Watonwan County, MinnesotaEdit This Page
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United States 
Minnesota Watonwan County
Guide to Watonwan County Minnesota genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.
| Watonwan County, Minnesota | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Minnesota | |
 Location of Minnesota in the U.S. | |
| Facts | |
| Founded | November 6, 1860 |
|---|---|
| County Seat | St. James |
| Courthouse | |
| Address | Watonwan County Courthouse 710 2nd Ave S PO Box 518 St. James, MN 56081-0518 Phone: 507.375.1216 Watonwan County Website |
Contents |
County Courthouse
Clerk District Court has birth, marriage and divorce records from 1863,
divorce and court records from 1865. Probate Judge has probate records.
Register of Deeds has land records. [1]
History
Parent County
- 1860--Watonwan County was created 6 November 1860 from Brown County. County seat: St. James [2]
- For a brief history of how Watonwan County was named, click here. Then select Watonwan County.
Boundary Changes
Record Loss
Places/Localities
Populated Places
Neighboring Counties
Resources
Cemeteries
Church
Most church records are held by individual churches. For contact information, check a phone directory, such as SearchBug or Dex Knows. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information about these major repositories, see Minnesota Church Records.
Lutheran
Long Lake Lutheran Church, St. James
- Records of the Long Lake Lutheran Church, St. James, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).[3]
Madelia
- Records of Lutheran Church, Madelia, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).[3]
Court
Land
The county register of deeds keeps land records once the land was transferred to private ownership. Abstracts and indexes for these records are generally available at the county courthouse.
Land records for Minnesota are listed in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:
MINNESOTA, Watonwan – LAND AND PROPERTY
Local Histories
Local histories are available for Watonwan County, Minnesota. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Minnesota Local Histories.
Maps
Military
Newspapers
Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Watonwan County, Minnesota newspapers in online catalogs like:
- WorldCat
- FamilySearch. Do a Watonwan County, Minnesota Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see, FHL Catalog Place-name Search).
Probate
Probate records may include, wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. They may include the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, etc. See Minnesota Probate Records for additional information.
Taxation
Minnesota tax records complement land records and can be used in place of censuses before 1820 or to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information, see the wiki page Minnesota Taxation.
Vital Records
Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.
A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Minnesota State Registrar of Vital Records or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Minnesota Vital Records. For information about restrictions and costs for certificates, see the CDC Where to Write for Vital Records site.
Societies and Libraries
Family History Centers
Web Sites
References
- ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Stevens County, Minnesota page 369, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
- ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: An Inventory of Selected Congregational Records of the American Lutheran Church in Minnesota at the Minnesota Historical Society," Collection Finding Aids, Minnesota Historical Society, http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/01009.xml, accessed 10 June 2013.
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- This page was last modified on 11 June 2013, at 20:42.
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