September 4, 2026

Several weeks ago, I wrote about online and offline research. The theme of the post was that not all records can be found online. That doesn’t mean that the internet can’t help you find many of these records. This week I’ve been reminded of that as I’ve been researching in Minnesota.

Birth and death certificates in most of the U.S. were not kept until the 20th century. However, counties often kept birth and death records before state certificates were required. Most of these county ledgers have never been digitized.

Some of my ancestors lived in Minnesota starting in the 1870s. Minnesota statewide birth and death certificates were not required until 1907. State legislation did require counties to keep records of births and deaths starting in 1870, though compliance varied.

Many of Minnesota’s birth and death certificates can be ordered from the Minnesota Department of Health (https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/vitalrecords/about.html ). Some older records can be found online at the Minnesota State Historical Society (https://libguides.mnhs.org/vital ). This includes some Minnesota county records.

This week I have been looking for a death record for a young woman who died in 1889 in Meeker County, Minnesota. Her death would have been recorded in a county ledger.

Meeker has not submitted their county vital records to the state. They have not digitized them either. There are several ways to access these paper-only records. You can visit the county seat in person, hire someone else to visit the county seat, or contact the county.

A trip to Minnesota isn’t in the cards right now. I contacted the local historical society for a recommendation for someone who might visit the courthouse for me. They didn’t have any suggestions. They checked the local newspapers and found a death notice. I would not have located this article otherwise since the newspaper is not digitized.

I visited the Meeker County Courthouse in the past. I know that they have birth, marriage and death ledgers for the period I need. I wrote to the courthouse to see if they will look for death records. Some courthouses will do this; some will not. Hopefully, I’ll be lucky this time.

It’s easy to assume that everything is online nowadays, but that’s not the case. There are many useful records that only exist in paper format. Online finding aids may indicate where these records can be found. It may still take some effort to access them.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the courthouse in Minnesota will be willing to look for the death record I want. If not, I’ll continue exploring other avenues. Sometimes it takes persistence and a little luck, but usually even offline records can be accessed.

 

Carol Stetser

Researcher

Larimer County Genealogical Society