This file is as complete and accurate as possible, however if you should find errors, have additions or deletions, send them to me and I will update the file. Bill Green BillUSPS@AOL.Com bill90@Delphi.Com Date of last update: 17 June 1995 ************************************************************************* GENEALOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF MINNESOTA 28 July 1990 (C) Copyright 1990 Robert McLaren 7810 Kincardine Ct. Alexandria, VA 22310-4025 The following file contains a listing of genealogical and historical societies in Minnesota. Included in the listing, where known, are telephone numbers and yearly dues. This listing is donated to the public domain and may be freely copied. Under no conditions can this listing be sold or used in any other commercial fashion. If you think this list has any value, then donate that value in helping your local genealogical society (or the National Genealogical Society). If you write to any of the societies on this list for information, remember to include a self addressed stamped envelop (SASE). Many of these societies work with a limited budget, supplemented by volunteers, and can not afford to respond unless a SASE is included in your letter. Minnesota Genealogical Society P.O. Box 16069 St. Paul, MN 55116-0069 Dues: $10.00 per year (single); $12.00 per year (family) WWW Homepage for the Minnesota Genealogical Society. URL: http://www.mtn.org/mgs/ Minnesota Historical Society 690 Cedar Street St Paul, Minnesota (612)296-6126 Hours: Monday 9:00am to 8:30pm Tuesday-Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm Located next to state capital buiding. The Czechoslovak Genealogical Society P.O. Box 16225 St. Paul, MN 55116 (See further information below under Archives) South Central Genealogical Society 110 North Park Street Fairmont, MN 56031 Dues: Anoka County Anoka County Genealogical Society 1900 Third Avenue Anoka, MN 55303 Dues: Becker County Heart of Lakes Genealogical Society 1324 Jackson Avenue Detroit Lakes, MN 56501 Dues: Benton County Benton County Historical Society Box 312 Sauk Rapids, MN 56379 Dues: Blue Earth County Blue Earth County Historical Society 606 South Broad Street Mankato, MN 56001 Dues: Traverse des Sioux Genealogical Society c/o Dean Milton Pettis P.O. Box 315 Mankato, MN 56001 Dues: Brown County Brown County Historical Society New Ulm, MN 56073 Dues: Carlton County Genealogical Society of Carlton County P.O. Box 204 Cloquet, MN 55720 Dues: Cottonwood County Cottonwood County Historical Society Sylvia Sykora 1157 River Road Windom, MN 56101 Dues: Crow Wing County Crow Wing County Minnesota Genealogical Society 2103 Graydon Ave. Brainerd, MN 56401 Dues: $7.50 per year (single); $10.00 per year (family) Dakota County Dakota County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 74 South St. Paul, MN 55075 Dues: Dakota County Historical Society 130 Third Avenue North South St. Paul, MN 55075 Dues: Douglas County Douglas County Genealogical Society c/o Ginny Swartz P.O. Box 505 Alexandria, MN 56308 Dues: Fillmore County Fillmore County Historical Society County Courthouse Preston, MN 55965 Dues: Freeborn County Freeborn County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 403 Albert Lea, MN 56007 Dues: Kandiyohi County Heritage Searchers of Kandiyohi County 610 NE Hwy 71 Willmar, MN 56201 Dues: Itasca County Itasca County Genealogical Club P.O. Box 130 Bovey, MN 55709 Dues: Lyon County Prairieland Genealogical Society Southwest Historical Center Southwest State University Marshall, MN 56358 Dues: Mower County Mower County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 145 Austin, MN 55912 Dues: Nicollet County Nicollet County Historical Society and Museum P.O. Box 153 St. Peter, MN 56082 Dues: Nobles County Nobles County Historical Society P.O. Box 213 Worthington, MN 56187 Dues: Olmsted County Olmsted County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 6411 Rochester, MN 55903 Dues: Olmsted County Historical Society 3103 SW Salem Road Rochester, MN 55901 Dues: Otter Tail County Otter Tail County Genealogical Society 1110 Lincoln Avenue W Fergus Falls, MN 56537 Dues: Ramsey County White Bear Lake Genealogical Society Box 10555 White Bear Lake, MN 55110 Dues: Renville County Renville County Genealogical Society Box 278 Renville, MN 56284 Dues: $5.00 per year Rice County Northfield/Rice County Genealogical Society 408 Division Street Northfield, MN 55057 Dues: St. Louis County Twin Ports Genealogical Society P.O. Box 16895 Duluth, MN 55816-0895 Dues: Range Genealogical Society P.O. Box 388 Chisholm, MN 55719 Dues: $6.00 per year Waseca Area Genealogy Society, Inc. P.O. Box 314 Waseca, MN 56093 Dues: Sherburne County Sherburne County Historical Society 1613 First Street Southwest Becker, MN 55308 Dues: Stearns County St. Cloud Area Genealogists, Inc. P.O. Box 213 St. Cloud, MN 56302-0213 Dues: Stearns County Historical Society Box 702 St. Cloud, MN 56301 Dues: Swift County Swift County Historical Society Box 39 Benson, MN 56215 Dues: Wadena County Verndale Historical Society Verndale, MN 56481 Dues: Washington County White Bear Lake Genealogical Society P.O. Box 10555 White Bear Lake, MN 55110 Dues: Wilkin County Richland-Wilkin Genealogical Guild c/o 98 2nd Avenue North Wahpeton, ND 58075 Dues: Winona County Winona County Genealogy Roundtable c/o Laird Lucas Library 160 Johnson Street Winona, MN 55987 Dues: Wright County Wright County Genealogical Society 911 2nd Avenue South Buffalo, MN 55313 Dues: ************************************************************************** VITAL RECORDS County Records of Births and Deaths Some counties began recording births as early as the 1850s and deaths beginning in the 1870s. For information about early county birth and death records, write to the office of the district court administrator in the county. For information