Beadle County, South Dakota Genealogy

United States South Dakota Beadle County

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

County Courthouse
Beadle County Courthouse 450 3rd St SW P.O. Box 55 Huron, SD 57350 Phone: 605.353.7165 Clerk of the Court has divorce records from 1884, probate and court records from 1893; Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, death, land and burial records County Auditor has tax and school records County Treasurer has real estate taxes records Director of Equalization has property tax assessment records

Record Loss
School Censuses. Early school censuses listing individual pupils before 1895 either missing or destroyed. School census returns are located in the Beadle County Courthouse, Auditor’s office, Huron, South Dakota. If you plan to visit their office, you must call ahead—certain days are better than others. School censuses are not indexed.
 * Before 1895: Missing or destroyed.
 * 1895-1901: Summaries of the total number of students, no names.
 * 1902: Missing or destroyed.
 * 1903: Huron students—Name, Parent or Guardian, Sex.
 * 1904 and following: Huron and townships—Name, Parent or Guardian, Sex—you must know the year and the school.

Boundary Changes
County seat: Huron
 * 1879--Beadle County was created 1 October 1879 from Spink, Clark, Burchard, Eliminated 1 Oct. 1879, and Kingsbury Counties.
 * 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
The following are locations in the county

Cities


 * Huron


 * Iroquois


 * Wessington

Towns


 * Broadland


 * Cavour


 * Hitchcock


 * Vigil


 * Wolsey


 * Yale

Census-designated place


 * Morningside

Townships


 * Allen
 * Altoona
 * Banner
 * Barrett
 * Belle Prairie
 * Bonilla
 * Broadland
 * Burr Oak
 * Carlyle
 * Cavour
 * Clifton
 * Clyde
 * Custer
 * Dearborn
 * Fairfield
 * Foster
 * Grant
 * Hartland
 * Huron
 * Iowa
 * Kellogg
 * Lake Byron
 * Liberty
 * Logan
 * Milford
 * Nance
 * Pearl Creek
 * Pleasant View
 * Richland
 * Sand Creek
 * Theresa
 * Valley
 * Vernon
 * Wessington
 * Whiteside
 * Wolsey

Cemeteries
Historic Map Works Residential Genealogy, Cemeteries in South Dakota. Township maps showing the location of cemeteries only.

South Dakota State Historical Society, Cemetery Search Form. Database of the Work Projects Administration (WPA), Graves Registration Project, c1941. Fields may include Name of Deceased, Grave Number, Lot Number, Date of Death, Age, Sex.

