GRANT COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES
NOTE: All the resources listed here can be accessed at the Museum. Currently, we are cataloging the many family histories, town histories, plat books, and other reference books that are in our Library/Archives. We have new shelving in the office and as we reshelved the books, we added them to the catalog. As we acquire new books, we will add them to our catalog.
To access the catalog, click on the Library/Archive right below the listing for this Research page. At the top of the Library/Archive page are two search boxes. Use the one on the bottom, find the drop-down menu, and choose All Listed Fields. Then put in the name or term you want to search and hopefully, there will be some listings for you to choose from. To clear this search box, click on the little whisk broom next to the box.
At the Museum, there is free access to Ancestry.com, Library Edition, either on the GCHS computer (we only have one computer) or on your own laptop and using the password for this site.
Below is a list of the resources available at GCHS. Many of the records are on the GCHS computer and can be accessed only at the Museum Office. The microfilm rolls and the vertical files are there as well.
It is suggested that an appointment be made by calling 218-685-4864.
Cost for copies 25 cents per page. Research $10/hour
Obituary and Marriage index – Index of obits & marriages found in Grant County newspapers.
Newspapers: Ashby Avalanche, Grant County Farmer (Ashby), Ashby Post, Ashby Review, Ashby-Dalton Post, Barrett Lake Breeze, Elbow Lake Alliance, Elbow Lake Tribune, Grant County Herald, Grant County Review (Herman), Herman Herald, Herman Enterprise, Herman Review, Hoffman Tribune, Herman-Hoffman Tribune, Wendell Tribune. Our oldest newspapers date from 1883.
U.S. Federal Censuses: 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940
MN State Censuses: 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905
Naturalization Records: 1883-1943 on three rolls of microfilm, indexed, also an index to Otter Tail County naturalizations.
Lutheran Church records: Immanuel, Barrett; Our Savior’s, Barrett; Lincoln, Hoffman; First Lutheran (Ness), Elbow Lake; St. John’s, Elbow Lake; Bethania, Elbow Lake; Trinity, Wendell (including Union & Stony Brook); Rock Prairie, Wendell; St. Olaf, Ashby; Erdahl, Erdahl (including Bethel & Pomme de Terre); Pelican Lake, Ashby, Aeneas, Hoffman; Bethel, Hoffman; Lands, Hoffman; Wennersborg, Kensington.
Cemetery Records: At least some information on each of the county’s cemeteries, Other cemeteries are Mound Grove and Zionsborg, Evansville - in Douglas County; Christina Lake, Melby; and St. Gall’s, Tintah.
Grant County Atlases/Plat Books: 1900, 1914, 1931, 1940, 1948, 1954, 1964, 1974, 1981, 1996-1998, 2000, 2009-2014, 2016-2019. 1900 plat is indexed. Also 1874 Minnesota A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas
Tax Assessment Books: Several tax assessment books from the late 1870s to the 1880s. They cover only a few townships and are indexed.
Alien Registration Forms, 1918 & WWI Draft Registration Cards: Both are indexed.
WWI Veterans Service Records, indexed.
Vertical Files: Family folders, alphabetical by last name. Files on places, organizations, churches, events, etc.
School Records: Scattered records from scattered years from several districts, mostly Clerk’s and Treasurer’s books, some Attendance Registers. Lists of 8th grade graduates from 1914-1940s. Lists of teachers for same time period.
Books: Grant County Heritage (1991), town histories, Stony Brook Township. History (1918), Red River Valley and Park Regions (1889), History of Douglas and Grant Counties (1916). These books have now been cataloged. Click on the Research page and it will direct you how to search for them.
Family Histories. These have now been cataloged. To search by name, click on the Research Page and it will direct you how to search for a name.
Photographs. Many of these have been identified and indexed by People, Events or Places.
NOTE: Other records are available at the Grant County Courthouse: Birth and death records since about 1877, marriage records since 1879, divorce and civil court records since 1883, probate records, land and tax records.
Updated 3.25.23
