Le Sueur County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Le Sueur County

Guide to Le Sueur 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: Le Center Organized: March 5, 1853 Parent County(s): Dakota Neighboring Counties Blue Earth  • Nicollet  • Rice  • Scott  • Sibley  • Waseca See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for the French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur who visited the area in 1700. The County is located in the south-central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Le Sueur County Courthouse
88 S Park Ave
Le Center, MN 56057
Phone: 507-357-2251
Le Sueur County Website

Clerk District Court has birth and death records from 1870, marriage records from 1854, divorce and court records from 1880, and some school records 1920-1945.
Probate Judge has probate records from 1855.
Register of Deeds has land records from 1850.

Le Sueur 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
1870	1854	1870	1880	1850	1855	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 Dakota County March 5, 1853. County seat: Le Center 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
Cleveland Elysian Heidelberg Kasota	Le Center Le Sueur Kilkenny Mankato	Montgomery New Prague Waterville
Unincorporated communities
Cordova Greenland Henderson Station	Lexington Marysburg Ottawa	St. Henry St. Thomas Union Hill
Townships
Cleveland Cordova Derrynane Elysian Kasota	Kilkenny Lanesburgh Lexington Montgomery Ottawa	Sharon Tyrone Washington Waterville
Ghost towns
Okaman

Resources

Biographies

• Gresham, William G.; History of Nicollet and LeSueur counties, Minnesota (Indianapolis; B.F. Bowen, 1916) Volume 2 (biographies) online at FamilySearch Digital Library, HathiTrust.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Le Sueur County, Minnesota online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	BillionGraves Find A Grave Interment.net MN Tombstone Transcription Project USGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	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	5,318	—
1870	11,607	118.3%
1880	16,303	40.5%
1890	19,057	16.9%
1900	20,234	6.2%
1910	18,609	−8.0%
1920	17,870	−4.0%
1930	17,990	0.7%
1940	19,227	6.9%
1950	19,088	−0.7%
1960	19,906	4.3%
1970	21,331	7.2%
1980	23,434	9.9%
1990	23,929	2.1%
2000	25,426	6.3%
2010	27,703	9.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1835-1890 Minnesota, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1835-1890 at Ancestry ($)
• 1849-1905 Minnesota, U.S., Territorial and State Censuses, 1849-1905 at Ancestry ($)
• 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.

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

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Le Sueur 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.

• Gresham, William G.; History of Nicollet and LeSueur counties, Minnesota (Indianapolis; B.F. Bowen, 1916) Volume 1 (history and industries) online at FamilySearch Digital Library, Google Books, HathiTrust
• Minnesota County History Name Index at Ancestry ($)

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places
• Minnesota Department of Transportation, Le Sueur County municipality and township maps

Military Records

Multiple Wars

• 1861-1917 United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
• 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 index
• 1861-1865 Minnesota, U.S., Civil War Records, 1861-1865 at Ancestry; 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

Civil War service men from Le Sueur 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 Le Sueur County.

- 1st Regiment, Minnesota Cavalry (Mounted Rangers), Company E.

- 2nd Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company E

- 3rd Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company I.

- 4th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Companies E and I.

- 10th Regiment, Minnesota Infantry, Company G.

Spanish-American War

• 1898 U.S., Spanish American War Volunteers Index to Compiled Military Service Records, 1898  at Ancestry; Free index

• 1898-1899 Minnesota, 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; Free index
• 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; 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 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 Minnesota, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1880-1920 at Ancestry ($)
• 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.

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 collection)

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 Minnesota, 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 Le Sueur County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• 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.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Mankato Minnesota Family History Center
• Faribault Minnesota Family History Center
• Lakeville Minnesota Family History Center

Libraries

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

Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System
Le Center Library
10 W Tyrone St
Le Center, MN 56057
507-357-6792
Email: libtlr@tds.lib.mn.us
Website

Museums

Minnesota Valley History Learning Center
709 N Second St
Le Sueur, MN 56058
507-665-2050
E-mail: mvhlc.exploreprogram@gmail.com
Website

W. W. Mayo House
118 N Main St
Le Sueur, MN 56058
507-665-3250
E-mail: mayohouse@mnhs.org
Website

Societies

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

LeSueur County Historical Society
PO Box 123
Le Center, MN 56057
507-267-4091
E-Mail: info@lesueurcountyhistory.org
Webesite

Websites

• Research at Minnesota Historical Society — links to Records and Indexes; See also MHS Wiki Page
• Le Sueur County at USGenWeb Archives
• Le Sueur County MNGenWeb, a member of The MNGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• Iron Range Research Center
• Minnesota Genealogy Trails
• 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.