Cemetery list


 * Ackerman Cemetery, Township 111, Range 60 (Cavour); northwest of Cavour, SD; aka Buckley Cemetery; aka Shue Creek Cemetery--Historic
 * Altoona Cemetery, Hitchcock, SD
 * Atfield Cemetery, Township 112, Range 61 (Iowa)--Incorrect name used in many resources; see:Hatfield Cemetery--Historic
 * Bethel Mennonite Brethren Church &amp; Cemetery, Township 113, Range 60 (Milford), northwest of Yale, SD
 * Bonilla Memorial Cemetery, east of Bonilla, SD
 * Broadland Protestant Cemetery, Broadland, SD, northeast of Broadland, SD
 * Brock Cemetery, Township 113, Range 62 (Pleasant View)--Historic
 * Buckley Cemetery, Township 111, Range 60 (Cavour), northwest of Cavour; aka Ackerman Cemetery; aka Shue Creek Cemetery--Historic
 * Carlyle Township Cemetery, Township 109, Range 63 (Carlyle)--Historic
 * Cavour Protestant Cemetery, Cavour, SD
 * Danish Lutheran Cemetery, Township 111, Range 59 (Banner), southeast of Yale, SD, or northwest of Iroquois, SD; aka Dixon Cemetery; aka Schultz Cemetery--Historic
 * Dixon Cemetery, Township 111, Range 59 (Banner), southeast of Yale, SD, or northwest of Iroquois, SD; aka Danish Lutheran Cemetery; aka Schultz Cemetery--Historic
 * Earlville Norwegian Cemetery, Township 109, Range 65 (Burr Oak)
 * Ebenezer Mennonite Brethren Cemetery, Spink County, SD [near Beadle County]
 * Fairfield Bethel Mennonite Church &amp; Cemetery, Township 112, Range 62 (Fairfield)--Relocated
 * Faith Mennonite Church &amp; Cemetery, Iroquois, Beadle, SD
 * Hatfield Cemetery, Township 112, Range 61 (Iowa), northeast of Huron, SD; aka Iowa Township Cemetery--Historic
 * Hartland Township Cemetery, Township 111, Range 63 (Hartland), southeast of Wolsey, SD; see:Wolsey City Cemetery
 * Hutterischer Society Cemetery, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron), southwest of Carpenter, SD; see:Hutterthal Mennonite Cemetery
 * Hutterthal Mennonite Church Cemetery, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron), southwest of Carpenter, SD; aka Hofer Church; aka Hutterischer Society Cemetery
 * Ideal Cemetery, Huron, SD
 * Immanuel Lutheran Church &amp; Cemetery, Township 109, Range 59 (Belle Prairie), south of Iroquois, Beadle, SD
 * Iowa Township Cemetery, Township 112, Range 61 (Iowa), northeast of Huron, SD; aka Hatfield Cemetery--Historic
 * Lake Cavour, Township 111, Range 60 (Cavour), lone burial plot--Historic
 * Lawrence Cemetery, Township 112, Range 60 (Liberty), see:Liberty Center Methodist Cemetery--Historic
 * Liberty Center Methodist Church Cemetery, Township 112, Range 60 (Liberty); aka Lawrence Cemetery; aka Scofield Cemetery--Historic
 * McCord Cemetery, Township 112, Range 65 (Wessington), southeast of Wessington, SD; aka Wessington Township Cemetery--Historic
 * McNair Cemetery, Township 110, Range 65 (Sand Creek), west of Virgil, SD; aka Sand Creek Cemetery--Historic
 * Mennonite Colony Cemetery, Township 111, Range 61 (Valley)
 * Molvig Cemetery, Township 109, Range 65 (Burr Oak)--Historic
 * Necropolis Burying Ground, Huron, SD--Historic
 * Odd Fellows Cemetery, Huron, SD, see:Riverside Cemetery
 * Old Bethel Cemetery, northwest of Yale--Historic
 * Peck Cemetery, Township 114, Range 62 (Cornwall), Spink, SD; east of Hitchcock, SD--Historic [near Beadle County]
 * Pitrodie Cemetery, Township 113, Range 59 (Barrett); southeast of Carpenter, SD
 * Restlawn Memory Gardens, Huron, SD
 * Riverside Cemetery, Huron, SD; aka Odd Fellows Cemetery
 * Saint Ann Catholic Cemetery, Broadland, SD
 * Saint John Lutheran Church &amp; Cemetery, Wolsey, SD
 * Saint Martin Catholic Cemetery, Huron, SD
 * Saint Patrick Catholic Cemetery, Cavour, SD
 * Saint William Catholic Cemetery, Township 112, Range 60 (Liberty), north of Yale, SD
 * Sand Creek Cemetery, Township 110, Range 65 (Sand Creek), west of Virgil, SD; see:McNair Cemetery--Historic
 * Schultz Cemetery, Township 111, Range 59 (Banner); southeast of Yale, SD, or northwest of Iroquois, SD; aka Danish Lutheran Cemetery; see:Dixon Cemetery--Historic
 * Scofield Cemetery, Township 112, Range 60 (Liberty); see:Liberty Center Methodist Cemetery--Historic
 * Shue Creek Cemetery, Township 111, Range 60 (Cavour); northwest of Cavour; aka Buckley Cemetery; aka Ackerman Cemetery--Historic
 * Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery, Township 112, Range 59 (Foster); northeast of Yale, SD
 * Wessington Township Cemetery, Township 112, Range 65 (Wessington), south of Wessington, SD; see:McCord Cemetery--Historic
 * Winthrop Cemetery, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron)--Historic
 * Wolsey City Cemetery, Township 111, Range 63 (Hartland), southeast of Wolsey, SD; aka Hartland Township Cemetery

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.

