplied document requirement 4 - · pdf filejill morelli, applicant supplied...

Jill Morelli, Applicant Supplied Document page 1 of 12

Applicant Supplied Document

Requirement 4

Jill Morelli Applicant for Certification

10 October 2016

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Date: 30 September 2016 Report to: File, Applicant Supplied Document - Certification Subject: Will, W. B. Riekena, resident of Shiloh Township, Grundy County, Iowa Question: Identify the composition of the W. B. Riekena family at the time of the writing of

his will in 1872 in Grundy County, Iowa and their relationships, one to the other. Task: Transcribe and abstract the document; analyze and develop a research plan.

Two copies of this will were found, both located in Grundy County Courthouse, Grundy Center, Iowa. Ancestry posted the will of W. B. Riekena online, found in the “Will Book dating from 1859 to June 4, 1888.” E. H. Cunningham transcribed this will and N. Cunningham signed the proof of the will. The wills within the Will Book are arranged chronologically. This document will be referred to as the “Ancestry will” and is the one that is transcribed below. The probate packet for W. B. Riekena contained another copy of the will with the loose papers. N. Cunningham transcribed this copy and also signed the proof of the will. The probate packets are arranged by court case number. This document will be identified as the “Packet will.” The original will was returned to the family once entered into the Will Book.1 Ancestry Will Citation:

Grundy County, Iowa, Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997, “Wills dating from 1859 to June 4, 1888,” p. 600-601, will of W. B. Riekena, 1887; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2016); citing Family History Library (FHL) 1,604,931, item 1, Salt Lake City, Utah; citing Grundy County, Iowa, Clerk of the Court, Grundy Center.

Packet Will Citation: Grundy County, Iowa, probate packet, no. 365, W. B. Riekena (1872), will, 26 October 1886; Clerk of the Court, Grundy Center.

The Ancestry will was compared to the Packet will for variations with the following observations:

1. The sharp differences in penmanship between the two wills and different signature indicates there were two different transcribers of the two wills;

2. The text is identical with one grammatical error corrected in the Packet will, which is noted in the Ancestry will transcription.

3. Some letters identified as capital letters in the Ancestry will were clearly not capitalized in the packet will;

4. “Secondly,” Thirdly,” “Fourthly” and “Fifthly” were printed in capital letters in the Packet will.

1 Noel C. Stevenson, Genealogical Evidence: A Guide to the Standard of Proof Relating to Pedigrees, Ancestry, Heirship and Family History, revised edition (Laguna Hills, California: Aegean Park Press, 1989) 61.


5. The proof of the Packet will located at the end of the document was a printed form, but was handwritten in the Ancestry will. The text was identical.

The differences between the two wills were not genealogically significant. It would be imperative for the clerk to copy each record carefully. Copies of wills by the court clerk are considered official documents, are subject to witness verification and publically available for review which makes them one of the most reliable of type of documents.2 In the transcription of the Ancestry will below, spelling and punctuation are transcribed as written by the Clerk of the District Court of Grundy County, Iowa. Line breaks in this transcription occur at the same points of the will. Traits of the clerk’s penmanship include: writing with such a “big hand” that the letters run into one another, horizontally and vertically; punctuation is missing; capital letters sometimes seem randomly placed; crossing of the letter “t” and the dotting of the “i” occurs several letters later, and an “e” often takes the form of the backwards 3. The cross on the letter “t” often takes the form of a long flourish, especially if there are multiple “ts” in the same word. The “S,” the “W” and the “C” are difficult to determine whether they are being purposefully capitalized as the form of these letters is the same whether upper or lower case. Since the entire Ancestry will was hand written, the transcription is typed in italics. Inserted comments or corrections are enclosed in square brackets. An attempt has been made to mimic the spacing in the will to the extent possible. What follows is a transcription, abstract and analysis of the Ancestry will of W. B. Riekena.

1. Grundy County, Iowa, Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997, “Wills dating from 1859 to June 4, 1888,” p. 600-601, will of W. B. Riekena, 1887; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2016); citing Family History Library (FHL) 1,604,931, item 1, Salt Lake City, Utah; citing Grundy County, Iowa, Clerk of the Court, Grundy Center.

