User:RogersBA/Sandbox MN 34

United States

Minnesota

Kandiyohi County

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Willmar Organized: March 6, 1871 Parent County(s): Davis (extinct), Meeker, Pierce, Stearns, Renville, Non-County Area 5 Neighboring Counties Chippewa  • Meeker  • Pope  • Renville  • Stearns  • Swift See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for the Dakota language "where the buffalo fish come". The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Kandiyohi County Courthouse
400 Benson Ave SW
Willmar, MN 56201-3281
Phone: 320-231-6532
Kandiyohi County Website

Clerk District Court has birth, marriage, death, divorce and court records from 1870.

Kandiyohi County, Minnesota Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1870	1870	1870	1870	1858	1867	1836
*Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

Record Loss

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

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Created from Davis (extinct), Meeker, Pierce, Stearns, Renville Counties and Non-County Area 5, October 12, 1858. Organized date: March 6, 1871 County seat: Preston Interactive Map of Minnesota County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Minnesota county boundary changes Minnesota Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

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
Atwater Blomkest Kandiyohi Lake Lillian	New London Pennock Prinsburg Raymond	Regal Spicer Sunburg Willmar
Unincorporated communities
Hawick Norway Lake	Priam Roseland	Svea
Townships
Arctander Burbank Colfax Dovre East Lake Lillian Edwards Fahlun Gennessee	Green Lake Harrison Holland Irving Kandiyohi Lake Andrew Lake Elizabeth Lake Lillian	Mamre New London Norway Lake Roseland Roseville St. Johns Whitefield Willmar

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Kandiyohi County, Minnesota online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	BillionGraves Find A Grave Interment.net MN Gravestones MN Tombstone Transcription Project MNGenWeb USGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	FamilySearch Places Find A Grave
See Minnesota Cemeteries for more information.

 

Census Records

For links to Federal, State, and Territorial censuses, see Minnesota Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	76	—
1870	1,760	2215.8%
1880	10,159	477.2%
1890	13,997	37.8%
1900	18,416	31.6%
1910	18,969	3.0%
1920	22,060	16.3%
1930	23,574	6.9%
1940	26,524	12.5%
1950	28,644	8.0%
1960	29,987	4.7%
1970	30,548	1.9%
1980	36,763	20.3%
1990	38,761	5.4%
2000	41,203	6.3%
2010	42,239	2.5%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1835-1890 Minnesota, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1835-1890 at Ancestry ($)
• 1849-1905 Minnesota, U.S., Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905 at Ancestry ($)
• 1865 Minnesota State Census, 1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1875 Minnesota State Census, 1875 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1885 Minnesota State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1905 Minnesota State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.

Church Records

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.

• FamilySearch Places
  

Lutheran

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($) has the following information:
  • Atwater Lutheran Church, Grove City
    
  • Calvary Lutheran Church, Willmar
    
  • St. John's Lutheran Church, Raymond
    
  • Trondhjem Lutheran Church, Atwater
    
• Minnesota Historical Society has a Collection Finding Aid for the following:
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: An Inventory of Selected Congregational Records of the American Lutheran Church in Minnesota

Emigration and Immigration

• 1912-1956 Minnesota Passenger and Crew Lists, 1912-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.

Land and Property Records

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.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• Pre-1908 Minnesota, Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 at Ancestry ($)

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Kandiyohi County. 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.

• Lawson, Victor E.; Tew, Martin E.; Nelson, J. Emil; Illustrated History and Descriptive and Biographical Review of Kandiyohi County, Minnesota (St. Paul, Minn.: The Pioneer Press Manufacturing Departments, 1905) Online at FamilySearch Digital Library.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Minnesota Maps at David Rumsey Map Collections
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Multiple Wars

• 1861-1917 United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; Free index, images ($)
• 1898-1899 Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection at Ancestry ($)

Civil War

Online Civil War Indexes and Records

• 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 at Ancestry; Free index
• 1861-1865 Minnesota, U.S., Civil War Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry; Free index
• 1861-1865 Minnesota Civil War Soldiers at Ancestry; Free index
• 1861-1934 U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 at Ancestry; Free index