Church Records

 * American Congregational Church, Township 109, Range 64 (Kellogg). Alpena area, SD
 * American Lutheran Church, Huron, SD
 * Apostolic Christian Fellowship. Huron, SD
 * Bateman Church, Township 109, Range 60. (Pearl Creek)--Historic; see:Pearl Creek Methodist Episcopal Church
 * Belle Prairie Sunday School, Township 109, Range 59 (Belle Prairie)--Historic
 * Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Huron, SD--Historic
 * Bethel Mennonite Brethren Church Cemetery, Township 113, Range 60 (Milford), northwest of Yale, SD
 * Bethesda Church, Huron, SD; Mennonite
 * Broadland United Methodist Church, Broadland, SD
 * Bunker Hill Methodist Church, Township 113, Range 59 (Barrett)--Historic
 * Calvary Baptist Church, Huron, SD
 * Carpenter United Methodist Church, Carpenter, SD
 * Cavour Methodist Episcopal Church, Cavour, SD--Historic
 * Centennial Center, Huron, SD, aka Old Stone Church
 * Church of Christ, Huron, SD
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Huron, SD
 * Church of the Nazarene, Huron, SD
 * Holy Trinity Catholic Parish, Huron, SD; merger of Saint Martin Catholic Church and Church of the Resurrection, Huron, SD, and Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Cavour, SD
 * Concordia Lutheran Church, Wessington, SD
 * Congregational United Church of Christ, Huron, SD
 * Earlville Norwegian Lutheran Church, Township 109, Range 65 (Burr Oak)--Historic
 * Ebenezer Mennonite Brethren Church, Spink County, SD--Historic [near Beadle County]
 * Ebenezer Reformed Church, Alpena, Jerauld, SD [near Beadle County]
 * Fairfield Bethel Mennonite Church &amp; Cemetery, Township 112, Range 62 (Fairfield)--Historic
 * Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, Huron, SD
 * Faith Mennonite Church Cemetery, Iroquois, Beadle, SD
 * First Baptist Church, Huron, SD
 * First Baptist Church, Wolsey, SD
 * First Missionary Church, Huron, SD, aka Huron, Missionary Church
 * First Methodist Church, Huron, SD
 * First Assembly of God Church, Huron, SD
 * First Presbyterian Church, Bonilla, SD; aka Bonilla Presbyterian Church
 * First Presbyterian Church, Huron, SD
 * First Presbyterian Church, Wessington, SD
 * First Presbyterian Church, Wolsey, SD
 * Frances Willard Methodist Episcopal Church, Township 110, Range 61 (Custer)--Historic
 * Grace Episcopal Church, Huron, SD
 * Hitchcock United Methodist Church, Hitchcock, SD
 * Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, Hitchcock, SD--Historic
 * Hofer Church, Township 113, Range 60 (Milford), southwest of Carpenter, SD; see:Hutterthal Mennonite Church &amp; Cemetery
 * Holy Trinity Catholic Parish, Huron, SD; merger of Saint Martin Catholic Church and Church of the Resurrection, Huron, SD, and Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Cavour, SD
 * Huron Baptist Church, Huron, SD
 * Huron Christian Church, Huron, SD
 * Huron Church of the Open Bible, Huron, SD
 * Huron Gospel Tabernacle, Huron, SD
 * Huron Mission Church, Huron, SD; Christian &amp; Missionary Alliance
 * Huron Wesleyan Church, Huron, SD
 * Hutterthal Mennonite Church Cemetery, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron), southwest of Carpenter, SD; aka Hofer Church; aka Hutterischer Society Cemetery
 * Ideal Cemetery, Huron, SD
 * Immanuel Lutheran Church Cemetery, Township 109, Range 59 (Belle Prairie), south of Iroquois, Beadle, SD
 * James River Church, Huron, SD; nondenominational
 * LaDelle Methodist Church, Spink County, SD--Historic [near Beadle County]
 * Lake Byron Presbyterian Church, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron)--Historic
 * Lakeside Methodist Church, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron)--Historic
 * Liberty Center Methodist Church Cemetery, 112, Range 60 (Liberty)--Historic
 * Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Huron, SD
 * Mount Olivet Mennonite Church, Huron, SD
 * Old Stone Church, Huron, SD, see:Centennial Center
 * Our Savior Lutheran Church, Huron, SD
 * Peace Lutheran Church, Virgil, SD--Historic
 * Pearl Creek Methodist Episcopal Church, Township 109, Range 60 (Pearl Creek), southwest of Iroquois, Beadle, SD, or southeast of Cavour, SD; aka Wesley Community Church
 * Pitrodie Methodist Episcopal Church, Township 113, Range 59 (Barrett)--Historic
 * Richland Methodist Episcopal Church, 110, Range 60 (Richland)--Historic
 * Riverside United Methodist Church, Huron, SD
 * Rose Hill Presbyterian Church, Township 109, Range 62 (Grant)--Historic
 * Saint Ann Catholic Church, Broadland, SD--Historic
 * Saint John Lutheran Church &amp; Cemetery, Wolsey, SD
 * Saint Martin of Tours Catholic Church, Huron, SD; see:Holy Trinity Catholic Parish
 * Saint Patrick Catholic Church, Cavour, SD; see:Holy Trinity Catholic Parish
 * Saint Paul Catholic Church, Iroquois, Kingsbury, SD--Historic
 * Saint William Catholic Church, 112, Range 60 (Liberty), north of Yale, SD--Historic
 * Salvation Army, Huron, SD
 * Seventh Day Adventist Church, Huron, SD
 * Sod Church, Township 108, Range 60 (Floyd), Sanborn, SD [south of the Beadle-Sanborn County line], south of Iroquois, SD
 * Tipton Community Church, Township 113, Range 65 (Nance)
 * Trinity Lutheran Church, Township 112, Range 59 (Foster), northeast of Yale, then Yale, SD; aka Evangelical Trinity Lutheran Church
 * Trinity United Methodist Church, Iroquois, SD
 * Virgil United Methodist Church, Virgil, SD
 * Wesley Community Church, Township 109, Range 60 (Pearl Creek), southwest of Iroquois, Beadle, SD, or southeast of Cavour, SD; see:Pearl Creek Methodist Episcopal Church
 * Wessington Methodist Church, Wessington, SD--Historic
 * Winthrop Methodist Episcopal Church, Township 113, Range 61 (Lake Byron)--Historic
 * Wolsey Methodist Episcopal Church, Wolsey, SD--Historic
 * [Wolsey] Presbyterian Church, Wolsey, SD

