Redwood County, Minnesota Genealogy Records

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

Formed
1862
County seat
Redwood Falls
Big Stone CountyBlue Earth CountyCarver CountyChippewa CountyCottonwood CountyFaribault CountyHennepin CountyJackson CountyKandiyohi CountyLac qui Parle CountyLe Sueur CountyLincoln CountyLyon CountyMartin CountyMcLeod CountyMeeker CountyMurray CountyNicollet CountyNobles CountyPipestone CountyRenville CountyRock CountyScott CountySibley CountySwift CountyWaseca CountyWatonwan CountyWright CountyYellow Medicine CountyBrown CountyRedwood CountyBlue EarthChippewaCottonwoodFaribaultJacksonKandiyohiLac qui ParleLe SueurLincolnLyonMartinMeekerMurrayNicolletNoblesRockScottSibleyWasecaWatonwanYellow MedicineBrownRedwood
Redwood CountyParent county (search here for earlier records)Today's boundaries · U.S. Census Bureau

Records that survive

These are the record series from Redwood 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

  • Indexes to probate registers of action · Probate Court1877–1982
  • Probate registers of action · Probate Court1877–1982
  • Register of actions and minutes · Probate Court1877–1906
  • Miscellaneous Order Books · Probate Court1879–1959
  • Will Books · Probate Court1898–1981
  • Final Decrees of Distribution · Probate Court1918–1982

Military and pensions

  • Fox and wolf bounty papers · Auditor1950–1965

Tax records

  • Tax Lists · Auditor1868–2001
  • Power and Light Company tax list · Auditor1945–1996

Court records

  • Record Books · Juvenile Court1942–1987

Schools

  • School district boundary record · Auditor1870–1892
  • School district organization papers · Auditor1896–1957
  • School consolidation and organization files · Auditor1952–1971

Welfare and the poor

  • Minutes · Health and Human Services Board1920–1997

County government

  • Minutes · Board of County Commissioners1865–1975
  • Road Calendar A · Auditor1866–1906
  • Road papers · Auditor1866–1970
  • Annual Financial Statements · Auditor1894–2020
  • Records · Board of Audit1913–1967
  • Annexations · Auditor1934–1977
  • University of Minnesota Redwood Extension Committee · Auditor1961–2015
  • County audits · Auditor1994–2003
  • Special meeting · Auditor2010
  • Professional goals · Auditor2011

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

  • Redwood 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: Redwood Countyfree

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

  • FamilySearch Catalogfree

    Search by place for "Minnesota, Redwood" 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: Brown County

Check the parent county for earlier records: Brown County

Later formed partly from Redwood County: Lac qui Parle County, Lyon County, Yellow Medicine County

ScottBlue EarthFreebornNicolletLE SueurCarverMcLEODSibleyHennepinMorrisonFaribaultJacksonMartinMurrayNoblesWatonwanCottonwoodWasecaKandiyohiRenvilleStearnsWrightToddDouglasBentonMille LacsSherburneMeekerRamseyNon-County Area 5Monongalia (extinct)PipestonePopeRockChippewaStevensTraverseLac Qui Parle (original)Big StoneBrownRedwoodRedwoodBrownScottFreebornCarverMcLEODSibleyHennepinJacksonMartinMurrayNoblesStearnsWrightBentonMeekerPopeRockTraverseBig Stone
Redwood as created in 1862Where 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 1862, 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.