Rolette County, North Dakota Genealogy

United States North Dakota Rolette County

Guide to Rolette 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 county was created by the 1872-73 territorial legislature and named for Joseph Rolette, Jr., a fur trader and politician from Pembina.

The county government was first organized on October 14, 1884.

Its county seat is Rolla. From 1884 to 1885, the county seat was Dunseith From 1885 to 1889, the county seat was St. John

The largest city is Belcourt, which is operated by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Native Americans.

County Courthouse
Rolette County Courthouse 102 2nd St NE Rolla, ND 58367-0460 Phone: 701.477.3816 Rolette County Website Clerk District Court has birth, death, and burial records from 1943, marriage, divorce and court records from 1887 and probate records from 1896; Register of Deeds has land records

Rolette 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" |1894
 * width="12%" align="center" |1884
 * width="12%" align="center" |1894
 * width="12%" align="center" |1873
 * width="12%" align="center" |1873
 * width="12%" align="center" |1873
 * width="12%" align="center" |1890
 * colspan="7"|
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 * width="12%" align="center" |1890
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Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

 * 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
Indian Reservations

The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation is primarily located in the Turtle Mountains in this county.


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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.

Church Records
Lutheran


 * Records of Trinity Lutheran Church, Rolette, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

American Indians

 * 1900 Federal Census and index of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Rolette County, North Dakota by Mary Ann Quirring, Lily B. Zwolle. WorldCat
 * Turtle Mountain Chippewa, Roulette, North Dakota 1900 Census by Gail Morin WorldCat

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

 * History of Rolette County, North Dakota and yarns of the pioneers. 2003. By Laura Thompson Law. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Online at: ;.
 * St. John; city at the end of the rainbow. 1982?. By Catholic Church. St. John the Baptist (St. John, North Dakota). Garrison, North Dakota : BHG Inc.. 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
Rolette County Historical Society PO Box 377 St. John, ND 58369-0377 Telephone: 701-263-4564

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Rolette County, North Dakota Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Rolette County, North Dakota Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)