THE DOCUMENT 600 [stamped, upper left corner of left page] In the Matter of the } Last Will and Testament of } Record of Will— W.B. Riekena deceased } I W.B. Riekena of Shilow [sic] Town= Ship Grundy County Iowa, do make this my last Will. I. give devise and bequeath, my estate and [mark in shape of upside down fish] property, Real and personal as follows. That is to Say: I devise all of my Real Estate and personal property of whatever name and descrip= tion to my wife F H. Riekena, to have and to hold during the 2 Ibid.


period of her natural life to have the right to Sell and dispose of the Same as fully and Completely as I now can for her Maintenance or Support if it may be necessary. Secindly It is - my will that my Real Estate after the death of my Said wife be disposed of as follows: To Johans W. Riekena One Hundred and Twenty acres de= scribed as follows: The East Half of the N.E. quarter of Section Seven (7) and the West quarter of the South East quarter of Section eight (8) all of which land is in Township Eighty Eight (88) Range Eighteen (18) in Said County of Grundy to his [overwritten] use and behoof forever sub= ject to the payment of Certain legacies herein after mentioned. To Berends W. Riekena The East Three Quarters of the SE Quarter of Section Eight containing One Hundred and twenty acres in Said Town= ship Eighty-Eighty Eight (88) Range Eighteen (18) in Said County Subject also to Certain legacies hereinafter mentioned. To Evert W Riekena all my right title and interest in and to . the SouthWest Quarter of Section Seven (7) in the Said Township Eighty-Eight (88) Range Eighteen in - Said Grundy County Iowa. Contain= ing One Hundred and Sixty acres more or less Subject also to the Payment and condition of Certain legacies hereinafter mentioned. Thirdly: It is my will that my Said Sons Johan W Riekena Berend W Riekena and Everl W. Riekena Shall pay to my Children herein= after mentioned in equal proportions the Sums of money following: To Wiard W Riekena the Sum of Eight Hundred and Fifty Dollars with interest at Six percent per annum from the death of my Said Wife. the Said Sums to be paid within one year from the date of her death, and in case of my wifes prior death, then the Said legacy to be paid within one year from my death with interest from my death at Six percent. To my Daughter Gepka W. Riekena the Sum of EightHun= dred and fifty Dollars two years from the death of my Said Wife or in case of her death before me in two years from my death with interest at Six percent. To each of my Daughters Fronka W.Riekena and Antje W. Riekena the Sum of Three Hundred and Twenty Five doll= ars with interest at Six per cent from the date of the death of my Said Wife, or in case of her prior death from the day of my [Page Break] 601 [stamped, upper right hand corner of right page] own death. The Said Sums to be paid within three years from the death of my wife orfrom my death in case she Shall have died before me and a like Sum of Three Hundred and Twenty Five Dollars to each of Said daughter Antje W Riekena and Frouke W.Riekena Four years from my wifes or my own death with interest from Said date at Sx per cent. Fourthly: It is my will that all the personal property of which I may be possessed and that Shall remain undisposed of at the death of my Said wife or at my own death in case she should die before me shall be divided equally among my heirs


Grandchildren to have a childs portion among the rest. The division of Said personal property to be made by the Said chil= dren and their action to be conclusive. That child willing to allow or pay the highest price for any article to be entitled to the same in the distribution: Fifthty: It is my Will that my Oldest Son living at my death - - Shall be my Executor, and that all the debts that I may owe Shall be paid including the expenses of my funeral and last Sickness by the Said Executor out of the personal property prior tothe distribution as above provided for In Witness whereof I have Signed Sealed and published and declared this instrument as my will at Grundy Center Iowa on this 17th day of September AD 1872. W.B Riekena {Seal [penned]} The Said WBRiekena at Said Grundy Center on Said 17th day of September 1872 Signed & Sealed this instrument and published and decla= red the Same as and for his last Will. And us [sic. “we” is used in probate will] at his request, and in his presence. and in the presence of each other have hereunto written our names as Subscribing [crossed the b] witnesses Witnesses } Daniet Kerr . } E H.Beckman . State of Iowa } ss Grundy County } E.HCunningham Clerk of the District Court in and for Said County, do hereby certify that on this day at the February Term AD 1887 of Said Court the Will and Instrument in writing hereunto annexed bearing date on the 17th day of September A.D 1872 was duly proved before and allowed by Said Court as and for the last Will and Testament of the real and personal estate of W.B.Riekena late of Said County deceased, and was by Said Count ordered to be recorded as Such Will and Testament. In Witness Whereof I have hereunto Set my hand And affixed the Seal of Said Court at my Office in {Seal [penned]} Grundy Center in Said County this 14th day of February AD 1887. N. Cunningham Clerk Citation:

1. Grundy County, Iowa, Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997, “Wills dating from 1859 to June 4, 1888,” p. 600-601, abstract of will of W. B. Riekena, 1887; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2016); citing Family History Library (FHL) 1,604,931, item 1, Salt Lake City, Utah; citing Grundy County, Iowa, Clerk of the Court, Grundy Center.

The will is free from visible modifications, manipulation or external damage which would negatively affect the readability of the document. The image is clear.


Last Will and Testament of W. B. Riekena, deceased Court Clerk’s Office, Grundy County District Court, Grundy Center, Iowa Will Book available online at Ancestry.com Written 17 September 1872; Proved 14 February 1887

THE ABSTRACT Deceased: W. B. Riekena Residence: Shiloh Township, Grundy County, Iowa All real estate and personal property goes first to wife, F.H. RIEKENA, who can sell and dispose of both for her support as if she were W. B. Riekena. After the death of W. B.’s wife, should her death occur after W. B. Riekena, real property will be disposed of as follows: JOHAN W. RIEKENA:

“One Hundred and Twenty acres: The East Half of the N.E. quarter of Section Seven (7) and the West quarter of the South East quarter of Section eight (8) all of which land is in Township Eighty Eight (88) Range Eighteen (18) is Said County of Grundy”

BEREND W. RIEKENA: “The East three Quarters of the SE Quarters of Section Eight containing One Hundred and twenty acres in Said town=Ship Eighty Eighty Eight (88) Range Eighteen (18) in Said County”

EVERT W. RIEKENA: “…The South West Quarter of Section Seven (7) in the said Township Eighty-Eight (88) Range Eighteen in - Said Grundy County Iowa Contain=ing One Hundred and Sixty acres more or less…”

“My sons, JOHAN W. RIEKENA, BEREND W RIEKENA, and EVERT W. RIEKENA shall pay to my children the following:” WIARD W RIEKENA:

“…$850 With interest at 6% per year to be paid within one year from the date of [my wife’s] death. In case of my wifes prior death then the legacy to be paid one year from my death with interest at 6%.”

Daughter GEPKA W. RIEKENA: “…$850 to be paid two years from the death of my Wife or in case of her death before me in two years from my death with interest at 6%.”

Daughters FROUKA W. RIEKENA and ANTJE W. RIEKENA: “$325 with interest at 6% to be paid within three years from the death of my wife or from my death in case she Shall have died before me”

“$325 to daughter ANTJE W. RIEKENA and FROUKE W. RIEKENA to be paid four years from my wifes or my own death with interest at 6%.”

Personal property:

• Divided equally among the heirs • Grandchildren to split a child’s portion


• Child willing to pay the highest price for an item will be entitled to the article within the personal property distribution

Executor: oldest surviving son Grundy Center, Iowa, 17 September1872. Signed: W. B. RIEKENA Witnessed: DaNIEL KERR, E. H. BECKMAN Proved: Grundy Center, Grundy County, 14 February 1887. Court Clerk: E. H. CUNNINGHAM Clerk: N. CUNNINGHAM

THE ANALYSIS Physical Analysis Ancestry is a subscription service providing genealogical documents online. There is no apparent bias by Ancestry that would affect the digitization process or the uploading other than the company’s corporate-level prioritization of which record sets to index and post. The will book of Grundy County, Iowa is imaged and online at Ancestry; the probate packets are not.3 On 28 December 1988, the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah, filmed the book.4 In 2013, Ancestry posted the images of the will book behind their member wall. The will book is bound with no blank or opening pages. Title of the book is penned on the outside front cover. The virtual book has 314 images and 307 images of wills. The index is a separate book. The Ancestry will for W. B. Riekena is similar in format to the other wills that precede and follow it in the will book. The typical content items in a will, and which are present in W. B. Riekena’s will, include the name of the testator, place of residence, real and personal property distribution, name of executor (by qualifications), date signed, testator’s “signature,” the “signatures” of the witnesses and a statement of how the debts are to be paid. There is no inclusion referring to the mental prowess of the testator.5 E.H. Cunningham, Court Clerk, transcribed the will into the will book at the time the family brought their personal copy of the will to court upon the death of W. B. Riekena. The handwriting of the will and the proving of the will are both in the same handwriting and pen and appear to be written at the same time.

