Douglas County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Douglas County

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

Douglas County, Minnesota
Map
Location in the state of Minnesota, United States Genealogy
Location of Minnesota in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	March 8, 1858
County Seat	Alexandria
Courthouse
Address	Douglas County Courthouse 305 Eighth Avenue West Alexandria, MN 56308 Phone: 320-762-3033 (Court Administration) Phone: 320-762-3877 Douglas County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for Stephen Douglas, of Illinois. The County is located in the west central area of the state.

Douglas County, Minnesota Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1890	1890	1890	1867	1862	1868	1836
Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

County Courthouse

County Recorder has birth, marriage, and death records from 1890, land records from late 1800s and military records.
Clerk of Courts has divorce, probate and court records.

History

Parent County

• 1858--Douglas County was created 8 March 1858 from Cass and Pembina (Old) Counties. County seat: Alexandria

Boundary Changes

• In 1858 the territory of Douglas County was attached to Stearns County for civil and judicial purposes.

Record Loss

1862 Records from pre-1862 were lost, except the first census of 1860.

For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see:

• Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle.
• When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog.
• Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

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
Alexandria Brandon Carlos Evansville	Forada Garfield Kensington Millerville	Miltona Nelson Osakis
Unincorporated communities
Belle River Holmes City	Leaf Valley	Rose City
Townships
Alexandria Belle River Brandon Carlos Evansville Holmes City Hudson	Ida La Grand Lake Mary Leaf_Valley Lund Millerville Miltona	Moe Orange Osakis Solem Spruce Hill Urness

Neighboring Counties

• Grant
• Otter Tail
• Pope
• Stearns
• Stevens
• Todd

Resources

Cemeteries

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

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1870	4,239	—
1880	9,130	115.4%
1890	14,606	60.0%
1900	17,964	23.0%
1910	17,669	−1.6%
1920	19,039	7.8%
1930	18,813	−1.2%
1940	20,369	8.3%
1950	21,304	4.6%
1960	21,313	0.0%
1970	22,892	7.4%
1980	27,839	21.6%
1990	28,839	3.6%
2000	32,821	13.8%
2010	36,009	9.7%
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.

Forty-four churches were established between 1860 and 1910 by key ethnic groups in Douglas County. These ethnic groups included Norwegian (11 churches), German (10 churches), Swedish (20 churches), Finnish (2 churches), Danish (1 church), and American/British ethnicity (8 churches).

Lutheran

First English Lutheran Church, Alexandria

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

East Moe Lutheran Church, Garfield

• Records of East Moe Lutheran Church, Garfield, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Farwell Lutheran Church

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

Our Savior's Lutheran Congregation, Evansville

• Records of Our Savior's Lutheran Congregation, Evansville, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Trysil Lutheran Church, Farwell

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

West Moe Lutheran Church, Garfield

• Records of West Moe Lutheran Church, Garfield, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Norwegian Churches:

• Alexandria Township: First Lutheran Church (founded 1872); Bethesda Lutheran Church (founded 1907)
• Brandon Township: Chippewa Lutheran Church (founded 1871); Grace Lutheran Church (founded 1881)
• Evansville Township: Our Savior's Lutheran Church (founded 1869)
• Moe Township: West Moe Lutheran Church (founded 1867); East Moe Lutheran Church (founded 1886)
• Urness Township: St. Petri Lutheran Church (founded 1887)
• Osakis Township: Our Savior's Lutheran Church (founded 1871)
• Holmes City Township: Trysil Lutheran Church (founded 1870)
• Solem Township: Solem Lutheran Church (founded 1876)

Danish Church

• Osakis Township: Danish Lutheran Church (founded 1871)

Finnish Churches

• Urness Township: Finnish Apostolic Church (founded 1877)
• Moe Township: St. Paul's Lutheran Church (founded 1902)

Swedish Churches

• Alexandria Township: First Baptist Church (founded 1881); Svea (Calvary) Lutheran Church (founded 1877)
• Osakis Township: Fahlun Lutheran Church (founded 1871)
• Holmes City Township: Trinity Lutheran Church (founded 1875); Oscar Lake Lutheran Church (founded 1866); Swedish Baptist Church (founded 1904)
• Urness Township: Fryksende Lutheran Church (founded 1877)
• Lund Township: Christian Lake Lutheran Church (founded 1871)
• Millerville Township (founded ca. 1880)
• Ida Township: St. Luke's Lutheran Church (founded 1869); Ida Mission Covenant Church (founded 1889)
• Solem Township: Wennersborg Lutheran Church (founded ca. 1879); Kensington Covenant Church (founded 1875)
• Evansville Township: Immanuel Lutheran Church (founded 1883); Zionsborg Lutheran Church (founded 1884); Calvary Mission Covenant Church (founded 1887)
• Spruce Hill Township: Free Mission Covenant Church (founded 1886); Rose City Swedish Baptist Church (founded ca. 1890); Spruce Hill Methodist Church (founded 1890s); Spruce Hill Lutheran Church (founded 1876)

