Cottonwood County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Cottonwood County

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Windom Organized: March 3, 1870 Parent County(s): Brown Neighboring Counties Brown  • Jackson  • Martin  • Murray  • Nobles  • Redwood  • Watonwan See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for the Cottonwood River. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse

Cottonwood County Courthouse
900 3rd Avenue
Windom, MN 56101
Phone: 507-831-4551
Cottonwood County Website

Clerk District Court has birth, marriage, death, divorce and court records from 1871.

Cottonwood County, Minnesota Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1871	1871	1871	1871	1871	1871	1836
*Statewide registration started for births in 1900 and deaths in 1908. General compliance by 1915.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

Parent Counties: Created from Brown County May 23, 1857 County seat: Windom Organized Date: March 3, 1870 Interactive Map of Minnesota County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Minnesota county boundary changes Minnesota Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library

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:

Cities
Bingham Lake Comfrey Jeffers	Mountain Lake Storden Westbrook	Windom
Unincorporated communities
Delft
Townships
Amboy Amo Ann Carson Dale Delton	Germantown Great Bend Highwater Lakeside Midway Mountain Lake	Rose Hill Selma Southbrook Springfield Storden Westbrook

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Cottonwood County, Minnesota online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Billion Graves Find A Grave Interment.net MN Tombstone Transcription Project MNGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	FamilySearch Places Find A Grave
See Minnesota Cemeteries for more information.

 

Census Records

For links to Federal, State, and Territorial censuses, see Minnesota Census.

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	12	—
1870	534	4350.0%
1880	5,533	936.1%
1890	7,412	34.0%
1900	12,069	62.8%
1910	12,651	4.8%
1920	14,570	15.2%
1930	14,782	1.5%
1940	16,143	9.2%
1950	15,763	−2.4%
1960	16,166	2.6%
1970	14,887	−7.9%
1980	14,854	−0.2%
1990	12,694	−14.5%
2000	12,167	−4.2%
2010	11,687	−3.9%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

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

Church Records

Most church records are held by individual churches. Some denominations are gathering their records into a central repository. For more information, see Minnesota Church Records.

• FamilySearch Places
  

Emigration and Immigration

• 1912-1956 Minnesota Passenger and Crew Lists, 1912-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.

Genealogies

• 1850s-1990s Cottonwood County, Minnesota, family histories ca. 1850s-1990s at FamilySearch Catalog Scroll down to Film/Digital Notes and select the camera icon to view images.

Land and Property Records

The county register of deeds keeps land records once the land was transferred to private ownership. Abstracts and indexes for these records are generally available at the county courthouse.

Online Land Indexes and Records

• Pre-1908 , U.S., Homestead and Cash Entry Patents, Pre-1908 at Ancestry ($)

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Cottonwood County. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Minnesota Local Histories.

• Brown, John A.; History of Cottonwood and Watonwan Counties, Minnesota; (Indianapolis, Indiana: B.F. Bowen & Company, Inc., 1916); Volume 1 online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Google Books, Internet Archive; Volume 2 online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive; Volume 1 and 2 at Ancestry ($).

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Cottonwood County, Minnesota Map at David Rumsey Map Collections
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Multiple Wars

• 1898-1899 Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection at Ancestry ($)

Civil War

• 1861-1865 U.S., Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 at Ancestry (free collection)
• 1861-1865 , U.S., Civil War Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry (free collection)
• 1861-1865 Minnesota Civil War Soldiers at Ancestry (free collection)
• 1861-1917 United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917 at FamilySearch - How to use this collection
• 1861-1934 U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 at Ancestry (free collection)

Spanish-American War

• 1898 U.S., Spanish American War Volunteers Index to Compiled Military Service Records, 1898 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1898-1899 , U.S., Spanish American War Muster Rolls and Casualty Lists, 1898-1899 at Ancestry (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 ($)
• 1918-1941 Minnesota, World War I Records, 1918-1941 at FamilySearch — How to use this collection.

World War II

• 1940-1947 Minnesota, World War II Draft Registration Cards,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 ($)
• 1942 U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 at Ancestry ($)

Naturalization and Citizenship

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

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

Newspapers

• Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub at Minnesota Historical Society — narrow to county (55 listed) or city (106 listed), search for surname, limit by date.

Obituaries

• 1865-2006 Minnesota Obituaries 1865-2006 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images.
• 1891-2003 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Obituary Index, 1891-2003 at Ancestry (Free Index)

Probate Records

Probate records may include wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. They may include the decedent’s date of death, names of his or her spouse, children, parents, siblings, in-laws, etc. See Minnesota Probate Records for additional information.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

• 1801-1925 , U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1801-1925 at Ancestry — index and images ($)
• 1849-1985 Minnesota Will Records, 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 United States Social Security Death Index 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.

Tax Records

Since Minnesota tax records include only persons who owned taxable property, many residents were not included. Still they complement land records and can be used in place of missing censuses or the years between censuses. There may also be gaps. For more information, see the wiki page Minnesota Taxation.

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents.

A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased from the Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred. See also Minnesota Vital Records.

Birth

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

Marriage

• 1850-2019 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1860-1949 Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 at FamilySearch — 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 Minnesota, County Deaths, 1850-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index and images
• 1887-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 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 Minnesota, U.S., Death Index, 1908-2017 at Ancestry ($)

Divorce

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

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Cottonwood County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Mankato Minnesota Family History Center

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Cottonwood County. For state-wide library facilities, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

McFarland Library
Southwest Minnesota State University
1501 State St
Marshall, MN 56258
507-537-7373
800-642-0684
Website

Windom Public Library
904 4th Avenue
Windom, MN 56101
507-831-6131
Website

Marshall-Lyon County Library
Cottonwood Branch
86 West Main St
Cottonwood, MN 56229
507-423-6488
Email: library@marshalllyonlibrary.org
Website

Societies

Listed below are societies in Cottonwood County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Minnesota Societies.

Cottonwood County Historical Society
812 4th Avenue
Windom, MN 56101
507-831-1134
E-mail:cchs@windomnet.com
Website

Websites

• PeopleFINDER (Family History) at Minnesota Historical Society
• Cottonwood County GenWeb, a member of The MNGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project
• Cottonwood County USGenWeb Archives
• Cottonwood County at Cyndi's List
• Minnesota Genealogy Trails
• Iron Range Research Center The Iron Range Research Center contains one of the largest collections of genealogical and local history research materials in the Upper Midwest and includes census, naturalization records, passenger arrival records, mining company newsletters, and a survey of Women in Industry taken in 1919, among many others.
• FamilySearch Catalog – 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.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.

The collection is free on this subscription website.

The index is free on this subscription website.