3 Ancestry, Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997, Grundy County, Iowa, Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997, will book titled “Wills dating from 1859 to June 4, 1888,” p. 600-601, will of W. B. Riekena, 1887; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 October 2016); citing Family History Library (FHL) 1,604,931, item 1, Salt Lake City, Utah; citing Grundy County, Iowa, Clerk of the Court, Grundy Center. 4 Family Search, “Wills v. 1, 1858-1888,” FHL 1,604,931, item 1. 5 Raymond A. Winslow, Jr., “Wills,” in Helen F. M. Leary, CG, FASG, editor, North Carolina Research: Genealogy and Local History, second edition (Raleigh: North Carolina Genealogical Society, 1996), chapter 11, pp. 173-184.a


The image appears to be unmodified; the images of the entire document are clear with no fuzziness. There is no indication of any manipulation of the images of the document in its original state or by the photographic process. The will can be considered an original source with primary information concerning the research question. The evidence is direct for the research question when the children are named and identified as sons or daughters. The will and the will book appear to be in good or even excellent condition. There is no evidence of water damage, mold, tears or other damage visible in the images. The left page, left lower corner appears to be cut off, but it is the image of the item holding the will book flat for the purpose of filming. This does not affect the readability of the document. The two-page will was written on both sides of a single double sheet of paper that was then sewn at the half point into a binding of a book making the two pages of the book. Five long stitches form the sewn binding and are visible. There is no gutter pinching as would be present in most bound books as the sewn binding is loose enough that it allows the will to lay flat. Each page is imprinted the same; the pages are not a mirror image left to right. There are three thin horizontal lines continuous across the top of both pages, perhaps an inch down from the top. The two outside lines are thinner than the middle line. On the left side of each page there is a vertical line about one inch in from the edge of the paper (left page) or from the gutter (right page). On the right side of each page is a thin vertical line about ½” in. Both lines extend from the triple lines at the top of the page to the bottom of the paper. The clerk has transcribed the will into the page and stayed within these vertical lines and below the triple lines. There is no line at the bottom and the clerk has filled the page. In the upper left hand corner of the left page and the right hand corner of the right page are stamped page numbers 600 and 601, respectively. The clerk’s cursive writing is sharply pointed with large frequent flourishes. Letters are often incompletely formed making the text difficult to decipher until one gets used to the penmanship style. Legibility is enhanced by the consistency of the letter formation and evenness of the lines of writing; the latter indicating the clerk probably used a lined template behind the page as he entered the text. There are no guidelines on the will itself. There is a small smudge in the margin on the left page, which does not affect readability. Otherwise, the will is free of ink blotches or other impediments. There is one overwritten word in the second to last line of the paragraph related to the allocation to Johan. Content Analysis The details in the document partially answer the research question of the identity and relationship of W.B. Riekena and his family. W. B. Riekena of Shiloh Township, Grundy County, Iowa, signed a will on 17 September 1872. The will was proved on 14 February 1887, providing indirect evidence that the death of W.B. occurred prior to this date. In 1872, his wife, F. H. Riekena, was still alive as were the following children: Johan W., Berend W., Evert W., Wiard W., Gepka W., Frouke W., and Antje W. W.B. Riekena described all as “children” but specifically noted Johan, Berend and Evert as sons and Gepka, Frouke and Antje as daughters. Wiard was not so designated. There was a mention of


