Todd County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Todd County

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

Todd County, Minnesota
Map
Location in the state of Minnesota, United States Genealogy
Location of Minnesota in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	February 20, 1855
County Seat	Long Prairie
Courthouse
Address	Todd County Courthouse 215 1st Ave S Long Prairie, MN 56347 Phone: 320.732.4428 Todd County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for John Blair Smith Todd, who was a delegate from Dakota Territory to the United States House of Representatives, and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The County is located in the central area of the state.

Todd County, Minnesota Record Dates

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1870	1867	1870	1874	1914	1876	1836
Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

County Courthouse

Details

Clerk District Court has divorce records from 1880,
court records from 1874 and probate records.
County Records has birth and death records from 1870,
marriage records from 1867, land records, school census from 1914.

History

Parent County

• 1855--Todd County was created 20 February 1855 from Cass County.  County seat: Long Prairie
• For a brief history of Todd County's name, click here, then select Todd 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
Bertha Browerville Burtrum Clarissa	Eagle Bend Grey Eagle Hewitt Long Prairie	Osakis Staples West Union
Unincorporated communities
Philbrook	Pillsbury	Ward Springs
Townships
Bartlett Bertha Birchdale Bruce Burleene Burnhamville Eagle Valley Fawn Lake Germania Gordon	Grey Eagle Hartford Iona Kandota Leslie Little Elk Little Sauk Long Prairie Moran Reynolds	Round Prairie Staples Stowe Prairie Turtle Creek Villard Ward West Union Wykeham

Neighboring Counties

• Cass
• Douglas
• Morrison
• Otter Tail
• Pope
• Stearns
• Wadena

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
Tombstone Project
MNGravestones
Billion Graves
See Minnesota Cemeteries for more information.

Census

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	430	—
1870	2,036	373.5%
1880	6,133	201.2%
1890	12,930	110.8%
1900	22,214	71.8%
1910	23,407	5.4%
1920	26,059	11.3%
1930	26,170	0.4%
1940	27,438	4.8%
1950	25,420	−7.4%
1960	23,119	−9.1%
1970	22,114	−4.3%
1980	24,991	13.0%
1990	23,363	−6.5%
2000	24,426	4.5%
2010	24,895	1.9%
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.

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

Directories

The 1913-1914 Farmer's Directory of Todd County is included in:

• Webb Publishing Co. of St. Paul, MN. Collection of Minnesota County Atlases, #175, Roll 8. St. Paul, MN, USA: Minnesota Historical Society, 1913-1914. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
  

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, Todd – LAND AND PROPERTY

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Todd 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.

• Hendrickson, A.H., O.B. DeLaurier, and John H. Sheets. Todd County, Minnesota, Histories: Containing Reproductions of the Original Histories of Todd County Written by John H. Sheets, A. H. Hendrickson, O. B. DeLaurier. Other Articles of Interest. Long Prairie, Minn.: Todd County Bicentennial Committee, 1976. FHL Large Q Book 977.688 H2.
  

Maps

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

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Family Maps of Todd County, Minnesota Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

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 Todd County, Minnesota Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat
• FamilySearch. Do a Todd 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
• 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

Todd County Historical Society
333 Central Avenue
PO Box 146
Long Prairie 56347
Telephone: 320-732-4426
Website

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

• FamilySearch Catalog

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.