Ward County, North Dakota Genealogy

United States North Dakota Ward County

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

Description
Named for Mark Ward, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Counties. The county government was first organized on November 23, 1885 with Minot as the county seat.

County Courthouse
Ward County Courthouse 315 3rd St SE Minot, ND 58701-6498 Phone: 701.857.6460 Ward County Website District Court Clerk has birth, death, burial and divorce records from 1900; County Judge has marriage and probate records; Register of Deeds has land records.

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

Boundary Changes
1885--Ward County was created 14 April 1885 from Stevens (Old), Wynn (Old), and Renville Counties. County seat: Minot
 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of North Dakota - shows boundary changes for North Dakota Counties
 * North 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


 * Berthold
 * Burlington
 * Carpio
 * Des Lacs
 * Donnybrook
 * Douglas
 * Carpio
 * Makoti
 * Minot (county seat)
 * Ryder
 * Sawyer
 * Surrey

Townships


 * Afton
 * Anna
 * Baden
 * Berthold
 * Brillian
 * Burlington
 * Burt
 * Cameron
 * Carbondale
 * Carpio
 * Denmark
 * Des Lacs
 * Elmdale
 * Eureka
 * Evergreen
 * Foxholm
 * Freedom
 * Gasman
 * Greely
 * Greenbush
 * Harrison
 * Hiddenwood
 * Hilton
 * Iota Flat
 * Kenmare
 * Kirkelie
 * Linton
 * Lund
 * Mandan
 * Margaret
 * Maryland
 * Mayland
 * McKinley
 * Nedrose
 * New Prairie
 * Newman
 * Orlien
 * Passport
 * Ree
 * Rice Lake
 * Rolling Green
 * Rushville
 * Ryder
 * St. Marys
 * Sauk Prairie
 * Sawyer
 * Shealy
 * Spencer
 * Spring Lake
 * Sundre
 * Surrey
 * Tatman
 * Tolgen
 * Torning
 * Vang
 * Waterford
 * Willis

Census-designated places
 * Foxholm
 * Logan
 * Ruthville

Unincorporated communities
 * Aurelia - "ghost town" south of Donnybrook
 * Drady
 * Gassman - founded as the Gassman Creek; Gassman Coulee;Coulee trestle was being built, now referred to as "Trestle Valley"
 * Hartland - "ghost town" north of Berthold
 * Hesnault
 * Lonetree - small 100 person community northwest of Des Lacs and southeast of Berthold
 * Rice Lake - small community around Rice Lake south of Minot
 * Rice Lake Park
 * South Prairie - small community with modern school, south of Minot
 * Wolseth - diminishing community, south of the Renville County border, and Granville

Historical areas:
 * Harrison - early sister community of Minot, annexed into Minot
 * Ralston - railroad siding
 * Roach - railroad siding
 * Waldorf - annexed into Minot boundaries in its early years

Indian Reservation

A portion of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is located in Ward County. The remainder of the reservation is in Mountrail, McKenzie, Mercer, and Dunn Counties.

State Census Records

 * 1885 Dakota Territory 1885 Census Index at NDSU Archives – index only
 * 1885, 1915, 1925 North Dakota, Territorial and State Censuses, 1885, 1915, 1925 at Ancestry.com – ($), index and images
 * 1915 at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images
 * 1925 at FamilySearch Historical Records — index and images

Federal Census Records
Federal Censuses were taken for North Dakota starting in 1910. For links to Federal census indexes, see North Dakota Census.

Church Records
Lutheran


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

Directories

 * 1822 - 1995 U.S. City Directories 1822-1995 at Ancestry ($) - collection for the City of Minot

Land and Property Records
Online Land Records For more information see North Dakota Land and Property
 * 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

 * People, places & events, Minot-Ward County : bridging the century. 1986. By Janet Rosecrans. Minot, North Dakota : Centennial Book Committee (Minot, North Dakota). Online at:;.
 * Yesterdays of the Sawyer area. 1989. By Patty Francis Heldenbrand. PMinot, North Dakota : Mouse River Loop Genealogical Society. Online at: ; . see index.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Interactive Formation Boundary Map of North Dakota - shows boundary changes for North Dakota Counties
 * North Dakota Maps at NDGenWeb -historical maps

Military Records
Civil War World War I
 * 1861 -1865 at FamilySearch.
 * 1890 at FamilySearch.
 * 1917 - 1918 North Dakota Military Men 1917-1918 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1917 - 1918 Roster of the men and women who served in the army or naval service (including the Marine Corps) of the United States or its allies from the state of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918, Vols. 1-4 at Ancestry ($)
 * For further information see North Dakota Military Records.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * North Dakota Naturalization Records Index at NDSU Archives – index only, covers various dates and counties

Newspapers
 North Dakota Newspapers Online North Dakota Newspaper Catalogs
 * GenealogyBank - ($), contains images of North Dakota newspapers
 * Newspaper Archive - ($), contains images of North Dakota newspapers
 * Chronicling America - contains images of some North 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
 * State Historical Society of North Dakota - contains inventory and catalog of all known ND newspapers

Probate Records
''Online Probate Records


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

Death
Online Death Indexes and Records
 * 1892-present - NDDH Public Death Index, 1892-present at North Dakota Dept. of Health – index only

Family History Centers

 * Minot North Dakota Family History Center

Societies
Ward County Historical Society PO Box 994 Minot, ND 58702 Telephone: 701-838-9679 Website

Lake County Historical Society PO Box 83 Kenmare, ND 58746 Telephone: 701-385-4248

Ryder Historical Society 20510 184th St. S.W. Ryder, ND 58779 Telephone: 701-758-2527

Scandinavian Heritage Association 1020 S. Broadway Minot, ND 58701 Telephone: 701-852-9161 Website

Websites

 * [nttp://usgenweb.org USGenWeb project]. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection. Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.
 * Ward County, North Dakota Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)