concerning early Hennepin and Ramsey County records, write to: Vital Records Office Public Service Level Government Center 300 South 6th Street Minneapolis, MN 55487 Public Health Center 555 Cedar Street St. Paul, MN 55101 State Records of Births and Deaths In Minnesota, the state registration of births began in 1900 and was generally complied with by 1915. Death records have been registered by the state since 1908. For copies of state records, write to: Minnesota Department of Health Section of Vital Statistics P.O. Box 9441 717 Delaware Street S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55440 County Records of Marriages and Divorces There is no centralized registration for Minnesota marriage records. Each county generally began keeping marriage records within 10 years of the creation of the county. Some county marriage records begin as early as the late 1840s. For copies of marriage records, write to the district court administrator's office in the county in which the license was recorded. This office also has files for divorces. For information about Hennepin County marriages write to the Vital Records Office (address above). (Source: FHC Research Guide) >> From: Ann McWilliams Vital Records from Minnesota This is from the Minnesota Department of Health, May 9, 1991 Certified copies of birth records after 1900 and death records since 1908 for the entire State of Minnesota can be obtained from Minnesota Department of Health Section of Vital Statistics Registration 717 Delaware Street S.E. P.O. Box 9441 Minneapolis, Minnesota 55440 The cheque must be in U.S. funds and made out to the Minnesota Department of Health. The cost is $11.00 for Birth Records, and $8.00 for Death records. If the record is not found, you will receive a statement that the record is not on file for the above amounts. Additional certified copies of the same record requested at the same time are $2.00 each. Marriage or divorce records are obtained from the Court Administrator In the county where the marriage license was issued or the divorce granted. A fee of $8.00 is charged for a copy of a marriage license. The fee for a divorce decree varies. The following is a list of the local Registrars of Vital Statistics. County Address + ______ _______ Aitkin Aitkin 56431 Anoka Anoka 55303 Becker Detroit Lakes 56501 Beltrami Bemidji 56601 Benton Foley 56329 Big Stone Ortonville 56278 Blue Earth Vital Statistics, 410 So. 5th Street, Box 8608, Mankato, Mn. 56002 Brown New Ulm 56073 Carlton Carlton 55718 Carver Chaska 55318 Cass Walker 56484 Chippewa Montevideo 56265 Chisago Center City 55012 Clay Moorhead 56560 Clearwater Bagley 56621 Cook Grand Marais 55604 Cottonwood Windom 56101 Crow Wing Brainerd 56401 Dakota Hastings 55033 Dodge Mantorville 55955 Douglas Alexandria 56308 Faribault Blue Earth 56013 Fillmore Preston 55965 Freeborn Albert Lea 56007 Goodhue Red Wing 55066 Grant Red Lake Red Lake Falls 56750 Redwood Redwood Falls 56283 Renville Olivia 56277 Rice Faribault 55021 Rock Luverne 56156 Roseau Roseau 56751 St. Louis Duluth 55802 Scott Shakopee 55379 Sherburne Elk River 55330 Sibley Gaylord 55334 Stearns Vital Statistics, P.O. Box 548, St. Cloud, MN 56301 Steele Owatonna 55060 Stevens Morris 56267 Swift Benson 56215 Todd Long Prairie 56347 Traverse Wheaton 56296 Wabasha Wabasha 55981 Wadena Wadena 56482 Waseca Waseca 56093 Washington Stillwater 55082 Watonwan St. James 56081 Wilkin Breckenridge 56520 Winona Winona 55987 Wright Buffalo 55313 Yellow Medicine Granite Falls 56241 ************************************************************************ STATE ARCHIVES Minnesota Historical Society Reference Library 690 Cedar Street St. Paul, MN 55101 The Reference Library primarily houses printed materials relating to the history of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society Archives and Manuscripts Collections 1500 Mississippi Street St. Paul, MN 55101 This collection includes original records of Minnesota governments and other historical documents. The society has published several guides to their manuscript collections. The Minnesota Historical Society has also established eight Regional Research Centers to locate and preserve local records of historical value. These are at Mankato State University, Southwest State University, University of Minnesota-Morris, Moorhead State University, St. Cloud State University, Bemidji State University, Winona State University, and University of Minnesota-Duluth. The society has published guides to the holdings of the eight centers. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Historical Records Survey produced 40 inventories of county archives. You can use these to learn more about the history, record-keeping systems, and available records of Minnesota counties. (Source: FHC Research Guide) For those interested in Czech and Slovak genealogy, the following society has been of some interest to me: The Czechoslovak Genealogical Society P.O. Box 16225 St. Paul, MN 55116 Membership offers you welcome packet, society newsletter, workshops, sharing of information, research materials, research techniques, research library, genealogy handouts. The group is for people interested in researching Bohemian, Moravian, Silesian, Rusin, Slovakian, German, Ruthenian, and Jewish ancestors who lived in the areas which once were a part of Czechoslovakia. One year individual membership $10.00, one year family membership $15.00, one year sponsorship $25.00. -- Robert Cox *************************************************************************** NEWSPAPER GENEALOGICAL COLUMNS ----- **************************************************************************** * Bill Green Minot, North Dakota 58701 * Home of the * * BillUSPS@AOL.Com * NORSK H0STFEST * * Bill90@Delphi.Com * Velkommen! * ****************************************************************************