grandchildren, but without names. The document tied no heir to any grandchild. There is no indication of age of W. B., the heirs, or of the grandchildren in the document. W.B. divided his 400 acres of land between three of his sons, Johan, Berend, and Evert. The rest of the children/heirs were to be paid money in a staggered payment plan by the three sons who received the land. Research on the value of land and the residence of the surviving children may indicate that the other children received their allocation prior to the writing of the will. Wiard W Riekena was to receive $850 within one year of the date of the death of the last parent. Gepka W. Riekena was to receive $850 within two years of the date of the death of the last parent. Frouke W. Riekena and Antje W. Riekena were to receive two payments each. The first was $325 to be paid to each within three years from the death of the last parent and $325 to be paid to each four years from the death of the last parent. Interest at six percent was to be charged, but it is unclear whether it was to be charged from the date of the death of the last parent or from the time the staggered payment was to be made. The will states “Personal property was to be divided equally among the heirs[.] Grandchildren to have a childs portion among the rest.” The most likely interpretation of this phrase is that the personal property would be divided by value into eight parts. Each of the seven children would receive one part and all the grandchildren would share one part of the value of the personal property. The children could purchase personal property items of the estate at the highest price. The amount paid for the item would be considered a part of the distribution to the children. Naming conventions The unusual given and surnames, the same initial used as a middle name indicate this is a Dutch or German family from the extreme north and west of Germany or the adjacent area of The Netherlands. The given names of W. B. and his wife, F. H. are not known. While the “W.” of the deceased is not confirmed, each of the children carry a “W.” as their middle name. A common practice in Ostfriesland is that each child is given the middle name of the first name of the father, whatever the sex.6 To do successful online searches with unusual given and surnames, a variety of spellings of the surname may be necessary, for example: Riekena, Rykena, Reekenah, Ryken, Riekens, Rieckens. If OCR (optical character recognition) is used such as when searching in newspapers and other scanned images which are indexed digitally, then additional spellings will be necessary such as Rukena, Kukena, Rakvna. Marriage W. B. is married to F. H. Riekena, birth name unknown. No spouses of the heirs were mentioned; no children were assigned to heirs and the female heirs were all referred to by their birth name, implying they are unmarried. Grandchildren were mentioned, but not named. At least one of the male heirs was married with children. Occupation

6 Robert H. Behrens, We Will Go to a New Land: The Great East Frisian Migration to American, 1845-1895, “East Frisian Names,” (Mahomet, Illinois: Behrens Publishing Company, 1998) 37-42.


W.B. was a farmer and willed farmland to three sons, Johan, Berend, and Evert. It is possible that Waird, the child of W.B. who did not receive an allocation of land in the will, had received property in advance of the writing of the will or that he had been compensated in some other way prior to the writing of the will. It does appear that the three sons receiving land from the will were to compensate the female heirs who did not receive land. Age All individuals named in the will are of majority age, except unnamed grandchildren. No guardians were appointed for heirs. If we assume that the marriage with F.H. Riekena was their only marriage, then W.B was late in life when he made the will due to the large number of heirs of majority age. If the pattern of birth was every two years, we can calculate a possible birth year for W. B..

1. Assume W.B. was 20 or 21 when married. 2. Seven children being born an average of 2 years apart results in the births occurring over

a 14 year time frame 3. If the youngest surviving child was just of majority age (21) then 4. W.B had to be approximately 55 years of age in 1872 when the will was written, but he

could be older. 5. W. B. died 15 years after writing the will, making him at least 70 years old when he died

or born approximately 1817. If W.B. was born about 1817 and if he married at age 20 (c. 1837), it is unlikely this marriage occurred in Iowa as Grundy County was not established until 1851.7 Marriages were not officially recorded in Grundy County until 1856.8 A working hypothesis is that the family migrated from the eastern states or immigrated to Iowa at a date later than the marriage year. Religion No sect or denomination is mentioned or implied. Conflicting Data There is no known conflicting data but there is some information that is unclear:

1. There was a mention of grandchildren, but no inclusion of names, or statement of relationship to which parents.

2. Names of spouses of heirs were not included. 3. The female heirs are listed with birth names implying they are not married. 4. It is not clear what is the starting point for the allocation of interest.

Clues to be pursued

What was the composition of the family at the time of writing the will? What was the composition of the family at the time of proving of the will? When did W.B. acquire the land and from whom? Was the allocation of money and land equitable? Had there been a previous allocation to other children prior to the writing of the will? Perhaps there are children not mentioned in the will. Are there any court cases associated with the dispossession of the estate?

Family Composition

7 Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), “Grundy County, Iowa, ”modified 12:18, 3 July 2016. 8 FamilySearch Wiki (http://familysearch.org/wiki/) “Iowa, Vital Records,” rev. 14:43, 26 August 1016.


