History ~ Biographies ~ Maps ~ 'What's New' ~ Lookups ~ Old Cottonwood Queries ~ Odds and Ends

Brief History of Cottonwood County [Wiki]

Cottonwood: Cities,Towns and Townships
Cities and Towns
Bingham Lake, Comfrey (part), Jeffers, Mountain Lake, Storden, Westbrook, Windom

Townships
Amboy, Amo, Ann, Carson, Dale, Delton, Germantown, Great Bend, Highwater, Lakeside, Midway, Mountain Lake, Rose Hill, Selma, Southbrook, Springfield, Storden, Westbrook

Cottonwood County Neighbors:
Brown ~ Jackson ~ Martin ~ Murray ~ Nobles ~ Redwood ~ Watonwan
"Hometown Locator"
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Maps
Getty Geographical Thesaurus ~ Perry Castaneda ~ Quadrangles Surveyor's Base Maps
Historic Map Works ~ Genealogical University of Minnesota ~ Maps ~ Bureau of Land Management
Minnesota Mining Maps ~ USGS Maps ~ 1869 Railroad Map Sanborn Maps: Library of Congress
Michael Fox Map Collection ~ Digitized Plat Maps / Atlases ~ Map Goose
Township Plat Map & Interactive Map of Minnesota
MN Land Plats-Maps
https://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/glo/index.html
Plat Books for Cottonwood County
Borchert Map Library
1926 Atlas: Cottonwood County
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Biographies
"Personal Recollections
Of
Minnesota and Its People"
Early History of Minneapolis
John H Stevens, Minneapolis, Minn, 1890
The Index is Here ~ Read Online or Download

History of Cottonwood and Watonwan Counties, Minnesota
John A Brown, Editor-in-Chief: 1916, B F Bowen & Co., Inc, Indianopolis, Indiana
Vols I, II
Read Online or Download
Chapters:
III: Pioneer Settlement ~ VI: Townships ~ XVI: Military Matters
Vol II: Biographies, The Biographical Index is Here

Centenniel History of Cottonwood County, Minnesota
1849-1949, Windom, Minnesota
Cottonwood Historical Society

"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

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

Biography: William Seeger, Sr
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"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"

Genealogy/ Personal History	Private Sector	Wars/ International Relations	Time Spans
	Businesses	Civil War	1800 –1900
	Foundations	World War II	1900 –1940
Casualties	Labor Unions	Korean War	1940 –1955
Civilians	Securities	Vietnam War	1955 –1965
Military Personnel	Places	Cold War	1965 –1975
Immigrants	Countries	Diplomatic Records	1975 –1985
Prisoners of War	States	Government Spending	1985 –1995
Indexes to	Counties	Contracts	1995 – present
Photographs	Cities/Towns
Textual Records	Zip Codes	Grants and Assistance	Browse by Subject

Obituaries: Heritage Hub
March: 1897 ~ "Mr" Christianson
5 April 1988 - 11 June 2023 - Please Use This Link
Articles from the following:
Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (MN)
Free Press, The (Mankato, MN)
St. Paul Pioneer Press: Web Edition Articles (MN)
Lookups Available: Contact Martha

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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.
So, here are concentrated categories of databases accessible Here

Cemeteries, Etc [Burial, Cemeteries, Coroner, Funeral Homes, Graves]ves]
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]

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There is a great site that has all sorts of links to free Historical and Genealogical Data
"The Ancestor Hunt"
Scroll down, left side has the menu
Digital Newspapers ~ Year Books & Alumni Books School Records ~ Obituaries ~ Coroner, Mortuary & Cemetery Records
BMD's ~ Birth & Marriage Records ~ Divorce & Death Records ~ Probate & Tax Records ~ Institutional & Military Records‚ Naturalizations & Immigration ~ Criminal & Digital Archives ~ Directories ~ Photos & Voter Records

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USGenWeb® Archives Access: Tables of Contents
This Link is a searchable pdf file which contains all the links to the Archives.
Each link is fully functional and will access the section for your use.
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Queries and Lookup Volunteers
I could find no volunteers for Cottonwood County on the old pages.
If you have local resources and wish to volunteer, Please contact Tim Stowell [State Coordinator]
Linkpendium ~ Minnesota Mail List & Queries

