BOOKS & OTHER
POLK COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOURCES

The Other Polk County, Minnesota Resources listed below are genealogical resources that have been published. At present we are looking for volunteers who own these resources who would be willing to do an occasional lookup via e-mail for a fellow genealogical researcher. If you own or have access to one of these books and would be willing to do lookups, please contact Shirley Dorgan  See copyright information below.

*Lookup requests for information  should be specific - First and last name, possibly some dates if known - NO lookups will be provided for vague searches ie: Anderson or Smith.  Your lookup request may take up to 4 weeks. - Please be patient!  Our fabulous volunteers have families, lives of their own, and their own research to do as well. - County Coordinator

Name/Author Description

  • Obituary lookups in other Minnesota newspapers for a fee.

  • Lookups of other records at the Minnesota Historical Society, including naturalization records, for a fee. 

I live in the Minneapolis area, so am able to use the MN Historical Society's newspapers on microfilm.  (I can also make copies of death certificates - but these are already available from the MNHS    Mary Wickersham

Tracing Your Ancestors in Minnesota,
A Guide to the Sources V5:
North West Minnesota by Wiley Pope

(If someone owns this book or has access to it and would like to do lookups, please contact me)

Compendium of History and Biography of Polk County, MN
by Maj. R.I. Holcombe and Wm. H. Bingham, copyright 1916.

Reprints are available from Higginson Book Company, Salem, Massachusetts and can be ordered through major booksellers (I used Borders). The book is in the collection of the MN History Center, St. Paul, MN, and North Dakota Historical Society, Bismark, ND. Submitted by Jon Raymond. Thanks Jon! You may request a look up from this book by contacting Jon Raymond.  Please allow 1-2 weeks for a reply.

"The First 100 Years 1883-1983 Fosston, Minnesota"

Compiled by Fosston's Centennial Book Commitee. Lookups offered by Lori Bush  and Jon Raymond (please allow 1-2 weeks for a reply)

Pictorial Atlas of Polk County, Minnesota, 1970

Compiled by Title Atlas Co., Minneapolis, MN. Lookups offered by Lori Bush  

"Atlas of Polk County, Minnesota, 1954 "

Compiled & Published by the Thomas O. Nelson Co., Fergus Falls, MN . Lookups offered by Lori Bush  

"Atlas of Polk County, MN  April 1960"

Compiled by E. M. Lundby Company, Fergus Falls, MN dated April 1960.  It has a Rural Directory with names and section number and whether owner or renter.

Lookups offered by Patsy Wood

"100 Years Strong, McIntosh, Minnesota, Hub of Thirteen Towns, 1883-1983
The Centennial History of the Thirteen Townships"

Published by Richards Publishing Co., Inc. of Gonvick, MN
Lookups offered by Lori Bush

"Pensioners Listed on Roll 1 Jan 1883,
Isanti-Polk Counties"
(MGJ No. 4, Nov. 1985)

Includes Pensioners listed on roll on 1 Jan 1883 (lookup volunteer needed)

"Burial Records in WPA Files
(Olmsted-Renville Counties),"
(MGJ No. 14, Sept. 1995)

Includes WPA burial records in Polk County (lookup volunteer needed)

Polk County Cemetery Books - Index for Vol 9 on this site, Vol 10 coming soon

 

The Red River Valley Genealogical Society in Fargo, ND has them for $20.00 each.

Polk Co. Cemeteries Vol. 9   -Index on line on this site, for more information on these names, lookups generously offered by Daniel Ewer and Valori Enge

Polk Co. Cemeteries Vols 9 - 12 - lookup generously offered by Valori Enge

Volume 9 contains info on the following townships:
Higdem, Sandsville, Farley, Brislet, Helgeland, Esther, Northland, Tabor,
Angus, Brandt, Grand Forks, Sullivan, Keystone, Euclid, Belgium, Rhinehart,
Huntsville, Nesbit, Fanny, Parnell, Bygland, Fisher, Lowell, Crookston, and
Gentilly. Does not cover East Grand Forks and Crookston.

Vol. 10 contains info on the following townships: Tynsid, Roome, Andover, Fairfax, Kertsonville,
Tilden, Vineland, Hammond, Russia, Onstad, Godfrey, Hubbard, Scandia, Reis,
Liberty, & Garfield

Vol. 11 contains info on the following townships: Grove Park, Badger, Lessor, Woodside, Knute, King, Garden, Winger, & Sletten

Vol. 12 contains info on the following townships: Johnson, Chester, Gully, Hill River, Eden, Brandsvold,  Queen, Rosebud,& Columbia

