McHenry County, North Dakota Genealogy

United States North Dakota McHenry County

Guide to McHenry County, North Dakota ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

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Description
The Territorial legislature formed McHenry County in 1873 from part of Bottineau County. The name comes from James McHenry, an early settler of Vermillion, South Dakota. The county government was first organized on October 15, 1884. Before becoming Towner in 1886, the county seat was Villard from 1884 to 1885 and Scriptown from 1885 to 1886. Both former seats are now ghost towns.

Its county seat is Towner.

County Courthouse
McHenry County Courthouse 407 Main Street Towner, ND 58788 Phone: 701.537.5729 McHenry County Website District Court Clerk has marriage records from 1903, divorce, probate and court records from 1900; Registrar of Deeds has land records.

McHenry County, North Dakota Record Dates

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 * width="84%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" colspan="7" | Beginning Dates for Major County Records
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Birth*
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Marriage
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Death*
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Court
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Land
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Probate
 * width="12%" bgcolor="#e4d8e5" align="center" | Census
 * width="12%" align="center" |1889
 * width="12%" align="center" |1905
 * width="12%" align="center" |1889
 * width="12%" align="center" |1873
 * width="12%" align="center" |1873
 * width="12%" align="center" |1873
 * width="12%" align="center" |1890
 * colspan="7"|
 * }
 * width="12%" align="center" |1890
 * colspan="7"|
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Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes
1873--McHenry County was created 4 January 1873 from Buffalo County. County seat: Towner
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of North Dakota - shows boundary changes for North Dakota Counties
 * North Dakota Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Populated Places

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Cemeteries
Cemetery transcriptions for cemeteries in McHenry County, providing name, date of birth, and date of death where available.

State Census Records

 * 1885 Dakota Territory 1885 Census Index at NDSU Archives – index only
 * 1885, 1915, 1925 North Dakota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1885, 1915, 1925 at Ancestry.com – ($), index and images
 * 1915 at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images
 * 1925 at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for North Dakota starting in 1910. For links to Federal census indexes, see North Dakota Census.

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records For more information see North Dakota Land and Property
 * Land Patent Search - index to federal patents and homesteads on the Bureau of Land Management website, some images available
 * 1796 - 1907 - U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907 at Ancestry - index, info taken from Bureau of Land Management website
 * 1861 - 1936 - U.S. Homestead Records 1861-1936 at Ancestry.com - ($), index and images

Local Histories

 * McHenry County; its history and its people. 1985?. By Corabelle Brown. Towner, North Dakota: Midwest Printing, . Online at: ;.
 * Our town, Balfour, North Dakota. 1989?. By Evan Clifford Stone, Jr. Grand Forks, N.D: Evan Clifford Stone. Online at: ;.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of North Dakota - shows boundary changes for North Dakota Counties
 * North Dakota Maps at NDGenWeb -historical maps

Military Records
Civil War World War I
 * 1861 -1865 at FamilySearch.
 * 1890 at FamilySearch.
 * 1917 - 1918 North Dakota Military Men 1917-1918 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1917 - 1918 Roster of the men and women who served in the army or naval service (including the Marine Corps) of the United States or its allies from the state of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918, Vols. 1-4 at Ancestry ($)
 * For further information see North Dakota Military Records.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records


 * North Dakota Naturalization Records Index at NDSU Archives – index only, covers various dates and counties

Newspapers
 North Dakota Newspapers Online North Dakota Newspaper Catalogs
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of North Dakota newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of North Dakota newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some North Dakota newspapers; searching tips
 * Elephind - Free; search engine that retrieves newspaper images from other free newspaper websites
 * U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-Present on Chronicling America - contains a list of all known newspapers and the dates they cover; once you locate a newspaper name, contact the local library to see if they have copies of the newspaper
 * State Historical Society of North Dakota - contains inventory and catalog of all known ND newspapers

Probate Records
'''Online Probate Records


 * 1800 – 1985 North Dakota and South Dakota Wills and Probate Records 1800-1985 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records


 * 1892-present - NDDH Public Death Index, 1892-present at North Dakota Dept. of Health – index only

Societies
McHenry County Historical Society c/o Dallas Knudson 6491 Berwick Lane Towner, ND 58788-3100 Telephone: 701-537-5541

Mouse River Loop Genealogy Society PO Box 1391 Minot, ND 58701-1391 Website

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection. Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.
 * McHenry County, North Dakota Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)