Minnesota, County Birth Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes birth records from various county courthouses, and covers the years 1863 to 1983. However, most of the county’s records end before 1950.

Notes about this collection:
 * The year range will vary by county
 * Confidential information (illegitimate births and adoptions) has been masked from this collection
 * Some of the records in this collection may be duplicated in the collection "Minnesota City and Township Birth Records 1871-1947"

Some counties and towns began recording births as soon they were incorporated with some as early as 1864. However because there was no law requiring births to be recorded, compliance was not good in the early years.

In 1901, Congress passed a resolution asking states to gather information about the births and deaths that occur within their borders. Many states responded, but because Congress did not fund the request, it took several years until all the states were keeping these records consistently. Birth records were usually filled out by a witness, midwife, or a medical professional. The certificate was then sent to the county, and the county sent a copy to the state.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Birth
 * Full name and gender of child
 * Date and place of birth
 * Legitimacy
 * Father's name
 * Mother's maiden name
 * Parents' residence, age and race
 * Parents' birth place
 * Parents' occupation
 * Number of births for mother
 * Number of children living
 * Name of person attending birth such as midwife or doctor

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The approximate date of birth
 * The place where the birth occurred
 * The names of the child's parents

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s birth record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the birth date along with the place of birth to find the family in census records
 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and land records
 * The father’s occupation can lead you to other types of records such as employment or military
 * The parents' birth places can tell you former residences and can help to establish a migration pattern for the family
 * It is often helpful to extract the information on all children with the same parents. If the surname is unusual, you may want to compile birth entries for every person of the same surname and sort them into families based on the names of the parents. Continue to search the birth records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who were born in the same county or nearby

I Can't Find the Person I'm Looking For, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities
 * Consult the Minnesota Record Finder to find other records

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in the state of Minnesota.
 * Minnesota Guided Research
 * Minnesota Record Finder
 * Minnesota Research Tips and Strategies
 * Step-by-Step Minnesota Research, 1880-Present

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Mary Hawker Bakeman, editor. The genealogist's guide to Minnesota vital records 2 volumes. Roseville, Minnesota : Park Genealogical Books, c2002, c2004. FHL 977.6 V27g v. 1-2

FamilySearch Historical Records

 * Minnesota Birth Index, 1935-2002
 * Minnesota Births and Christenings, 1840-1980
 * Minnesota, Birth and Death Records, 1866-1916

FamilySearch Digital Library

 * prepared by the Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project, Division of Community Service Programs, Work Projects Administration.  Guide to public vital statistics records in Minnesota. Saint Paul, Minnesota : Historical Records Survey (Minnesota), 1941

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.