Henry County Recorder trying to save the past

The Henry County Recorder’s Office is looking to get on board with digitization of its documents. The digital enablement of records dating back to 1875 or earlier is crucial to preserving the historical documents at the Recorder’s office.

Records at this office predate Iowa’s statehood, when the area was just a territory. These records are in the form of fragile, bound books that must be handled with care.

“There are land deeds and town lot deeds of different properties within Henry County,” said Mindy Fitzgibbon, Recorder for Henry County. “There are mortgages that are recorded, affidavits, power of attorneys, land patents and articles of incorporation. Included in the collection are very large plot and plat books of the county. There are even miscellaneous books that contain all sorts of forms that were considered relevant at one time or another.”

Some of the books contain original forms and entries, others are old copies of the original documents themselves. The books are large and cumbersome to handle. A researcher is often required to climb a step ladder to get to the large volumes. This can be quite a task when done several times a day.

Digitization will convert the analog forms into a digital format that can be indexed and easily found by those who need it. It will not harm the original document, and there will be an index of all the material when the process is complete.

“Back in the old days, they did not record everything,” said Fitzgibbon. “Wills and cemetery deeds were not recorded, but there is a lot of information that they did record. We have many books containing births, deaths, military service related information, and marriages along with the other volumes.”

This information is invaluable to many individuals who are researching such things as genealogy and land acquisition. This research requires the handling of many books in different county offices.

“Looking into some things, doing that type of research can be a bit of a goose chase sometimes,” said Fitzgibbon, “And getting the books digitized will assist in many levels of research. Some items are recorded in various places and a digital index will make things much easier.”

“The writing is pretty, very pretty in fact, but it is hard to read,” said Fitzgibbon. “Not everyone can decipher what is in the books. Digitization will assist in making that easier, too.”

The material, once digitized, will be on the county software system. The original books are public information, and the digital form will be public also. Anyone can then come to the Recorder’s Office and use the public access terminals to do research. However, there will still be a process of making sure that vital information, such as social security numbers, remain safe.

“I hope to be able to preserve all of these records,” said Fitzgibbon, “I would like for them to not be handled so much on a daily basis. We have had a flood and a fire above our office, and being able to protect against loss is a big deal. You can’t recreate this information.”

“We are hoping to use ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to do this project,” said Fitzgibbon. “COVID made it impossible for some research to take place, and this will open up access. These books are not going anywhere, we will still have them available to us. They are history. We will just gain better access.”

Contact Michelle Hillestad at michelle.hillestad@southeastiowaunion.com