Stevens County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Stevens County

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

Stevens 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	Morris
Courthouse
Address	Stevens County Courthouse 400 Colorado Avenue Morris, MN 56267 Phone: 320-589-7287 Phone: 320.589.7414 Stevens County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for the Civil War Union general Isaac Stevens. The County is located in the west-central area of the state.

Stevens County, Minnesota Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1872	1869	1872	1873	1871	1907	1836
Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

County Courthouse

Clerk District Court has birth and death records from 1872,
marriage records from 1869, divorce and court records
from 1873 and probate records from 1901.
County Recorder has land records from 1871.

History

Parent County

1862--Stevens County was created 20 February 1862 from Pierce (Eliminated 20 Feb 1862) County and unorganized territory.
County seat: Morris

• For a brief history of how Stevens County was named, click here, then select Stevens County.

Record Loss

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

Places/Localities

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Alberta Chokio	Donnelly Hancock	Morris
Townships
Baker Darnen Donnelly Eldorado Everglade Framnas	Hodges Horton Moore Morris Pepperton Rendsville	Scott Stevens Swan Lake Synnes

Neighboring Counties

• Big Stone
• Douglas
• Grant
• Pope
• Swift
• Traverse

Resources

Cemeteries

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

• The Stevens County Historical Society has a free cemetery transcription database available here.

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	174	—
1880	3,911	2147.7%
1890	5,251	34.3%
1900	8,721	66.1%
1910	8,293	−4.9%
1920	9,778	17.9%
1930	10,185	4.2%
1940	11,039	8.4%
1950	11,106	0.6%
1960	11,262	1.4%
1970	11,218	−0.4%
1980	11,322	0.9%
1990	10,634	−6.1%
2000	10,053	−5.5%
2010	9,726	−3.3%
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

First Lutheran Church, Morris

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

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

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

First Lutheran Church, Morris

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

Emigration and Immigration

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

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 FamilySearch Catalog under:

MINNESOTA, Stevens – LAND AND PROPERTY

• Land Deeds; Starting 1872; County Recorder

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Stevens 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.

• Stevens County Historical Society. Stevens County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2007. Print.
• Stevens County Historical Society. The 40s: A Time of War and a Time of Peace - Stevens County in World War II. Morris, MN: Stevens County Historical Society, 1995. Print.
  
• Hall, Grace Cynthia. The Wadsworth Trail. Morris, MN: Stevens County Historical Society, 2007. Print.
• Busch, Edna Mae. History of Donnelly. 1972. Print.
• Foley, JoAnne. Keeping Track of Alberta. 1998. Print.
• Busch, Edna Mae. The History of Stevens County.1978. Print
• Ritter, Carol. Progress on the Prairie - Chokio Centennial 1898-1998. Print.

Maps

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

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• 1874 Map of Big Stone, Grant, Stevens, and Traverse counties

Military

• Military Discharges; Starting 1919; County Recorder

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/Periodicals

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

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

• Stevens County Genealogical Society Newsletters
• Morris Sun Tribune ( July 2000-Current; Weekly, Semi-Weekly)
  
• Morris Tribune ( 1880-June 2000; Weekly)
• The Morris Sun ( January 1895-June 2000; Weekly)
• The Sun ( October 1882-January 1895; Weekly)
  
• The Hancock Record ( September 1982-Current; Weekly)
  
• The Hancock Record and Cyrus Dispatch ( November 1978-August 1982; Weekly)
  
• Hancock Record ( February 1899-October 1978; Weekly)
  
• The Morris Times ( June 1900-January 1906; Weekly)
  
• The Republican Times (September 1898 [?]-May 1900 [?]; Weekly)
  
• The Chokio Review ( 1913 [?]- Current; Weekly)
  
• The Chokio Times ( February 1897-September 1898; Weekly)
  
• The Morris Journal ( August 1882-1883 [?]; Weekly)
  
• Stevens County Tribune ( June 1877 [?]- April 1880 [?]; Weekly)
• Frontier Business ( August 1876-September 1876 [?]; Weekly)
• The Donnelly Star ( 1915 [?]-August 1918 [?]; Weekly)
• Stevens County Review ( 1900 [?]- After March 1904 [?]; Weekly)

History of The Chokio Review

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 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.

• 1876 - 2006 Minnesota, Stevens County Genealogical Society Records, 1876-2006
  
• 1870s - Births, Marriages, and Deaths; Starting 1870s; County Recorder
  

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

Stevens County Historical Society
116 West 6th Street
Morris, MN 56267
Telephone: 320-589-1719
E-mail:info@stevenshistorymuseum.com
Website

Minnesota, Stevens County Genealogical Society Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

c/o Morris Public Library
102 East 6th Street
Morris, MN 56267

• Morris Public Library
  

102 East 6th Street
Morris, MN 56267
320-589-1634 (phone)
320-589-8892 (fax)

• Hancock Community Library

662 6th Street
P.O. Box 305
Hancock, MN 56244
320-392-5666 (phone)
320-392-5666 (fax)

• University if Minnesota-Morris Library (Includes West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center) 

600 East 4th Street
Morris, MN 56267
320-589-6176

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

FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries

Stevens County Historical Society & Museum
116 W Sixth St
Morris, MN 56267

Websites

• Stevens County, MN Genealogy Forum (GenForum)
• FamilySearch Catalog 
• Stevens County GenWeb
• Cyndi's List: Stevens County

 

 

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.