Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota Genealogical Records Information

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Lake of the Woods County History and Information

Lake of the Woods County Facts

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Lake of the Woods County was created on November 28, 1922 from Beltrami County. The County Seat is Baudette. The County was named for Lake of the Woods. Translation of the Cree name for the lake. The lake was first mapped and named Lac des Bois in 1737.

Counties adjacent to Lake of the Woods County are Ontario Province, Canada (northeast), Ontario Province, Canada (northeast), Koochiching County (southeast), Beltrami County (south), Roseau County (west), Manitoba Province, Canada (northwest). Cities and Towns Include Baudette, Roosevelt, Williams, Angle, Baudette, Beaver Dam, * Boone, Chilgren, Cloverdale, * Eugene, * Forest Area, Gudrid, Hiwood, * Kiel, Lakewood, McDougald, Meadowland, * Myhre, Norris, * Noyes, * Park, * Pioneer, * Potamo, Prosper, Rapid River, Rulien, Spooner, Swiftwater, Townships 157-30, Township 158-30, Victory, Wabanica, Walhalla, Wheeler, Zippel Townships. See also County History and County Courthouse for more details.

The Lake of the Woods County Official Government Website
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Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota History Books at Amazon.com
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.

There are free downloadable and printable forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms, U.K. Census Extraction Forms, Research Calendar, Ancestral Chart, Research Extract, Correspondence Record , Family Group Sheet , Source Summary Form.

Records at the Lake of the Woods County Courthouse

See Also Minnesota Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ FIRST!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

All Departments below can be contacted by clicking the link, by contacting the Phone number below for each department or contacting the County Courthouse at 206 SE 8th Avenue, Baudette, MN 56623; Phone: (218) 634-2836. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Lake of the Woods County Recorder's Office has Birth Records from 1922, Marriage Records from 1923, Death Records from 1923 and Land Records from 1886.
The Recorders Office is responsible for all the real estate records for properties located in the County. Permanent records of deeds, mortgages and other various real estate records are recorded/filed in this office. As Local Registrar, the office protects and issues certified copies of Birth and Death records, Marriage Certificates & Military Discharge Records.

Lake of the Woods County Court Administrator's Office has Probate Records from 1923 and has Court Records from 1922.
The Court Administrator's Office maintains court files for Civil, Criminal, Traffic, Probate, Conciliation, Juvenile, Tax and Family Court matters.

Click Here to Search Minnesota Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Lake of the Woods County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Lake of the Woods County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Minnesota Naturalization Records Index, 1854-1957: An index to the microfilmed Minnesota Naturalization Records
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Minnesota Land Records: This database contains information on Minnesota (U.S.A.) land records. The database comes from the Bureau of Land Management's Minnesota Pre-1908 Homestaed and Cash Entry Patent and Cadastral Survey Plat Index. Information recorded in the collection includes patentee name, land office, legal description, etc.
Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota Court Books at Amazon.com

Lake of the Woods County Tax Records

See Also Military Records in Minnesota

Click Here to Search Minnesota Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.

The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.

Below is a list of online resources for Lake of the Woods County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Lake of the Woods County Military Records by clicking the link below:

Minnesota Civil War Soldiers: List of over 26,000 soldiers mustered from Minnesota during the American Civil War
Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection: This database indexes names of persons from Minnesota who enlisted in the Spanish American War.
Minnesota Society of Daughters of the American Revolution
National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1776 D Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006; Phone: (202) 628-1776
Minnesota Society of Sons of the American Revolution
National Society of Sons of the American Revolution, 1000 South Fourth Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40203; (502) 589-1776
Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900 from the State of Minnesota (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Minnesota (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota Military Books at Amazon.com