German Churches

• Alexandria Township: St. Mary's Catholic Church (founded 1879); Zion Lutheran Church (founded 1880)
• Carlos Township: Immanual Lutheran Church (founded 1874)
• Belle River Township: St. Nicholas Catholic Church (founded 1870)
• Ida Township: St. John's Lutheran Church (founded 1910)
• Brandon Township: St. Ann's Catholic Church (founded 1902)
• Leaf Valley Township: Ebenezer Lutheran Church (founded 1875)
• Miltona Township: St. Paul's Lutheran Church (founded 1890)
• Millerville Township: Trinity Lutheran Church (founded 1892); Church of Seven Dolors Catholic Church (founded 1867)

Yankee and British Churches

• Alexandria Township: First Methodist Church (founded 1879); Emmanuel Episcopal Church (founded 1868); United Methodist Church (founded 1867); Congregational Church (founded 1867)
• Ida Township: First Presbyterian Church of Garfield (founded ca. 1900)
• Carlos Township: Carlos Prebyterian Church (founded ca. 1900)
• Hudson Township: Free Methodist Church (founded ca. 1891); Forada Presbyterian Church (founded ca.1898)

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

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, Douglas – LAND AND PROPERTY

• County Recorder has land records from the late 1800s.
• The government land office, headquarters for a large area of the northwest, was located in Alexandria beginning 1868.
• The land office moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota in 1876 because most of the land in Douglas County had either been bought or homesteaded.
  
• The Recorder's Office at the Douglas County Courthouse, located in Alexandria, Minnesota has all the Indexes and the Land Abstracts digitized. These records extend back to the late 1860s. In order to access these records you need to tell them the address of the house or farm or else the Plat map description so that they can determine the Block and Lot numbers. Copies of the Index listings for that Block and Lot Land description as well as the matching Land Abstracts can be obtained for $.50 per page, as of 1 Nov 2011.
• The original Land Transfer Books for Douglas County (previously kept at the Courthouse) are available at the Douglas County Historical Society in Alexandria. They begin about 1869 and extend to about 1970. Information is recorded under the Township numbers and then Block and Lot numbers. The name of the last Grantee (person’s signature) and the Date of Transfer are also recorded.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Douglas 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.

• Douglas County Album of the Ages. (Douglas County Historical Society: Taylor Publishing Co., 1982)
• Larson, Constant. History of Douglas and Grant Counties, Minnesota: their people, industries, and institutions. (Indianapolis, IN: B.F. Bowen & Company, Inc, 1916).
  

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Family Maps of Douglas County, Minnesota Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military

World War II

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

Naturalization Records

•  Douglas County Naturalization Records  1867 to 1947

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 Douglas County, Minnesota Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

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

• Douglas County newspapers which begin in 1871 are available on microfilm for searching at the Douglas County Historical Society. They can also be obtained through Interlibrary Loan from the Minnesota Historical Society. As of 10 Nov 2011 the charge by the Minnesota Historical Society is $3.00 per microfilm. The local library requesting the microfilm may also charge an additional fee, which is usually less than $10. For a list of the Alexandria area newspapers and the years they existed, see the website of the Douglas County Historical Society. (Click on the link on this page under Societies and Libraries.)

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.

• Personal property tax records that cover the period of about 1869 to about 1950 are available at the Douglas County Historical Society. They provide information on the property held by an individual at a specific time period and the dollar value of the property.

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 State Registrar of Vital Records, or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Minnesota Vital Records.

• County Recorder has birth, marriage, and death records from 1890

Birth

• 1900-1934 Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 at MyHeritage($) — index

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

Societies and Libraries

• Douglas County Historical Society
  1219 Nokomis St
  Alexandria, MN 56308-3712
  Phone: 320-762-0382
  Website
• Evansville Historical Foundation
  PO Box 337
  304 Gran Street South
  Evansville, MN 56326
  Phone: 218-948-2010
  Website
• Osakis Area Heritage Center
  PO Box 8
  11 East Main Street
  Osakis, MN
  Phone: 320-859-3777
  Website
• West Central Minnesota Historical Research Center
  University of Minnesota–Morris
  Morris, MN 5626
  Website
• Douglas County Genealogical Society
  PO Box 505
  Alexandria, MN 56308

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 Libraries

• Alexandria Minnesota Family History Center

Websites

• FamilySearch Catalog
• Douglas County GenWeb
• Cyndi's List: Douglas County

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.