Rice County, Minnesota Genealogy

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

Description
The County was named for Henry Mower Rice (November 29, 1816 – January 15, 1894) was a fur trader and an American politician prominent in the statehood of Minnesota. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Clerk District Court has birth, death, divorce and court records from 1870, marriage records from 1856 and burial Records. County Recorder has land records.

Parent County

 * 1853--Rice County was created 5 March 1853 from Dakota and Wabasha Counties. County seat: Faribault
 * For a brief history of Rice County's name, click here, then select Rice County.

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

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties

 * Dakota
 * Dodge
 * Goodhue
 * Le Sueur
 * Scott
 * Steele
 * Waseca

Cemeteries
Database of Graves - John Dalby started walking cemeteries in 1983 with his wife Jan. They finished Rice County and in doing so, they decided to walked other cemeteries in selected counties in southern Minnesota. This lead to indexing: graves from all cemeteries, history books, plats, and newspaper articles. Also, recording and indexing church records, marriages, birth, Civil War veterans and city directories of Rice County. New data is entered and updated daily. See other "Database" links under Rice County.

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

Church
Database of Birth, Marriage, and Death Records - Starting dates of records are births (1800), marriages (1860) and deaths (1880)

Lutheran
Fox Lake Lutheran Church, Faribault


 * Records of Fox Lake Lutheran Church, Faribault, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

St. John's Lutheran Church, Northfield


 * Records of St. John's Lutheran Church, Northfield, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Valley Grove, Nerstrand


 * Records of Valley Grove Lutheran Church, Nerstrand, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1912 - 1956 - at FamilySearch — index and images

City Directories
Database from 1906 - 1979

People in Books
Database from 1855 - 2009

Civil War
Civil War service men from Rice 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 Rice County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry (Mounted Rangers), Companies A and H.
 * - 1st Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company G.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry, Company G.
 * - 3rd Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company H.
 * - 4th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company I.
 * - 6th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company C.
 * - 7th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company A.
 * - 8th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company B.
 * - 10th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company H.
 * - 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
Database of People

Obituaries

 * 1865 - 2006 - at FamilySearch— index and images

Obituaries
Database of Complete Obituaries from 1863 - 2014

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

Birth

 * '''1870 - Database of Birth Records beginning in 1870

Marriage

 * 1860 - 1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * '''1870 - Database of Marriage Records beginning in 1870

Death

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

Societies and Libraries
Rice County Genealogical Society Northfield Historical Society Museum Marston Headley Research Room 408 Division St Northfield 55057 Telephone: 507-645-9268

Rice County Historical Society 1814 N.W. 2nd Avenue Faribault, MN 55021 Telephone: 507-332-2121 Website

Family History Centers

 * Faribault Minnesota Family History Center

Websites

 * Rice County MNGenWeb
 * Rice County, MN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)