See Toombs County below.
Toombs County was renamed Andy Johnson County after President Andrew Johnson and to disassociate with Mr. Toombs. The county again changed its name to Wilkin County in March 6, 1868.
Big Sioux:
Created in December, 1857 from Brown County. County was disbanded in 1859 and land became part of North Dakota
Breckenridge:
Created on March 18, 1858. Iit was named for John C. Breckenridge, Vice President of the United States from 1857-1861. After the Civil War started, Breckenridge joined the army of the south. Pressure by Minnesota residents resulted in the State Legislature of Minnesota passing a bill on March 6, 1862, rescinding the name of Breckenridge. The county was then renamed Clay County for Henry Clay (1777-1852). Clay was known as a statesman and orator, and called "The Great Pacificator".
Buchanan:
Created on May 23, 1857. It comprised the 24 northern townships, now forming the northern half of Pine County, Minnesota. The Buchanan County seat was Sandstone. The county disbanded and merged into Pine County in 1861. Brown County was attached to Chisago and St. Louis Counties for county and or judicial purposes. Some early records may be found there.
Davis:
Created in 1855 from Cass, Nicollet, Pierce and
Sibley Counties. In 1862 the county was disbanded and what was left was merged into Chippewa and Lac qui Parle Counties. Davis County was attached to Stearns and Lac qui Parle Counties for county and or judicial purposes. Some early records may be found there.
Doty:
Created on February 20, 1855 from Itasca County. The name changed to Newton County on March 3, 1855.
Lac Qui Parle: (old)
Created in 1862 from Davis and Pierce Counties. In 1868 the county was disbanded and merged into Stevens and Chippewa Counties. Lac Qui Parle County was attached to Renville County for county and or judicial purposes. Some early records may be found there.
Lincoln: (old)
Created in 1861 from Renville County. In 1868 the county was disbanded and merged back into Renville County. Lincoln County was attached to McLeod County for county and or judicial purposes. Some early records may be found there.
Mahkahto:
Created on October 27, 1849 from Unorganized Territory. The county was disbanded in 1851 and the land became part of Pembina and Cass Counties. Mahkahto County was attached to Ramsey County for county and or judicial purposes. Some early records may be found there.
Manomin:
Created on May 23, 1857 when it was split from Ramsey County. The name Manomin is a variant spelling of manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, a staple of their diet. The county seat was Manomin (present-day Fridley).
The land shifted hands among three other counties for the next decade. When it was formed, it was the smallest county in the United States at roughly 18 square miles. It was deorganized in 1858 and administratively attached to St. Louis, Minnesota. Two years later in 1860 it was attached to Anoka County. At the time, the area's population was 136. In 1863, it was attached to Hennepin County, but it was finally merged into Anoka County and eliminated in 1869.
Monongalia:
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Monongalia County is a former county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was identified in 1858, although the Dakota War of 1862 delayed its organization until 1861. The county seat was at New London.
In 1870 the state legislature ordered it merged with Kandiyohi County, its southern neighbor. Neither county had been able up till then to raise enough money to build a courthouse. In February of 1871, they finally agreed to make Willmar the new county seat.
Newton:
Doty County was renamed Newton County on March 3, 1855. On March 1, 1856, St. Louis County to the east became Lake County while Newton County was renamed St. Louis County.
Pembina:
Created on October 27, 1849 from Unorganized Territory. County was organized in 1852 then deorganized in 1853. Name was changed to Kittson County in 1878. At some point Pembina County was attached to Morrison, Crow Wing, Douglas, Becker and Clay Counties for county and or judicial purposes. Some early records may be found there.
Pierce:
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St. Croix:
St. Louis (old):
Superior:
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Toombs:
Created on March 8, 1858, named after Robert Toombs (1810-85) of Georgia, who had been a member of Congress, 1845-53, and was U.S. senator, 1853-61. Mr. Toombs became a leading disunionist, then a Confederate secretary of state in 1861, and later was a Confederate general. In 1863, the county was renamed Andy Johnson County (see above). Toombs County was formed from Pembina County. It is the parental county for Traverse County, and now are parts of Clay, Otter Tail, Grant, Stevens, Douglas and Pope Counties.
Minnesota, state in the north central United States. Near the geographic center of North America, it is bordered on the north by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, on the west by North Dakota and South Dakota, on the south by Iowa, and on the east by Wisconsin and Lake Superior. Minnesota entered the Union on May 11, 1858, as the 32nd state.
The state’s name comes from a Sioux word meaning “cloudy water” that was applied to the Minnesota River. The state’s most famous nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes, is an understatement, for Minnesota has more than 15,000 lakes, three-fourths of which are 4 hectares (10 acres) or more in size year round. Minnesota is also known as the Gopher State. There are varying interpretations about the source of the nickname. Some say it comes from the gophers commonly found in the southern part of the state; others say it is from a political cartoon in the 19th century that depicted dishonest railroad union organizers as gophers. Minnesota is also known as the North Star State, a translation of the French inscription on the state seal, L’Etoile du Nord.
Rich in minerals, farmland, and waterways, Minnesota has also become an important industrial state, specializing in food products, machinery and electrical goods, printed materials, medical products, and fabricated metals. Its principal cities are the famous Twin Cities, Saint Paul (the state capital) and Minneapolis (the state’s largest city). The Official State Website is http://www.state.mn.us/
The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in every way. No only are these historic structures torn from our lives, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too. The most heartbreaking side of this is the fact that many of our courthouses are destroyed at the hands of arsonist. However, not all records were lost.
Below is a list of Minnesota Counties and the years the Courthouses were subjected to a disaster. This does NOT mean that ALL RECORDS were lost. Often, folks took their documents again in for recording after a disaster and later deeds will contain long chains of title, etc.
Big Stone County - The building that served as courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1885.. No records were destroyed
Hubbard County - Partially destroyed by fire a few years after 1889. No records were destroyed
Kanabec County - In March 1894 the courthouse was destroyed by fire. Some records were destroyed.
Lake County - In 1904 the Courthouse burned to the ground. most county records were rescued.
Lake of the Woods County - The courthouse was destroyed by a 1910 forest fire.. No records were destroyed
Pine County - Courthouse burned in 1870. most all records were destroyed. The 1886 frame courthouse was struck by lightning and burned in 1952. Records were saved.
Red Lake County - In April 1909, the original wooden courthouse burned to the ground. No records were destroyed
Rice County - The Courthouse was lighted with gas, which may have caused it to burn to the ground in 1931, though the new wings saved the court records.
Sibley County - First courthouse, built in the then county seat of Henderson, burned in 1863 along with all of the early county records.
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