Kandiyohi County Minnesota township records

The October 22 edition of the Minnesota Historical Society's Local History News carried a story about another important use of the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grants. The Kandiyohi County Historical Society recently microfilmed township records for six of the county's townships and the films are available the county historical society in Willmar.

For more on this project: http://legacy.mnhs.org/projects/2834

In Minnesota we are fortunate to have these records which include birth and death information. Usually this is in the format of a register book rather than separate certificates. These exist from roughly 1870-1953.

Records for some townships around the state are in the state archives collection at MHS. www.mhs.org Others are in historical societies, town halls, and county courthouses. I don't know of any comprehensive list of these. Some of the records no longer exist due to a variety of reasons. My hope is that each is soon stored in a place with the proper conditions to preserve them.

Hula hoops, Barbie dolls, books, and my childhood at MHS

A current and popular exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society is Toys of the '50s, '60s and '70s. This brought back memories of my own childhood. Tents made out of blankets hung from the clotheslines, blow-up swimming pools, trikes, roller skates, books, Colorforms, and more.

I was lucky to have my paternal grandmother, Olga Theodora (Carlsen) Stuart, aka Grandma Toots, who introduced me to the world of Nancy Drew and I eagerly looked forward to the next book she would bring me. I thought about Grandma Toots a couple times this past summer when I stopped at a lake to read. She used to read in scenic spots, too. My other favorite place to read as a child was at night in bed under the blanket using a flashlight.

I had an early hula hoop, Barbie doll, slinky, and other neat 1950s toys because a neighbor worked for a toy distributor. They always had neat toys at their house, too. I wonder what those toys would be worth today?

 The toys exhibit is open at MHS through January 5, 2015. More details are at www.mnhs.org

Minnsota Historical Society adds Tuesday morning research hours

It's official. The research hours at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul are being expanded to include Tuesday morning. Now the Tuesday hours will be 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. beginning this fall. Wednesday - Saturday hours remain 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Hours are also being expanded at several historic sites.

Other research changes are afoot at MHS, too. Reader and printer repair and cleaning, perhaps? More accessible outlets for plugging in computers in both rooms? Fingers crossed! I hate crawling around on the floor to plug in my computer when the row of accessible plugs is filled in the Hubbs Room.

Thank you, Minnesota Legislature and all who championed this change.

Read the full press release here.

Great Northern and Northern Pacific railway record inventories now online

The Minnesota Historical Society just announced:

"Online finding aids just launched 
For the first time ever, inventories of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railway companies are available online. With more than 16,000 boxes of archival records, these two collections fill more than 15% of the total space in the stacks and have been a draw for railroad buffs, historians and genealogists for decades.Online finding aids allow for more convenient browsing, faster searching and the discovery of related materials that may have been overlooked before."

These inventories are extensive and well worth reading. They cover so many more states than Minnesota. The personnel, accident, land, and other records are fabulous. For more info on this exciting news click here. 

Even the St. Paul police need genealogists

On Wednesday evening I saw an article at Twincities.com that told of a tombstone being found in St. Paul and that the police had been unable to determine where it belonged. It read "Marie Olsen 1879-1932." The article stated police had done a search of birth and death indexes but had not found her. I called the phone number that was in the article and left a comment that I had found at least two possibilities for this Marie doing some online searches.

Additionally, I wonder what birth index they checked? The statewide Minnesota birth indexes at Ancestry.com and the Minnesota Historical Society's website do not include 1879 era births. If she was born in Minnesota, there might be a city, township, or county level birth record. However, most births in that time period were not registered. Marie may not have been born in St. Paul or even in Minnesota and a death record might provide that clue as would censuses. 

I checked the Minnesota death indexes at Ancestry.com and on the Minnesota Historical Society's (MHS) website. One possibility at Ancestry.com was a woman listed "Marie Andrew Olsen" who died in Ramsey County on November 21, 1932. Then I found a "Mrs. Marie Andrew Olsen" on the MHS website with a death date of November 21, 1932 in Ramsey County.

My next check was the 1930 census at Ancestry.com using the name Marie Olsen, born 1879 and with a spouse Andrew and living in Minnesota. I didn't hit pay dirt this way so searched for a Mar* Olsen, born 1879, husband Andrew, living in Minnesota. I tried several different search strategies but didn't spend much time on it as I have some work deadlines to tackle.

The online newspaper article was upated at 11:17 P.M on Wednesday and this was added: (yes, it really did say ancestory instead of ancestry). 

"A Pioneer Press search of ancestory.com Wednesday found a woman named Marie Andrew Olsen died in Ramsey County on Nov. 21, 1932. It could not be determined where she was buried. In addition, a city directory showed that in 1931, Andrew A. Olsen, a carpenter, lived with his wife on Bradley Street." 

Next steps? Just several ways to continue the search:

• Visit the Minnesota Historical Society and check city directories to see if a wife is listed in 1931 and what her name is.
• Then check the next few years of directories to see if this Andrew no longer has a wife if the wife had been listed as Marie or Mary.
• While at MHS obtain a copy of the death record for just 35 cents to see if the cemetery is listed.
• At MHS also check the St. Paul Pioneer Press and St. Paul Dispatch on microfilm for an obituary or death notice for Marie that will hopefully list survivors.
• Bring those survivors forward in the city directories and other records to maybe find living descendants.
• If that didn't yield some people to contact, I would also check at the Ramsey County Courthouse to see if a probate was filed for either Marie or Andrew.   

Historical projects in Minnesota

One way to find out about what historical projects are cropping up around Minnesota is by checking out the Minnesota Historical and Cultural Grants program that operates under the auspices of the Minnesota Historical Society. Grants are awarded for projects that will preserve and enhance Minnesota’s cultural and historical resources. Libraries, archives, churches, historical societies, ethnic organizations, universities, cities, and other groups have been the award recipients. Many of the projects have a direct impact on family history. Just a sampling of the grants in the last couple years:

• Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans (Saint Paul) - To record, preserve and make available oral/visual histories of deaf, deaf/blind and
  hard of hearing Minnesotans, $64,100. 
• Macalester College, DeWitt Wallace Library (Saint Paul) - To digitize and make accessible issues of the college's student and community newspapers and catalogs, $10,888. 
• Blue Earth County Historical Society (Mankato) - To add 140 rolls of microfilmed newspapers to broaden public accessibility to primary records, $3,837.
• Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County (Moorhead) - To add 126 rolls of microfilmed