Nobles County, Minnesota Genealogy

United States

Minnesota

Nobles County

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

Minnesota Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Worthington Organized: July 4, 1873 Parent County(s): Brown Neighboring Counties Cottonwood • Jackson • Lyon (IA) • Murray • Osceola (IA) • Pipestone • Rock See County Maps Courthouse Location Map

County Information

Description

The county was named for William H. Nobles, a member of the Territorial Legislature. The county is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse

Nobles County Courthouse
315 10th Street
Worthington, MN 56187
Phone: 507-295-5200
Nobles County Website

County Recorder has birth, marriage and death records from 1872 and land records.
Court Administration has divorce records from 1882, court records from 1874 and probate records.

Nobles 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 Government County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1872	1872	1872	1874	1872	1873	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. Organized Date: July 4, 1873 County seat: Worthington Minnesota Individual County Chronologies - Newberry Library list of all boundary changes by county Minnesota Historical Borders - Map at Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; Also at: mapofus.org - animated maps illustrating Minnesota county boundary changes

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
Adrian Bigelow Brewster Dundee	Ellsworth Kinbrae Lismore Round Lake	Rushmore Wilmont Worthington
Unincorporated communities
Org Pfingsten	Ransom Reading	St. Kilian
Census-designated places
Leota
Townships
Bigelow Bloom Dewald Elk Graham Lakes Grand Prairie Hersey	Indian Lake Larkin Leota Lismore Little Rock Lorain Olney	Ransom Seward Summit Lake Westside Wilmont Worthington

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Nobles County, Minnesota online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	BillionGraves Find a Grave Interment.net Minnesota Gravestones MN Tombstone Transcription Project MNGenWeb USGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	FamilySearch 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	35	—
1870	117	234.3%
1880	4,435	3690.6%
1890	7,958	79.4%
1900	14,932	87.6%
1910	15,210	1.9%
1920	17,917	17.8%
1930	18,618	3.9%
1940	21,215	13.9%
1950	22,435	5.8%
1960	23,365	4.1%
1970	23,208	−0.7%
1980	21,840	−5.9%
1990	20,098	−8.0%
2000	20,832	3.7%
2010	21,378	2.6%
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 & images.
• 1875 Minnesota State Census, 1875 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images.
• 1885 Minnesota State Census, 1885 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images.
• 1905 Minnesota State Census, 1905 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & 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
  

Lutheran

• 1781-1969 U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Church Records, 1781-1969 at Ancestry ($)

Directories

• 1970-2024 United States, Residence Database, 1970-2024 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index, coverage may vary

Emigration and Immigration

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

Funeral Homes

• Benson Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Worthington.
• Dingmann Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Adrian, Wilmont and Worthington.

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 ($)
• Full-Text Search - Land Records at FamilySearch - index & images; dates, records, and places vary; How to Search

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Nobles 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.

• Rose, Arthur P.; An Illustrated History of Nobles County (Worthington, MN: Norther History Publishing Co., 1908) Online at Google Books, HathiTrust, Internet Archive; Indexed at Ancestry ($).
• Goff, Al; Nobles County History (Nobles County Historical Society: 1958) Online at FamilySearch Digital Library.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Minnesota Maps at David Rumsey Map Collection
• FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places
• Minnesota Department of Transportation, Nobles 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; Free index, images ($)
• 1898-1899 Minnesota Volunteers in the Spanish American War and the Philippine Insurrection at Ancestry ($)

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

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 Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at Ancestry; Free index
• 1917-1918 U.S., World War I Civilian Draft Registrations, 1917-1918 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1918-1941 Minnesota, World War I Records, 1918-1941 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection
• An Honor Roll Containing a Pictorial Record of the Gallant and Courageous Men from Nobles County, Minn., U.S.A., Who Served in the Great War, 1917-1918-1919 ((Pipestone, Minn.: Leader Pub. Co.) Online at ACPL Genealogy Center.

World War II

• 1940-1947 Minnesota, World War II Draft Registration Cards,1940-1947 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & 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 & 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.
• 1800s-Current Minnesota, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-Current at Ancestry — index & images ($)

Obituaries

• 1813-Onward Minnesota Obituaries at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1865-2006 Minnesota, Obituaries 1865-2006 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & 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 ($)
• 1849-1985 Minnesota Will Records, 1849-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index
• 1873-1983 Probate Files No. 1-538, ca. 1873-1945 ; Index, ca. 1873-1983(*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
• 1880-1982 Minnesota, Nobles County, Will Records, 1880-1982(*); at FamilySearch Catalog — images

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.
• 1936-2007 United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

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 ($)
• 1935-2000 Minnesota, U.S., Birth Index, 1935-2000 at Ancestry ($)
• Minnesota, Births at MyHeritage — index ($)

Marriage

• 1850-2019 Web: Minnesota, U.S., Marriages from the Minnesota Official Marriage System, 1850-2019 at Ancestry (Free collection)
• 1850-Onward Minnesota, Marriages at MyHeritage — index ($)
• 1860-1949 Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
• 1885-present Minnesota Official Marriage System at MOMS.mn.gov; search by county, name or date, and request copy.
• 1970-2003 Minnesota Marriage Records Index, 1970-2003 at Archives ($)
• 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 & images
• 1887-2001 Minnesota Deaths, 1887-2001 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & 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 Nobles County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Minnesota Archives and Libraries.

FamilySearch Centers

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

• FamilySearch 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 FamilySearch center.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Sioux Falls South Dakota FamilySearch Center
• Spencer Iowa FamilySearch Center
• Brookings Public Library - South Dakota - an affiliate library.
• Waseca County History Center - an affiliate library.

Libraries

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

Adrian Library
214 Maine Ave
PO Box 39
Adrian, MN 56110
Phone: 507-483-2541
Email: adrianlib@co.nobles.mn.us
Website

Southwest Minnesota Historical Center
Southwest Minnesota State University, BA 512
McFarland Library, 5th Floor
1501 State St
Marshall, MN 56258
Phone: 507-537-7373
Email: pam.gladis@smsu.edu
Website

Worthington Library
407 12th St
PO Box 1049
Worthington, MN 56187
Phone: 507-295-5340
Email: nobleslib@co.nobles.mn.us
Website
Facebook

Museums

Nobles County Historical Society Pioneer Village
225 Ninth St
PO Box 614
Worthington, MN 56187
Phone: 507-295-5397
Email: nchsociety@gmail.com
Website
Facebook

Societies

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

Nobles County Historical Society
225 Ninth St
PO Box 614
Worthington, MN 56187
Phone: 507-295-5397
Email: nchsociety@gmail.com
Website
Facebook

Websites

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