Mower County, Minnesota Genealogy

Guide to Mower 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 John Edward Mower, a member of the territorial legislature. 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 1865, divorce and court records from 1900 and probate records from 1856. County Recorder has land recorders.

Parent County

 * 1855--Mower County was created 20 February 1855 from Rice County and formally organized 1 March 1856.

County seat: Austin

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:

Townships
Adams | Austin | Bennington | Clayton | Dexter | Frankford | Grand Meadow | Lansing | Lodi | Lyle | Marshall | Nevada | Pleasant Valley | Racine | Red Rock | Sargeant | Udolpho | Waltham | Windom |

All of Mower County's land is divided into 20 townships that are 36 square miles (six miles north to south X six miles west to east) in area. Mower County is five townships wide (a total of 30 miles west to east) and four townships from north to south (a total of 24 miles). The arrangement of the townships within the county is shown at wikipedia.com.

Neighboring Counties

 * Dodge
 * Freeborn
 * Howard County, Iowa
 * Mitchell County, Iowa
 * Olmsted
 * Steele
 * Worth County, Iowa

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

Lutheran
Austin


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

Bear Creek Lutheran Church, Grand Meadow


 * 1867-1956 - Records of Bear Creek Lutheran Church, Grand Meadow, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Evanger Lutheran Church, Sargeant


 * Records of the Evanger Lutheran Church, Sargeant, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Little Cedar Lutheran Church, Adams


 * Records of Little Cedar Lutheran Church, Adams, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church, Austin


 * Records of Red Oak Lutheran Church, Austin, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1912 - 1956 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Civil War
Civil War service men from Mower 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 Mower County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry (Mounted Rangers), Company M.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry, Company B.
 * - 3rd Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company C.
 * - 4th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company K.
 * - 9th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company C.
 * - Brackett's Battalion, Minnesota Cavalry, Company D.

World War II

 * 1940-1945 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1872-1962 - at FamilySearch — index

Obituaries

 * 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
 * Mower County Marriages

Death

 * 1850-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1887-2001 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Online Minnesota Death Records & Indexes
 * 1908 to 1930 Mower County Death Index

Societies and Libraries
Mower County Historical Society 1303 6th Ave. SW Austin, MN 55912 Telephone: 507-437-6082 Website

Mower County Genealogical Society PO Box 145 Austin MN 55912-0145 Telephone: 507-437-6082

Mower County Historical Society PO Box 804 Austin 55912

Family History Centers

 * Austin Minnesota Family History Center

Websites

 * Mower County, MN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
 * Mower County GenWeb
 * Family History 101 - My Minnesota Genealogy This site has information on Winona Co. and where to find county records.
 * Family History 101 - My Minnesota Genealogy This site has information on Winona Co. and where to find county records.