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Subject: [MNHENNEP] Minnesota records availability
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 09:13:13 EDT
I thought it might be a good time to remind the list of the time frames and
availability of records in Minnesota. This is my personal "take" on all of
this after researching in Hennepin County for 20 years. If someone else can
add information or correct me, please do so.
Records were not required to be kept in Minnesota prior to 1907. Anything
before that time is an uncertainty. Some towns kept their own records and
most of those have been turned over to the Minnesota Historical Society.
Some are in the local town historical societies. If towns kept records and
turned them in to the county, they were recorded so the state has some old
records, but spotty.
There are probably more marriages recorded than births and deaths for the
period before 1907. In records that I am finding, it was really very common
for people to be married in their homes by a JOP or a minister. These
marriages were recorded by the person who performed the marriage and those
records have been turned over to the MHS or again, the local organization.
The Minnesota Genealogical Journal has transcribed many of these records and
you may find what you are looking for there. Many libraries carry copies but
you can also find them on sale at the Park Books website. www.parkbooks.com
Park Books is a great resource for Minnesota research. They have many books
that are helpful to the researcher, and many that are very specific to
Hennepin County. (I have no affiliation - just appreciate the resource)
Births were recorded in the towns, I do understand the city of Minneapolis
has some records as well but I am uncertain how available they are - they
were being microfilmed the last that I knew. I have not had a need to
research those records personally. Someone else may be able to address this
issue better.
Again - church baptism records may be a better bet, but you have to know the
religious affiliation and the church location.
Deaths are seemingly more difficult. Unless a death certificate was issued,
your best bet is cemetery records. In some cases there are "burial permits".
But I found them in archive boxes filled with various other information at
the MHS and not available unless you can sort though it all by hand. And
those are for the small towns - not the city of Minneapolis.
Hennepin County is notorious for not being genealogy friendly. There is NOT
an index by name. The information is microfilmed by year. And they will not
do any lookups - you have to know the date to get any record. The clerks will
get a record for you, but that is all. They feel that we are a "burden"
since their job is to find current records for people who need them and not
"for fun".
They do allow access to the microfilmed records but it is by appointment only
AND for 1/2 hour. If you do not have an exact date, your 1/2 hour is very
little searching time. You also must pay for parking in downtown Minneapolis
to do that 1/2 hour of research. So not a good bet for "hoping" to find a
record.
My point in all of this is to remind you that records from county and state
and difficult to come by. This makes doing lookups for other people very
time-consuming and costly unless exact dates and places and names are known.
Of course that is difficult, because we are looking for the information we
don't have, a real catch-22.
The Minnesota History Center will do limited lookups and make copies of
records, but again, they utilize volunteers who are quite busy and they don't
have the time to search through hundreds of records. So they will pull a
record, copy it and send it to you (for a cost) but they will not research.
It is very difficult for people who do not live in the area, but be aware it
is also difficult for those of us that DO live here.
I really suggest you exhaust all possible resources at the LDS. They do have
some records that are easier to access. The cost of "renting" a film at the
LDS is quite reasonable I understand, and may be helpful.
Also check out Park Books for the MGJ and other resources.
Anyone else able to add anything or correct my statements? I think we all
need to understand what is and what is not available and how readily
accessible it is.
Jo Hogle
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