It is not possible to determine birth order of the children except that typically a will lists children in birth order.9 Wiard is probably the oldest son. This is working hypothesis because Waird is the only male who did not receive an allocation of land, perhaps because he had already received it. There are other reasons, usually negative, why he would not receive an allocation of land, but there is no indication of exclusion in the will. Waird received an allocation of money equal to that of one of his sisters. Based on the will, the family structure may look like this with birth order of children unknown: Name birth year Place of birth Marriage date W. B. Riekena c. 1817 or before F. H. (--?--) Riekena c. 1837 Wiard W. Johan W. Berend W. Evert W. Gepke W. Fouke W. Antje W.

The form will be filled out and birth order corrected as more information is gathered. To prove same name/same person conundrums, identity, relationships and locality must be in alignment. Candidates must have a common sphere of influence and the locale cannot create anomalies that cannot be rationalized. A conclusion about the identity can then be reached. The unusual name, the identification of at least some of the family members in the will and the identified locale offer enough clues that the identity and relationships of the family are clear and unambiguous for a preliminary hypothetical family structure. Further research will verify, or not, the assumption.

THE RESEARCH PLAN The following plan is not exhaustive. It focuses on the most accessible materials. As with all task lists, this one will likely be amended as new findings occur. 1. Grundy County, Iowa, probate packet, no. 365, W. B. Riekena (1872), will, 26 October 1886; Clerk of the Court, Grundy Center. Review the found probate packet for additional information about family members. 2. Grundy County, Iowa: location of the property. Plot the location of the property and compare to the 1911 plat map. Scroll to Shiloh Township. http://www.historicmapworks.com/Atlas/US/8432/Grundy+County+1911/ 2. Censuses Identify any marriages of the heirs, location of residence of the heirs to determine if in alignment with the will and to determine whether some individuals received an early allocation of property.

a. 1870 U.S. census, Grundy County, Iowa, population schedule, Shiloh Township, page XX, dwelling XX, family XX, NAME [Search for Riekena and other noted variations]; image,

9 Winslow and Leary, North Carolina Research, p. 175.


Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed DATE); citing NARA microfilm XX, Roll XX.

b. 1875 Iowa state census, Grundy County, population schedule, Shiloh Township. page XX, line XX, NAME [Search for Riekena and other variations]; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed DATE); citing NARA microfilm XX, Roll XX.

c. 1880 U.S. census, Grundy County, Iowa, population schedule. Shiloh Township [possibly

others], page XX, Enumeration District XX, sheet XX, dwelling XX, family XX, NAME [Search for Riekena and other variations]; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed DATE); citing NARA microfilm XX, Roll XX.

d. 1880 U.S. census, Grundy County, Iowa, agricultural non-population schedule. Shiloh

Township [possibly others], page XX, line XX, NAME [Search for Riekena and other variations]; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed DATE); citing NARA microfilm XX, Roll XX. Specifically check the location of the land to see if the heir occupied the inherited land or if there were any changes to the assignment of land.

e. 1885 Iowa state census, Grundy County, population schedule. Shiloh Township [possibly

others], page XX, line XX, NAME [Search for Riekena and other noted variations]; image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed DATE); citing NARA microfilm XX, Roll XX..

3. Grundy County, Iowa, Death certificate for W.B. Riekena, 1887; County Recorder, Grundy Center: County began recording deaths in 1880. Death certificates are held at the office of the County Recorder, 706 G Avenue, Grundy Center, IA 50638, 329-824-3234. [email protected]. Requests must be made by mail. 4. Grundy County, Iowa, Marriage records for Antje, Frouke, and Gepka Riekena; County Recorder, Grundy Center: County began recording marriages in 1856. Marriage records are held by the office of the County Recorder, 706 G Avenue, Grundy Center, IA 50638, 329-824-3234; [email protected]. Requests must be made by mail. 5. Grundy County, Iowa, Deed for properties described in will before 1872, W. B. Riekena as grantee; County Recorder, Grundy Center: County began recording land transactions in 1863. Land records are held by Travis Case, County Recorder, 706 G Avenue, Grundy Center, IA 50638, 329-824-3234; [email protected]. Requests must be made by mail.

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