Rice County, Minnesota Genealogy

Guide to Rice County, Minnesota ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The County was named for Henry Mower Rice (1816–1894), a fur trader and American politician prominent in the statehood of Minnesota. The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse
Rice County Courthouse 320 NW 3rd Street Faribault, MN 55021-5146 Phone: 507-332-6100 Rice County Website

Clerk District Court has birth, death, divorce, court records from 1870, marriage records from 1856 and burial Records. County Recorder has land records.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Biographies

 * Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn; History of Rice and Steele Counties, Minnesota (Chicago, Illinois : H. C. Cooper, 1910) Volume two (biographical) online at FamilySearch Digital Library, HathiTrust, Google Books

Census Records
State Census
 * 1835-1890 U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1835-1890 at ($)
 * 1849-1905 U.S., Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905 at ($)
 * 1865 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
 * 1875 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
 * 1885 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
 * 1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.

Church Records

 * Church Records at Dalby Database
 * FamilySearch Places

Lutheran
 * 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry ($)

Directories

 * 1906-1979 City Directories at Dalby Database

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1912-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records
 * Pre-1908 Minnesota, U.S., Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 at Ancestry ($)

Local Histories

 * Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn; History of Rice and Steele Counties, Minnesota Vol 1 & Vol 2 (Chicago, Illinois : H. C. Cooper, 1910) Volume one (historical and industrial) online at FamilySearch Digital Library Vol 1;FamilySearch Digital Library Vol 2; HathiTrust, Google Books, Internet Archive.
 * Neill, Edward D.; Bryant, Charles S.; History of Rice County: including Exploreres ad pioneers of Minnesota ... (Tucson, Arizona : W.C. Cox & Co., 1974) Online at FamilySearch Digital Library, HathiTrust, Internet Archive; Indexed at Ancestry ($).
 * Minnesota County History Name Index at Ancestry ($)

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Minnesota Maps at David Rumsey Map Collection
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
 * Minnesota Department of Transportation, Rice County municipality and township maps

Military Records
Multiple Wars
 * 1861-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Free index, images ($)
 * 1898-1899 Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection at Ancestry ($)

Civil War Civil War service men from Rice County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of Rice County.
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 at Ancestry; Free index
 * 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Records, 1861-1865 at ; Free index
 * 1861-1865 Minnesota Civil War Soldiers at Ancestry; Free index
 * 1861-1934 U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 at Ancestry; Free index
 * - 1st Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry (Mounted Rangers), Companies A and H.
 * - 1st Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company G.
 * - 2nd Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry, Company G.
 * - 3rd Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company H.
 * - 4th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company I.
 * - 6th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company C.
 * - 7th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company A.
 * - 8th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company B.
 * - 10th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company H.
 * - 2nd Minnesota Company Sharpshooters, Second Company only.

Spanish-American War
 * 1898 U.S., Spanish American War Volunteers Index to Compiled Military Service Records, 1898  at ; Free index
 * 1898-1899 U.S., Spanish American War Muster Rolls and Casualty Lists, 1898-1899 at ; Free index

World War I
 * 1917-1918 U.S., World War I Civilian Draft Registrations, 1917-1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)
 * 1917-1918 U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at Ancestry; Free index
 * 1918-1941 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection

World War II
 * 1940-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1940-1947 U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 at Ancestry; Free index
 * 1942 U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at Ancestry; Free index

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1849-1985 Minnesota, U.S., Naturalization Index, 1849-1985 at (Free collection)
 * 1872-1962 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1880-1920 U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1880-1920 at ($)
 * 1918 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Alien Registration Index, 1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)

Newspapers

 * Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub at Minnesota Historical Society; narrow to county or city, search for surname, limit by date.
 * Newspaper Articles at Dalby Database

Obituaries

 * 1863-present Obituaries at Dalby Database
 * 1865-2006 at  — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1891-2003 Minnesota, U.S., Obituary Index, 1891-2003 at (Free collection)

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1801-1925 U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1925 at ; index and images ($)
 * 1849-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Three Minnesota counties are not in this collection: Hennepin, Marshall, and St. Louis.

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($); index, click here for more information.

Birth

 * 1840-1980 U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1840-1980 at ($)
 * 1900-1934 Minnesota People Records Search - Births at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)
 * 1900-1934 Minnesota, Birth Index, 1900-1934 at MyHeritage; index ($)
 * 1935-2000 U.S., Birth Index, 1935-2000 at ($)

Marriage

 * 1850-2019 Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at (Free collection)
 * 1860-1949 at  — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1885-present Minnesota Official Marriage System at MOMS.mn.gov; search by county, name or date, and request copy.
 * 1970-2003 Minnesota Marriage Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)
 * 1976-2003 Minnesota, Marriages, 1976-2003 at MyHeritage; index ($)

Death

 * 1850-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1887-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
 * 1904-2001 Minnesota People Records Search - Deaths at Minnesota Historical Society - free index, images ($)
 * 1904-2001 Minnesota, Death Index, 1904-2001 at MyHeritage; index ($)
 * 1908-2017 U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 at ($)

Divorce

 * 1970-1995 U.S., Divorce Index, 1970-1995 at ($)
 * 1970-2003 Minnesota Divorce Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)

Family History Centers

 * Faribault Minnesota Family History Center
 * Lakeville Minnesota Family History Center
 * Mankato Minnesota Family History Center
 * Cannon Falls Library - an affiliate library
 * Goodhue County Historical Society Research Library - an affiliate library
 * Scott County Historical Society - an affiliate library.
 * Waseca County History Center - an affiliate library.

Libraries
Buckham Memorial Library 11 Division St E Faribault, MN 55021 Phone: 507-334-2089 Email: [mailto:djames@ci.faribault.mn.us djames@ci.faribault.mn.us] Website Northfield Public Library 210 Washington St Northfield, MN 55057 Phone: 507-645-6606 Website Lonsdale Public Library 1006 Birch St NE Lonsdale, MN 55046 Phone: 507-744-3977 Website Rice County Historical Society Research Library 1814 NW 2nd Avenue Faribault, MN 55021 Phone: 507-332-2121 Website

Museums
Rice County Museum of History 1814 2nd Avenue NW Faribault, MN 55021 Phone: 507-332-2121 Email: [mailto:rchs@rchistory.org rchs@rchistory.org] Website

Societies

 * Rice County Historical Society 1814 NW 2nd Avenue Faribault, MN 55021 Phone: 507-332-2121 Website
 * Christdala Church - Christdala Preservation & Cemetery Association 4695 Millersburg Blvd Forest Township, MN Phone: 218-839-4150 Website
 * Morristown Historical Society P.O. Box 113 205 Bloomer St E Morristown, MN 55052 Email: [mailto:lisa@karsten.net lisa@karsten.net] Blog Website
 * Northfield Historical Society 408 Division St Northfield, MN 55057 Phone: 507-645-9268 Email: [mailto:info@northfieldhistory.org info@northfieldhistory.org] Website
 * Trondhjem Community Preservation Society 8501 Garfield Av P.O. Box 259 Lonsdale, MN 55046 Phone: 952-894-3562 Email: [mailto:historictcps@gmail.com historictcps@gmail.com] Website

Websites

 * Research at Minnesota Historical Society — links to Records and Indexes; See also MHS Wiki Page
 * Rice County MNGenWeb, a member of The MNGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * Dalby Databases
 * Iron Range Research Center
 * Rice County at USGenWeb Archives
 * Cyndi's List: Rice County
 * Minnesota Genealogy Trails
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.