Steele County, Minnesota Genealogy

Guide to Steele County, Minnesota ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for Franklin Steele, a prominent early resident of the state. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Clerk District Court has birth and death records from 1870, marriage records from 1855, divorce, probate and court records from 1858. County Recorder has land records from 1858.

Parent County

 * 1855--Steele County was created 20 February 1855 from Rice, Blue Earth, and Le Sueur Counties.

County seat: Owatonna

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

Cities

 * Blooming Prairie
 * Ellendale
 * Medford
 * Owatonna

Townships

 * Aurora
 * Berlin
 * Blooming Prairie
 * Clinton Falls
 * Deerfield
 * Havana
 * Lemond
 * Medford
 * Meriden
 * Merton
 * Owatonna
 * Somerset
 * Summit

Neighboring Counties

 * Dodge
 * Freeborn
 * Goodhue
 * Mower
 * Rice
 * Waseca

Census
State Census
 * 1865 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1885 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1905 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Lutheran

 * Records of First Lutheran Church, Blooming Prairie, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1912 - 1956 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * 1874 Map of Steele County

Civil War
Civil War service men from Steele County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of Steele County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company G.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry, Company C.
 * - 3rd Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company F.
 * - 10th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company A.
 * - 2nd Minnesota Company Sharpshooters, Second Company only.

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1872-1962 - at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

 * Owatonna People's Press ( February 1969- Current; Daily)

Obituaries

 * 1865-2006 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1865-2006 - at FamilySearch— index and images

Probate
Online Probate Records
 * 1801 - 1999 Minnesota Wills and Probate Records 1801-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Marriage

 * 1860 - 1949 at FamilySearch — index and images

Death

 * 1850-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1887-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Societies and Libraries
Steele County Historical Society 1448 Austin Road Owatonna 55060 Website

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * Steele County, MN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * 
 * Steele County GenWeb