This is Our Story, Shelly, Minnesota, 1897-1997

Jon Raymond  please allow 1-2 weeks for a reply

The Centennial History of the Thirteen Towns, 1883-1983"
(includes the townships of Chester, Badger, Lessor, Hill River, Eden, Knute, King, Brandsvold, Queen, Winger, Sletten, Rosebud, and Columbia and the towns of Erskine, McIntosh, Winger, Fosston, and Lengby)

Jon Raymond please allow 1-2 weeks for a reply

The Meeting of the Reds, East Grand Forks, 1887-1987

Jon Raymond please allow 1-2 weeks for a reply

Centennial 1883-1983 Fosston, MN - index provided by Debi Koeller

Debi Koeller - go to index of this book on this site

Bicentennial History of Polk County, 1976, Taylor Publishing

Jon Raymond please allow 1-2 weeks for a reply

Ruby on the Red: East Grand Forks, Minnesota,” by Dr. Stephen Sylvester, copyright 1988

East Grand Forks Centennial Committee Jon Raymond

In the World War, 1917 1918 1919

list of Polk County armed forces during WW1, has many names of parents, location of military service and many photos) Lookups offered by Brian Bjorgen

"These Our Roots". The History of Fertile, Minnesota. The Flower City", published by The Ulen Union, MN, 1987

The book presents about 180 pages with  family histories (which have been sent to the editorial committee), history  of the city, the churches, maps of the farms etc. Lookups offered by Dag T. Hoelseth and Brian Bjorgen

"Standard Atlas, Polk County, MN" published by Brock & Co. 1930.

This contains a plat book of the villages, cities, and townships of the county.  It also contains a "patron directory" that includes some photos and biographical information.  Lookups offered by Brian Bjorgen

"Pictoral Atlas Polk County Minnesota" 1982 - Title Atlas Company

Lookups kindly offered by Brian Bjorgen

"Climax Centennial"   1896-1996 - (City of Climax)

Lookups kindly offered by Jon Raymond

"The History of Calvary Lutheran Church Grand Forks ND: The First Twenty-Five Years 1953-1978"

written by Arnold and Eileen Horpendahl and edited by LaVernia Jorgensen in November, 1978 - Lookup Volunteer Needed.  If you own this book and could do lookups, please contact me .   This church is in Grand Forks ND, which is on the border next to East Grand Forks MN.  It is possible that residents of EGF attended church here, and have birth, marriage and burial records at this church.

Garfield, the first 100 years, 1880-1980

Compiled by Harry Dale, Edward Torpet, and Kenneth Bolstad.  Originally unindexed, but I have indexed it for my own use; several hundred names. Lookups offered by: Lynn Blazek

Fertile - Hub of the Sand Hill Valley

Written  by Mrs. Roberta Olson, 1975.  Unindexed, over 2,000 names, so allow time for reply.  Some family histories, many other names mentioned. Lookups offered by  Lynn Blazek

Saga of the Thirteen Towns

Offsite webpage with PORTZ family information by Debbie Swanson - submitted January 2003

Centennial History of the Thirteen Towns

Offsite webpage with PORTZ family information by Debbie Swanson - submitted January 2003

The History of Millerville, Minnesota

Offsite webpage with PORTZ family information by Debbie Swanson - submitted January 2003

St Mary's Catholic Church 100th Anniversary
1901-2001

Offsite webpage with PORTZ family information by Debbie Swanson - submitted January 2003

Polk County in WW I

Offsite index to this book at this site by Margit

Ephraim Ash Sweet's Guest Book

A list of visitors to the Ephraim Sweet household -  a personal Guest Book of Mr. Ephraim Ash Sweet - submitted by Peggy and Bruce Ogan - September 2003

Harry B. Sweet, Autograph Book

A book of autographs to Harry Sweet and family - submitted by Peggy and Bruce Ogan - September 2003

The USGenWeb Project's Official Copyright Policy

The USGenWeb Project will not tolerate any copyright violations. Lookup requests from copyrighted books should be limited to one name, or perhaps two if it is a married couple. Information given should be minimal, for example:

If it is a cemetery lookup, the information should be the name of the cemetery and the dates on the headstone.

If someone asks for "everybody with X surname" or an entire family group, or for hardcopies to be mailed, please advise that The USGenWeb Project volunteers have been asked not to comply with such requests.

Lookups can extend to searching the copyrighted material to determine if the material would be helpful to the requester in their research. Should the copyrighted material prove useful, the volunteer can provide the author's address and ordering information.

Cemetery listings and pictures may be posted to the site if the cemetery was walked and transcribed by the submitter.  The submitters name, address and date obtained will be made available to the County Coordinator BEFORE it is posted. 

The USGenWeb Project will endeavor to get a WRITTEN statement from each copyright holder which stipulates which books may be used for lookups.

Copyright 2015 MNGenWeb
Updated May 22, 2006, S. Dorgan
Updated June 4, 2015, K. Kittleson