Lookups & Free Digital Archival Newspapers
I have access to the following Subscription Databases and am happy to do limited lookups:
Heritage Hub [Includes NewBank] ~ Access World News ~ LA Times ~ NY Times

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 [Volunteer]

and... 'History Hub' = New Lookup Service
Search for Living People: Zaba Search
And RAOGK

Free Digital Historical Newspapers
Minnesota Historical Society - General Resources
Minnesota Historical Society: Digital Newspapers

Other Sources for Free Archival Digital Newspapers
Chronicling America ~ Google News Archives
Century Past ~ Illinois Digital Collection
Historical Newspapers: Indexed by State [Some Free]

California Digital Newspapers
This Site has a great collection of CA Newspapers,
but many of them have articles from other States including Minnesota - Use this Link
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'Old Cottonwood Queries'
There were a lot of old Queries and in the interest of providing them for clues,
they have been reformatted. They were contributed between 1999 and 2006.
There is no way to contact anyone who sent them in, so take them 'as is' and go from there.
Please Use This Link
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FamilySearch: Film: Family Histories
Family histories: A - Dickinson, Wesley Film #398148
Family histories: Dickinson, Wesley (cont.) - Johnson, Mikal Film # 398149
Family histories: Johnson, Mikal (cont.) - Nelson, Adolf, Film # 1183245
Family histories: Nelson, Adolk (cont.) - Rossow, Erwin Film # 1183246
Family histories: Rossow, Erwin (cont.) - Sykora, Charles, Film # 1183247
Family histories: Sykora, Charles (cont.) - Zunkel, Virgil, film # 183759
Please Login to your Account and then use this Link for the Films

Cottonwood Historical Society
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Odds and Ends

<<<New>>>
Funeral cards, 1987-1989
Authors:
Mankato Mortuary [Mankato, Minnesota]
Film # 1651939
Microfilm of original records.

The funeral cards are divided into three alphabets, one for each year 1987-1989. The information on the cards are not always complete but could give: the name and address of the deceased and the informant, birthdate and place of deceased, death date and place, where buried, length of residence in community and prior residence, parents' names and birthplace, spouse's name and marriage date, occupation, church membership, survivors' names, funeral costs, and other information.
Image Ranges:
1987: 4 - 141
1988: 142-410
1989: 411-644
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Land and Property
FS Catalog Resources:
Deed Records, 1871-1898 ; indexes, 1871-1884
Author: Cottonwood County (Minnesota). Register of Deeds
Homesteaders : Selma Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota
Homesteaders: Westbrook Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota]
Remember, Homestead Notices are in local Newspapers.
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Wills and Probate Records
Minnesota Will Records : Collection Record, 1849-1985
Author: Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minnesota)
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Minnesota, Cottonwood County, Will Records, 1883-1981
Author: Minnesota. Probate Court (Cottonwood County); Minnesota Historical Society (St. Paul, Minnesota)
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Probate Court Index, 1872-1985; Probate Files, ca. 1872-1900
Author: Minnesota. Probate Court (Cottonwood County)
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Native American Resources
Native Americans ~ Wiki +
Additional History which includes the Dakota Wars
There are 11 federally recognized Tribes in Minnesota
A search on the Archive.org Site shows these results.
News Article: Burial Mounds
U.S.,Records Related to Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee
by Guion Miller, 1908-1910
[How to search and use the above Records]

Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889
[Note: There are Bios for Native Americans]
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Crime and Punishment
FS: United States Prison Records

Family Search, Catalog, Film: Prison Records
1617966 ~ Mc Neil Island
956170 ~ Territorial Prison at Yuma, AZ
978902 ~ CA State Prison, San Quentin, 1851-1867 [Index]
978903 ~ CA State Prison, San Quentin, 1851-1867, Register
978904 ~ CA State Prison, San Quentin, 1876-1889, Register
978905 ~ CA State Prison, San Quentin, 1889-1897, Register
978906 Vol A ~ CA State Prison, San Quentin, List of Convicts, AC
978906 Vol B
978906 Vol C
978907 ~ CA State Prison, Folsom
978907 ~ Register, 1884-1886 [Prisoner #s 11092-12354]