Records that survive
These are the record series from Chisago County held by the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, taken from its finding aids for the county's offices, with the office that kept each and the earliest and latest years. A span can include gaps.
Deeds and land
- Abstract of lands sold for taxes · County Auditor1857–1860
- Field notes of landmarks set at township comers · County Auditor1878
Wills and estates
- Registers of Probate Actions · Probate Court1857–1971
- Will Books · Probate Court1864–1962
- Insanity Records · Probate Court1896–1917
Naturalization
- Chisago County Citizen Review Panel meeting minutes · Health and Human Services Board1999–2006
Tax records
- Assessors bonds and oaths · County Auditor1860–1875
- Special sidewalk tax, Rush City · County Auditor1884
Schools
- Clerk's books · School District No. 401876–1952
- Petition to be set off from district · School District No. 401885
- Treasurer's books · School District No. 401897–1924
- Treasurer's book · School District No. 291920–1928
- School censuses · School District No. 401923–1934
- Library accession record books · School District No. 291928–1945
- Librarian's record · School District No. 291929–1939
- Attendance registers · School District No. 291930–1944
- Textbook and equipment record, 1931. 1 volume · School District No. 291931
- Daily schedule · School District No. 291932–1933
- Teacher's monthly reports · School District No. 291932–1933
- Teacher's report to county superintendent · School District No. 291933–1934
- Complete combination records · School District No. 291934–1943
- Meeting minute book · School District No. 401936–1948
- and 5 more series in the full listing
Elections and voters
- Election returns · County Auditor1875
Welfare and the poor
- Orders for poor relief · County Auditor1893–1921
- Minutes · Health and Human Services Board1918–2005
- Child Welfare Report for August 1918-June · Health and Human Services Board1921
- Welfare Department Manual · Health and Human Services Board1964
County government
- Bills and vouchers · County Auditor1853–1869
- Petitions received by county auditor · County Auditor1854–1879
- Board of County Commissioners · County Auditor1855–1880
- Miscellaneous records concerning unpaid bills · County Auditor1856–1858
- Miscellaneous records · County Auditor1857–1879
- Liquor bonds · County Auditor1870–1874
- Records relating to proposed change of county seat to North Branch · County Auditor1898–1899
- Road papers · County Auditor1902–1941
- Typescript report on road work done and funds expended for the six months ending · Highway Department1925
- Semi-annual and annual reports · Highway Department1937–1967
- Orders and resolutions regarding district consolidations and boundary changes · County Auditor1947–1953
- Annual reports · Highway Department1953–2008
- East Central Regional Library task force1995–1999
- Chisago County Library task force1999
- and 6 more series in the full listing
Search the Historical Society's catalog for this county
Source: Minnesota Historical Society, government records finding aids. The Society holds only part of each county's records; most deeds and many court and vital records are still at the county. Minnesota began statewide registration of births in 1900 and of deaths in 1908.
Where to find the records
- Chisago County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county recorder, the district court and the Minnesota Historical Society, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county recorder
Deeds, mortgages and other land records from the county's beginning (the recorder was called the register of deeds until 1976). County birth and death records from 1870 on were first kept by the clerk of district court; in many counties they are now with the recorder, in others with the court administrator, and some recorders also have the marriage records.
- The district court
Civil and criminal cases, divorces and, in many counties, marriage licenses. Since Minnesota's courts were unified in the 1980s, probate (wills and estates) has been part of the district court as well.
- The Minnesota Historical Society
In St. Paul: many counties' older probate, tax, school and other records, the state censuses of 1865 to 1905, and statewide indexes to births (1900 to 1934) and deaths (1904 to 2001).
- Minnesota Historical Society catalog: Chisago Countyfree
Everything the Society's library and archives hold for Chisago County: county records, histories, directories, maps and more.
- Minnesota People Records Searchfree
The Historical Society's indexes to Minnesota birth records (1900–1934), death records (1904–2001) and the state censuses, with copies to order.
- Minnesota Official Marriage System (MOMS)free
A search of marriage records kept by the counties. Choose CHISAGO under County; the years covered differ by county, and Scott and Washington counties don't take part.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Minnesota, Chisago" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Ramsey County, Washington County
Check the parent counties for earlier records: Ramsey County, Washington County
Later formed partly from Chisago County: Pine County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1851, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Minnesota took its own census in 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895 and 1905. They are indexed in the Historical Society's People Records Search (not every county appears in every year), and the 1905 census, like the 1895 census for men over 21, says how long each person had lived in the state and in the district, a clue to when a family arrived.