Lake of the Woods County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Minnesota Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Lake of the Woods County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Lake of the Woods County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Lake Of The Woods County Historical Society, 206 8th Avenue SE, Suite 150, Baudette MN 56623; Museum: 119 8th Ave SE, Baudette MN, Phone: 218-634-1200
Local Minnesota Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
North Central Minnesota Historical Center, The A. C. Clark Library, Bemidji State University, Bemidji, MN 56601
Serves Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard, Itasca, Koochiching, and Lake of the Woods counties.
Minnesota State Archives, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102-1906 • 651-259-3260
Minnesota Historical Society, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102-1906 • 651-259-3000
Minnesota Genealogical Society, 1185 Concord St. N. Suite 218, South St. Paul, MN 55075-1187; (651) 455-9057
National Archives - Great Lakes Region (Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60629-5898; 773-948-9001; E-mail: chicago.archives@nara.gov (Maintains retired records from Federal agencies and courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Minnesota.)
Minnesota Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Minnesota Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Lake of the Woods County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Minnesota Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Lake of the Woods County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Lake of the Woods County Tombstone Transcription Project.

The Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project of Madison published the Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations in Minnesota in 1941 and Guide to Church Vital Statistics Records in Minnesota in 1942. There are also numerous publications by the project for specific denominations. Extensive microfilm collections of church records in Minnesota are available through the FHL. The State Historical Society of Minnesota and Area Research Centers have a variety of church records including microfilm and original records.

Numerous cemeteries have been read and transcribed by local genealogical societies in Minnesota. The transcriptions are frequently deposited with an Area Research Center, a local library, or the State Historical Society of Minnesota. A considerable number have been printed in the Minnesota State Genealogical Society Newsletter. Some have been privately published.

The Minnesota State Old Cemetery Society, 6100 West Mequon Road, Mequon, WI 53092, publishes a newsletter and maintains an archive of tombstone inscriptions from around the state. Contact the society for membership information

Below is a list of online resources for Lake of the Woods County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Lake of the Woods County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Minnesota Cemetery Inscription Index, Select Counties: This database is an index to cemetery inscriptions of cemeteries in several Minnesota (U.S.A.) counties and cities. It contains the names of nearly 600,000 persons. Researchers will find birth date, death date, name of cemetery and, in some cases, the closest living relative.
Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota Cemetery Books at Amazon.com
Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota Church Books at Amazon.com

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Minnesota Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Lake of the Woods County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Lake of the Woods County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ Lake of the Woods County ] [ Minnesota ] [ Main Page ]
Lake of the Woods County USGenweb Archives
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Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Minnesota County History Name Index: This database is a name index of eleven county histories and plat books for the area immediately south of the city of St. Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Researchers will find the name of the county resident, the book in which the person's name appears, and the page number. Where information is available, town of residence is also given.
Minnesota Crew Lists, 1929-1952: For several decades in the early half of the twentieth century, Two Harbors, Minnesota was one of the busiest iron ore loading ports in the world. This database is an index to the crew lists (NOT passenger lists) of vessels that arrived at Two Harbors,

Lake of the Woods County was organized on November 28, 1922 when a vote by area residents separated the northern townships from Beltrami County. On January 1, 1923, the county officially began operations at its county seat in Baudette.

The history of the Lake of the Woods region began in 1688 when Jacques De Noyon came from Three Rivers, Quebec to become the first white man to view the waters. Prehistorical evidence dates back more than 5,000 years, perhaps extending back 10,000 years to ancient people who followed the retreating glacial ice into the area.

Following Jacques De Noyon's arrival in 1688, there are no known expeditions to the Lake of the Woods area until Pierre La Verendrye came with a party of more than 50 men in 1732. La Verendrye found northern Minnesota populated by Cree, Monsonis, Assiniboine and Sioux Indians. The Ojibwe had not yet pushed as far west as Lake of the Woods. The La Verendrye party was a victim of Indian warfare when Father Aulneau and 19 other men were massacred on an island in the lake by the Sioux war party which had set out to attack a Village of Cree. Today there are two islands on the lake which are identified as Massacre Island. Each has its supporters for being the site of the Massacre. History for the next 75 to 100 years was characterized by the onset of the voyageurs and rivaling fur trading companies.

