Watonwan County, Minnesota

Watonwan County, Minnesota
This Site is part of
The MNGenWeb and The USGenWeb®

Hello:
My name is Martha and I am the new County Coordinator for Watonwan County.
I do not live in Minnesota, but have roots deep in her soil.
I am happy to answer questions and I may be able to help you locate that 'missing piece of your Ancestral Pie'

I can be contacted via Email using this link.

Table of Contents
History ~ Biographies ~ Search ~ Maps ~ Queries ~ Lookups ~ What's New
Vital Records ~ Obituaries ~ Family Search: Historical Images
Cemeteries ~ Military ~ Native American Resources ~ Odds & Ends

Search Watonwan County Watonwan County Neighbors:
Blue Earth ~ Brown ~ Cottonwood ~ Martin
And Shares a Corner with Jackson
Interested in another Minnesota County?
Here is the List of Counties.

History ~ Biographies ~ Maps ~ Queries ~ Lookups ~ What's New

The Historical Wiki for Watonwan County can be found here.

Cities ~ Unincorporated Communities ~ Townships
Chapter VI - Township Histories
From the "History OF Cottonwood And Watonwan Counties, Minnesota"

|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||

Biographies ~ Books

"Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography "
by Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914; Fiske, John, 1842-1901
Publication date 1900
Appleton Review ~ Archive.org [All Vol's]

"The Centennial History
of Adrian Township - Darfur Village
Watonwan County, Minnesota"
In Observance Of Our Country's Bicentennial Year 1976
This History Was Published Under The Supervision
Of Adrian Township - Darfur Village
Spirit OF '73 Committee
There Is No Index, The Book Is A Fully Searchable Pdf File.
Download Here [Family Search Books]

"History OF Cottonwood And Watonwan Counties
Minnesota
Their People, industries and institutions"
John A. Brown: Editor-in-chief
With Biographical Sketches Of Representative Citizens And
Genealogical Records Of Many Of The Old Families
Volumes I & II: Illustrated: 1916
B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
The Biographical Index Is Here
Chapter VI - Township Histories ~ Chapter XVIII 'Murder And Outrages' Is Here
Read Online Or Download

"Memorial Record
Of The
Counties Of Faribault, Martin, Watonwan And Jackson, Minnesota."
Illustrated: Chicago.
The Lewis Publishing Company. 1895.
The Biographical Index Is Here
Read Online Or Download

"History of the Minnesota Valley"
By Rev. Edward D Neill
Minneapolis:
North Star Publishing Company: 1882
Index for the whole book There is no specific Chapter for Watonwan,
but there are references to folks who lived there.
The book can be downloaded here, it is full of great information.

"Who's Who in Minnesota"
1958: Centennial Edition
Lithographed in USA
Brown Printing Co., Waseca, Minn.
The Index is Here
The book can be downloaded here.

Watonwan folk are listed below and can be found here.
Bartsch, Walter E ~ Dolliver, Gladys M ~ Gaalswyk, Marion ~ Manahan, Cecil J
Mc Carthy, Charles E ~ Moen, Thorvald E~ Seibert, Charles W

"History of the Great Northwest and it's Men of Progress"
CGW Hyde, 1901
Pub: The Minneapolis Journal - The Index is here.
Read Online or Download

Both Blue Earth County and Brown Counties are Neighbors, be sure to check there for Biographies
The FS Wiki has a long list of Biographical Information for Minnesota / Use this link
|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||

More Historical Resources
There are a lot of books that have been written about Minnesota,
many of them have information
about Individuals who either were born or who lived there for a time.
Using " Minnesota History" on the Archive.org Site gives these results.

I found two books written about Swedish Immigrants in Minnesota.
They are chock full of very interesting information: Biographies & Genealogies
|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||

Historical Maps
Plat Map - 1916: Watonwan County
Click on Township of Interest, a Plat with Land / Property Owners names pops up.

Perry - Castaneda Collection ~ David Rumsey Collection
MN Department of Natural Resources ~ Railroad Maps
More...
From the Alabama Collection ~ Earthquake Fault Maps
UWM Libraries Digital Collections ~ Humboldt State University Map Collection ~ Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps ~ MapGoose
Surveyors Maps: 1850's [Base Maps] [Click on 'Download County' at left]
Maplandia for Minnesota
|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||

Queries, Mail Lists, Lookup Volunteers
Cyndi's List has a list of Sites that may be used for posting Queries

This is the Mail List for Minnesota: iogroups, Minnesota

Lookup Volunteers and "Help Wanted"
Types of Lookups: Obituaries ~ Books about Watonwan County
Military Records ~ City Directories
Please contact Martha if you have access to any of the above resources.

I have access to the following Subscription Databases and am happy to do limited lookups:

Heritage Hub
Heritage Hub is fairly new and it includes other Digital Newspaper Databases.
The Collection is extensive, so there are chances that an Obit or Article [Death, Accident, Suspicious Death] might be found.

My Heritage: Library Edition - Collections
Census & Voter Lists ~ Histories, Memories & Biographies ~ Birth, Marriage & Death
Public Records ~ Schools & Universities ~ Directories, Guides & References
Maps ~ Immigration & Travel ~ Books & Publications
Military ~ Newspapers ~ Family Trees ~ Photos ~ Government, Land, Court & Wills
I will do limited lookups on My Heritage: contact Martha

'History Hub' = New Lookup Service
Search for Living People: Zaba Search
And RAOGK
|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||☺|||/VVV\|||

"What's New"

The National Archives has a really nice set of digitized records that can be free accessed.
The Chart below is linked to each resource: Entitled: "Browse by Category"

Family Search "Collections"
There is a wealth of Family and Historical information contained on the FamilySearch WebSite.
It can be overwhelming to figure out where to start.

All of the pdf files for the information listed below can be found using this link.

Cemeteries, Etc [Burial, Cemeteries, Coroner, Funeral Homes, Graves]
Church Records[ Baptism's, Catholic Church, Christenings, Church [General]]
Legal Documents and Resources [Court, Estate, Probate Records]
Migration - Naturalization - Travel [ Border Crossings, Migration, Naturalization, Passenger Lists, Passports]
Military [Bounty [Land], Military [Misc], Pensions, Soldiers, Veteran's, War[s]]
Odds and Ends [Applications, Homestead, Membership, Native Americans, Parish [Location & Church], Pioneers, Prison, Voting, Obituaries, Veteran & Soldier's Homes, Children's Home]
Vital Records [Birth, Marriage, Divorce, Death, Mortality Records]

"Minnesota, Church Records, 1798-1991"
Family Search Database: Please use this Link

"The Fine Print"
Watonwan County Coordinator: Martha A Crosley Graham
State Coordinator: Tim Stowell
Assistant State Coordinator: Karen De Groote

For information about adopting a Minnesota County, Please Contact Tim

If you have an idea or comment please let us know.
Information contained on all of the pages within the Watonwan County portion of the MNGenWeb Project
may be used for personal genealogical and historical purposes.
Please be considerate of copyright information and give credit where credit is due.
Donated data will remain with the County in the event of the resignation of the County Coordinator.
Any person donating information in the future retains the right to have it returned to them upon request

Site Updated: 29 March 2024
Online Continuously since 1997
All Rights Reserved
Contact the webmaster
Watonwan County, MN ~ MNGenWeb ~ USGenWeb® Project~ USGenWeb ® Archives
Back to Top