Chippewa County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Chippewa County

Guide to Chippewa County, Minnesota ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

Chippewa County, Minnesota
Map
Location in the state of Minnesota, United States Genealogy
Location of Minnesota in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	February 20, 1862
County Seat	Montevideo
Courthouse
Address	Chippewa County Courthouse 629 North 11th Street Montevideo, MN 56265 Phone: 320-269-7774 Chippewa County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for Chippewa River. The County is located in the west central area of the state.

Chippewa County, Minnesota Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1870	1870	1870	1870	1870	1870	1836
Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

County Courthouse

Clerk District Court has birth, marriage, divorce, probate and court records from 1870.
County Recorder has land records from 1870.
City Clerks have burial records.

History

Parent County

1862--Chippewa County was created 20 February 1862 from Pierce (eliminated 20 Feb 1862) and Davis (eliminated 20 Feb 1862) Counties. County seat: Montevideo

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Minnesota County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Minnesota County Boundary Maps" (1849-1960) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

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

Places/Localities

Populated Places

HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Clara City Granite Falls	Maynard Milan	Montevideo Watson
Unincorporated communities
Asbury Big Bend City Bunde	Churchill Gracelock Gluek	Hagan Louriston Wegdahl
Townships
Big Bend Crate Grace Granite Falls Havelock Kragero	Leenthrop Lone Tree Louriston Mandt Rheiderland	Rosewood Sparta Stoneham Tunsberg Woods

Neighboring Counties

• Kandiyohi
• Lac Qui Parle
• Renville
• Swift
• Yellow Medicine

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
USGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
MNGenWeb Archives		FamilySearch Places
Tombstone Project
Billion Graves
See Minnesota Cemeteries for more information.

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	1,467	—
1880	5,408	268.6%
1890	8,555	58.2%
1900	12,499	46.1%
1910	13,458	7.7%
1920	15,720	16.8%
1930	15,762	0.3%
1940	16,927	7.4%
1950	16,739	−1.1%
1960	16,320	−2.5%
1970	15,109	−7.4%
1980	14,941	−1.1%
1990	13,228	−11.5%
2000	13,088	−1.1%
2010	12,441	−4.9%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1865 - Minnesota State Census, 1865 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1885 - Minnesota State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1905 - Minnesota State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — index and images

Church

Most church records are held by individual churches. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information, see Minnesota Church Records.

Lutheran

• 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry ($) - index and images

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Emigration and Immigration

• 1912 - 1956 - Minnesota Passenger and Crew Lists, 1912-1956 at FamilySearch — index and images

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Chippewa County, Minnesota Genealogy. 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

• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

Military

World War II

• 1940-1945 - Minnesota, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1947 at FamilySearch — index and images

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1872-1962 - Minnesota Naturalization Records and Indexes, 1872-1962 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Chippewa County, Minnesota Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat
• FamilySearch. Do a Chippewa County, Minnesota Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the FamilySearch Catalog (For instructions see, FamilySearch Catalog Places Search).

Obituaries

• 1865-2006 - Minnesota Obituaries 1865-2006 at FamilySearch— index and images

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. Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1801 - 1999 Minnesota Wills and Probate Records 1801-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $

Taxation

Since Minnesota tax records include only persons who owned taxable property, many residents were not included. Still they complement land records and can be used in place of missing censuses or the years between censuses. There may also be gaps. 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 Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Minnesota Vital Records.

Birth

• 1900-1934 Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 at MyHeritage($) — index
• 1900-1934 Minnesota Births, 1900-1934 at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)

Marriage

• 1850-2019 WEB: Minnesota, Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at Ancestry($) — index
• 1860-1949 Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1976-2003 Minnesota, Marriages, 1976-2003 at MyHeritage($) — index

Death

• 1850-2001 Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1887-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1904-2001 Minnesota, Death Index, 1904-2001 at MyHeritage($) — index
• 1904-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 1904-2001 at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)

Societies and Libraries

• Chippewa County Historical Society
  PO Box 303
  151 Pioneer Drive (Jct. 7 and 59)
  Montevideo, MN 56265-0303
  Phone: 320 269-7636
  Website
• West Central Minnesota Historical Center
  University of Minnesota–Morris
  Morris, MN 56267
  Website
• Friesen Historical Society
  PO Box 26
  Clara City, MN 56222

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

• Minnesota Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Chippewa County, MNGenWeb
• Cyndi's List: Chippewa County

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.