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

 * Early Beadle County settlers, Grant Township, 1879-1900. 1989. By Mildred McEwen Jones. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Online at:;.
 * Early Beadle County, 1879 to 1900. 1961. By Mildred McEwen Jones. S.l. : s.n. Online at:;.
 * A People's history of Beadle County, SD. 1986. Dallas, Texas : Taylor Publishing Co. Online at:;.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * 1895 U.S. Atlas--Beadle County [railroads and towns only]

Historic Map Works Residential Genealogy has the following maps:


 * 1906 Beadle County atlas
 * 1913 Beadle County atlas
 * 1949 Beadle County atlas
 * 1965 Beadle County atlas

and others more current.
 * 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
 * South Dakota State Historical Society, 1885 Civil War Union Veterans Census | Confederates.
 * 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.

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1904 - 1928 South Dakota, Federal Naturalization Records, 1904-1928 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
 * 1865 - 1972 at FamilySearch — images
 * South Dakota Naturalization Records Index:First Papers — index
 * South Dakota Naturalization Records Index:Second Papers — index
 * Name Index to Naturalization Records from Dakota Territory and South Dakota at National Archives, Kansas City — index

Newspapers
 South Dakota Newspapers Online South Dakota Newspaper Catalogs South Dakota State Historical Society--"Newspapers Search Form"
 * 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.

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

School Records

 * 1879 - 1970 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1879 - 1970 South Dakota, School Records,1879-1970 at Ancestry — images

Vital Records
See also:South Dakota Vital Records.

Birth
— index
 * 1843 - 1914 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1856 - 1950 South Dakota, Birth Index, 1856-1915 at Ancestry — index ($)
 * Birth Record Search Site For South Dakota Birth Records With Birth Dates Over 100 Years
 * 1880-1911 South Dakota Birth Record Search Site, South Dakota Department of Health.

Marriage

 * 1950 - 2014 — index
 * 1905 - 2013 South Dakota, Marriages, 1905-2013 at Ancestry — index and images ($)

Death

 * 1879 - 1955 South Dakota, Death Index, 1879-1955 at Ancestry — index($)

Family History Centers

 * Huron South Dakota Family History Center

Museums
Dakotaland Museum 1616 1st St. SW Huron, SD 57350 Phone:605-352-2633 Website

Pyle House Museum 1616 1st St. SW Huron, SD 57350 Phone:605-352-2633

Societies
Beadle County Genealogical Society 1808 Indiana Ave SE Huron, SD 57350 Website

Websites

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