Corson County, South Dakota Genealogy

United States South Dakota Corson County

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

County Courthouse
Corson County Courthouse 200 1st St East McIntosh, SD 57641 Phone: 605.273.4201 Register of Deeds has birth, death and land records from 1909; County Treasurer has marriage records, Clerk of the Court has divorce, probate and court records

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes
1909--Corson County was created 2 March 1909 from Boreman, Eliminated 2 Mar. 1090, Dewey, and Schnasse, Eliminated 1 Feb. 1911, Counties. County seat: McIntosh
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of North Dakota - shows boundary changes for South Dakota Counties
 * South Dakota Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

Populated Places
The following are locations in the county

Cities

McIntosh

McLaughlin

Town

Morristown

Census-designated places

Bullhead

Little Eagle

Unincorporated communities

Keldron

Trail City

Wakpala

Walker

Watauga

Townships


 * Custer
 * Delaney
 * Lake
 * Mission
 * Pleasant Ridge
 * Prairie View
 * Ridgeland
 * Rolling Green
 * Sherman
 * Wakpala
 * Watauga

Unorganized territories

Central Corson

Lemmon No. 2

Northeast Corson

West Corson

Indian Reservation

A major portion of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation is located in Corson County. The remainder of the reservation is in Sioux County, North Dakota.

State Census Records

 * 1885 South Dakota, Territorial Census, 1885 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1895 South Dakota, State Census, 1895 at Ancestry ($)

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

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records


 * 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

 * Black Horse Butte : a Dakota homestead community, 1909-1940. 1995. By Elizabeth Meeuwsen Johnson. Freeman, South Dakota : Pine Hill Press. Online at:;.
 * Taming the plains. 1979. By Rose Tidball. Marceline, Missouri : Walsworth Pub. Co. Online at:;.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of South Dakota - shows boundary changes for South Dakota Counties
 * Historical Maps and Atlases of South Dakota - maps and atlases of South Dakota

Military Records
Civil War World War I
 * 1861 - 1941 South Dakota, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1941 at FamilySearch
 * 1861 -1865 at FamilySearch.
 * 1890 at FamilySearch.
 * 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

 * 1904 - 1928 South Dakota, Federal Naturalization Records, 1904-1928 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1865 - 1972 at FamilySearch — images
 * South Dakota Naturalization Records Index:First Papers — index
 * South Dakota Naturalization Records Index:Second Papers — index
 * Name Index to Naturalization Records from Dakota Territory and South Dakota at National Archives, Kansas City — index

Newspapers
 South Dakota Newspapers Online South Dakota Newspaper Catalogs
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of South Dakota newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of South Dakota newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some South 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.

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

School Records

 * 1879 - 1970 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1879 - 1970 South Dakota, School Records,1879-1970 at Ancestry — images

Birth

 * 1843 - 1914 at FamilySearch  — index
 * 1856 - 1950 South Dakota, Birth Index, 1856-1915 at Ancestry  — index ($)
 * Birth Record Search Site For South Dakota Birth Records With Birth Dates Over 100 Years — index

Marriage

 * 1950 - 2014  — index
 * 1905 - 2013 South Dakota, Marriages, 1905-2013 at Ancestry — index and images ($)

Death

 * 1879 - 1955 South Dakota, Death Index, 1879-1955 at Ancestry — index($)

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.