Spanish-American War

• 1898 U.S., Spanish American War Volunteers Index to Compiled Military Service Records, 1898 at Ancestry; Free index
• 1898-1899 Minnesota, U.S., Spanish American War Muster Rolls and Casualty Lists, 1898-1899 at Ancestry; Free index

World War I

• 1917-1918 U.S., World War I Civilian Draft Registrations, 1917-1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1917-1918 U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at Ancestry; Free index
• 1918-1941 Minnesota, World War I Records, 1918-1941 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection

World War II

• 1940-1947 Minnesota, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1940-1947 U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 at Ancestry; Free index
• 1942 U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at Ancestry; Free index

Naturalization and Citizenship

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

• 1849-1985 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Naturalization Index, 1849-1985 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1872-1962 Minnesota Naturalization Records and Indexes, 1872-1962 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1880-1920 Minnesota, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1880-1920 at Ancestry ($)
• 1918 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Alien Registration Index, 1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)

Newspapers

• Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub at Minnesota Historical Society; narrow to county (55 listed) or city (106 listed), search for surname, limit by date.

Obituaries

• 1865-2006 Minnesota, Obituaries 1865-2006 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1891-2003 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Obituary Index, 1891-2003 at Ancestry (Free collection)

Probate Records

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

• 1801-1925 Minnesota, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1925 at Ancestry; index and images ($)
• 1849-1985 Minnesota Will Records, 1849-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Three Minnesota counties are not in this collection: Hennepin, Marshall, and St. Louis.

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch — How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

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.

• 1900-2001 Minnesota People Records Search at Minnesota Historical Society; Index only, search by name, date, a related surname, or county.

Birth

• 1840-1980 Minnesota, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1840-1980 at Ancestry ($)
• 1900-1934 Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 at MyHeritage; index ($)
• 1935-2000 Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1935-2000 at Ancestry ($)

Marriage

• 1850-2019 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1860 1949 Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1885-present Minnesota Official Marriage System at MOMS.mn.gov; search by county, name or date, and request copy.
• 1970-2003 Minnesota Marriage Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)
• 1976-2003 Minnesota, Marriages, 1976-2003 at MyHeritage; index ($)

Death

• 1850-2001 Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1887-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1904-2001 Minnesota, Death Index, 1904-2001 at MyHeritage; index ($)
• 1908-2017 Minnesota, U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 at Ancestry ($)

Divorce

• 1970-1995 Minnesota, U.S., Divorce Index, 1970-1995 at Ancestry ($)
• 1970-2003 Minnesota Divorce Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Kandiyohi County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

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

• Hutchinson Minnesota Family History Center
• Willmar Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Kandiyohi County. For state-wide library facilities, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

Pioneerland Library System
410 5th St SW
Willmar, MN 56201
320-235-6106
Website

Wilmar Public Library
Heritage Searchers of Kandiyohi County
PO Box 175
410 SW 5th St
Willmar 56201-0175
Genealogical Research Library within Willmar Public Library
Website

Museums

Kandiyohi County Historical Society Museum
610 NE Hwy 71
Willmar, MN 68201
320-235-1881
E-mail: kandhist@msn.com
Website

Societies

Listed below are societies in Kandiyohi County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Minnesota Societies.

Kandiyohi County Historical Society
610 Highway 71 NE
Willmar, MN 56201-2650
320-235-1881
Website

Atwater Area Historical Society
PO Box 258
108 3rd Street N
Atwater, MN 56209
Website

Heritage Searchers of Kandiyohi County
PO Box 175
410 SW 5th Street
Willmar, MN 56201-0175
Genealogical Research Library within Willmar Public Library
Website

Websites

• Minnesota Historical Society
• Kandiyoh County at USGenWeb Archives
• Kandiyohi County MNGenWeb, a member of The MNGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• Cyndi's List: Kandiyohi County
• Iron Range Research Center
• FamilySearch Catalog – 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.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

The collection is free on this subscription website.

FamilySearch affiliate libraries may have access to center-only databases, but do not always have all services normally provided by a family history center.