Grant County, South Dakota Genealogy

United States South Dakota Grant County

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

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County Courthouse
Grant County Courthouse 210 E 5th Ave; PO Box 509 Milbank, SD 57252-2433 Phone: 605.432.5482 Clerk Court has birth and death records from 1905, marriage records from 1890, divorce, probate, and court records from 1897 and newspapers from 1880; Register of Deeds has land records

Grant County, South 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
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 * width="12%" align="center" |1880
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Record Loss
1881 Courthouse was destroyed by fire.

Boundary Changes
8 January 1873: Grant County was created from Deuel, and Hanson Counties. 17 June 1878: Government functions began after months of inactivity, after a petition to the Governor asking for the organization. Seat was at Inkpa City. 1881: County seat was moved to Milbank after November 1881 election, the case was appealed to court. Milbank won over 2 other towns. County seat: Milbank
 * 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
Cities Towns Townships
 * Big Stone City
 * Milbank
 * La Bolt
 * Marvin
 * Revillo
 * Stockholm
 * Strandburg
 * Twin Brooks


 * Adams
 * Alban
 * Big Stone
 * Blooming Valley
 * Farmington
 * Georgia
 * Grant Center
 * Kilborn
 * Lura
 * Madison
 * Mazeppa
 * Melrose
 * Osceola
 * Stockholm
 * Troy
 * Twin Brooks
 * Vernon


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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

 * 100 years in Grant County, South Dakota 1878-1978. 1979. By Grant County Historical Society. South Dakota : Grant County Historical Society (South Dakota). 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.

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.


 * 1861-1941 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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

Libraries
Grant County Library 207 East Park Ave Milbank, SD Website

Societies
Grant County History Society 211 S. 3rd St PO Box 201 Milbank, SD 57252 Telephone: 605-432-2351 Website

Websites

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