Minnesota, United States Genealogy

United States Minnesota

Guide to Minnesota ancestry,genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records Welcome to the Minnesota page, Land of 10,000 LakesMost unique genealogical features:
 * MN was formerly claimed by France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Quebec, unorganized U.S., Northwest, Indiana, Louisiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin territories.

Counties
Click on the map below to go to a county page. Hover over a county to see its name. To see a larger version of the map, click here. Extinct or Renamed Counties: Andy Johnson | Big Sioux | Breckenridge | Buchanan | Davis | Doty | Mahkahta | Manomin | Midway | Monongalia | Newton | Pembina | Pierce | St. Croix | Superior | Toombs | Wahnata

Major Repositories
Online Records· National Archives at Chicago· Minnesota Historical Society· MHS Regional Centers: Central· Northeast· Northwest· Southern· Southwest· West Central· Minnesota Genealogical Society· Immigration History Research Center· Iron Range Research Center· Stearns History Museum Research Center· University of Minnesota Wilson Library· Newberry Library· Norwegian American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library

Migration Routes
Lake Superior· Mississippi River· St. Croix River· Minnesota River· Red River of the North· Dubuque-Fort Snelling Road· Fort Snelling-Superior Road· St. Paul-Pembina Road· Northern Pacific Railway· Great Northern Railway (U.S.)· Wadsworth Trail

Research Tools

 * The Minnesota GenWeb Project provides county information about formation date, parent county, county seat, bibliography, cemeteries, census, churches, towns, history, look ups, obituaries, queries, repositories, surname registry, and many Internet links.
 * Minnesota Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Minnesota Genealogy - Guide to Ancestry information on ordering vital records, city and government links, history and facts of counties, printable genealogy forms, list of archives and societies, genealogical terms, and lookup volunteers
 * Rotating Formation Minnesota County Boundary Maps and Atlases
 * David Rumsey Map Collectionis a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.
 * Minnesota State Archives immigration resources, birth index 1900-1934, death index 1904-2001, state census indexes for 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, and 1905.
 * Minnesota Official Marriage System is an index to marriages from 1850 to present (varies by county)
 * Minnesota Encyclopedia sponsored by the Minnesota Historical Society
 * Minnesota Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWebArchives -  Online contributed Genealogical content.
 * On-line Historical and Genealogical Societies of Minnesota -  US Gen Net
 * Genealogy Buff - Library - Minnesota Genealogy Data
 * The United States Vessel Enrollments for the Great Lakes region. The transcriptions are from a project that involved an attempt to transcribe all steamboat enrollments for Great Lakes ports prior to 1861, all vessels for Detroit and Cleveland up to 1861, and Buffalo up to 1841 are included in the file. The set includes 5741 enrolments in which just under 2000 individual vessels are named, over 6000 people were identified.
 * Minnesota Genealogy extensive directory of Minnesota genealogy records

Did you know?
The largest ethnic groups in Minnesota are Germans, Swedes, and Norwegians. By 1880 the foreign-born population in Minnesota included nearly 108,000 Scandinavians, many of whom were Norwegians; 66,000 Germans; and about 39,000 British, most of whom were Irish. Nearly 30,000 Minnesotans had come from Canada, most of whom were British and French Canadians. There were nearly 8,000 Bohemians (mostly Czechs) and 1,000 or 2,000 each from Switzerland, Poland, Russia, and France.

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Minnesota Births and Christenings (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Death Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Municipal Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Deaths and Burials (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota, Birth Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota County Births (FamilySerch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota County Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Divorce Index (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Municipal Deaths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Minnesota Wills (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Obtain additional help

 * Call or chat with an experienced researcher
 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

Things you can do
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