Otter Tail County, Minnesota Genealogy Records

Which records survive from Otter Tail County, the years each set covers, and where to find them.

Formed
1858
County seat
Fergus Falls
Becker CountyBeltrami CountyBenton CountyBig Stone CountyClay CountyClearwater CountyCrow Wing CountyDouglas CountyGrant CountyHubbard CountyItasca CountyKandiyohi CountyMahnomen CountyMorrison CountyNorman CountyPope CountyStearns CountyStevens CountySwift CountyTodd CountyTraverse CountyWadena CountyWilkin CountyWright CountyCass CountyOtter Tail CountyBeckerBentonClayCrow WingDouglasGrantMahnomenMorrisonNormanPopeStearnsStevensToddTraverseWadenaWilkinCassOtter Tail
Otter Tail CountyParent counties (search here for earlier records)Today's boundaries · U.S. Census Bureau

Records that survive

These are the record series from Otter Tail 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.

Wills and estates

  • Case Files · Probate Court1868–1987
  • Final Decrees of Distribution · Probate Court1872–1983
  • Will Books · Probate Court1875–1983
  • Insanity Records · Probate Court1907–1917
  • Index (Unfilmed) · Probate Court1924–1999

Court records

  • Case Files · Juvenile Court1917–1936

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

  • Otter Tail 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: Otter Tail Countyfree

    Everything the Society's library and archives hold for Otter Tail 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 OTTER TAIL under County; the years covered differ by county, and Scott and Washington counties don't take part.

  • FamilySearch Catalogfree

    Search by place for "Minnesota, Otter Tail" 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: Cass County, Pembina County (now Kittson)

Check the parent counties for earlier records: Cass County, Kittson County

StearnsToddItascaDouglasCassPembinaOtter TailOtter TailCassPembinaToddDouglas
Otter Tail as created in 1858Where its land was the day beforeToday's boundaryBoundaries: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1858, 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.