In 1823, members of the International Joint Boundary Commission arrived on the lake. They had been appointed to establish the border between Canada and the United States as it had been designated in the treaty which ended the Revolutionary War. One of the most difficult points of contention was the establishment of the most northwesterly point on the Lake of the Woods. The Commission found a point which they claimed was the most northwesterly spot. However, the surveyors from the two nations differed on just where they had located the spot. The dispute continued for the next century and the final agreement was not signed until the 1920's. The end result was that the U.S. retained possession of the Northwest Angle. As the United States' most northerly point (before the admission of Alaska), the Northwest Angle became Lake of the Woods County's most famous piece of real estate.

In 1885, the county area got its first permanent settler when Wilhelm Zippel settled on the south shore of the Lake of the Woods at Zippel Bay. He was a German immigrant who worked as a fisherman. Later in that same year, Alonzo Wheeler settled at Wheeler's Point at the mouth of the Rainy River. Thomas Cathcart came to the border area in 1891 and later joined Joe Beaudette, a trapper who would later give his name to the town of Baudette. In 1901 William Mason and George Williams followed the railroad track roadbed to stake claims at the site which would grow into the community of Williams.

Baudette and Spooner became incorporated villages in 1906. Spooner, informally referred to as East Baudette, took its name from Judge Spooner of Bemidji, who had been instrumental in obtaining the incorporation papers for the town.

On October 4, 1910, a disaster struck the Lake of the Woods area. A forest fire which started east of Williams burned most of the northern half of the county and left 43 people dead. After recovering from the fire, the county experienced another settlement boom. Within the decade following, nearly every 160 acre plot was claimed. Most of these settlements have now disappeared and have been reclaimed by the wilderness.

In November of 1922, the vote for separation from Beltrami County was carried. Local residents had been dissatisfied with the services they had been receiving from Beltrami County in exchange for their tax dollars. The difficulty in making the two or three day train trip to the county seat contributed to this feeling. However, a small population, combined with the Great Depression a few years later, caused financial problems from the start.

Spooner and Baudette combined in 1954, and the courthouse was moved across the bay to the old Spooner school, ending years of squabbling over which town should be the county seat. The courthouse continues to be housed in this building today, with the addition of a new Law Enforcement Center in 1983.

The attractions of Lake of the Woods County are much the same as they were when the pioneers came to settle - fishing, hunting, forest, water, clean air and land. The pioneer spirit which enabled people to overcome the hardships of a wilderness still survives today. May we be wise enough to recognize those factors which make for the quality of life in Lake of the Woods County and prudent enough to preserve and expand them.

County Courthouse

Lake of the Woods County is the most recently established and organized county in the state, becoming Minnesota's 87th county in 1922. Prior to that, it was part of Beltrami County.

Lake of the Woods County's early court sessions were held wherever space was available, including at the Masonic Hall and the high school gymnasium. However, the building that would eventually become the county's first formal courthouse had its roots just after the turn of the century.

In 1906, the towns of Baudette and Spooner were consolidated into what is today Baudette. The county bought an empty school building and renovated it at a cost of $56,000. The three-story brick building was completed in 1909, just in time to be destroyed by a 1910 forest fire.

C.E. Wierske rebuilt the building the following year according to the original plan -- hip-roofed with rows of double-hung windows on the long faces of a rectangle. The building had a familiar school look with a Moorish gable of concave and convex curves above its central doorway pavilion. Two-story brick additions with glass block windows were added at the sides and rear of the building. It was converted into Lake of the Woods County Courthouse in 1954.

In 2001, the Lake of the Woods County Government center replaced the old courthouse. The structure's 21,684 square feet houses the courtroom and other government offices in a single level. It was built by Kraus-Anderson Construction Company of Bemidji and was financed and paid for by the county without a bond issue. In 2003, the county bought the adjacent former North Star Electric Company building to build the Government Center North, which houses additional government offices.

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