All Blog Posts (105)

Katharina Hoffman from Norway recently Googled Teien township, which is in Kittson County. She learned about this web page and she became a member. Go to her membership page to read the details.  She then asked us for help in finding out information on her great grandfather Clarens Einar Pederson.

We in turn phoned Marcy Johnson as she has a great deal of experience with county church records. Marcy agreed to check her records and said she would email us back with the…

In July of each year our web page, kittsonhistorian.ning.com has to ask for donations in order to pay our fee to Ning.com. Ning supplies us with the platform and software that runs our web page.  If you were one of the generous members who sent us money, thank you very much.  This web page was created and is managed by volunteers.  Not one cent goes for hidden expences, salarys, or the so called overhead…

Attention of new member Scott Hayden.

I have located a Daniel Hayden in our records, but before I continue my research I wish to make sure we have the right person.

Daniel was born in England May 1828 and died 23 Mar 1904 in Hazelton township, Kittson County, Mn.  His wife was Marie, also born in England about 1827.  The records show they had seven (7) children.

Once you confirm that this is your GGG grandfather I will supply further information. If we have the right…

Hello to all,   I am so glad that Glenn reminded us of the upcoming dues needed to keep the Kittson Historian going.  It would be very sad to lose this site after so much work has been  done to get it built up.   The people somewhere in the world that operate the website that we subscribe to,  really don't care if our site continues to operate or not.  It is like Google, if they lose a few customers, someone else will replace them.  They are a big business and charging a fee to sell us a…

You are receiving this email because you are a member of the Kittson County Historian web page.  Since last year we have increased our membership by over 30% and we now have a total of 123 members.  By the end of this month we will be three and a half years old.

Our annual subscription to Ning.com will soon be due and we must raise a total of $239.00, In order to keep the Kittson Historian web page on line.  As more people join and more groups are created, the word is spreading about…

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society and the LDS in joint project indexed the Saskatchewan Probate records through a process called waypointing.  I have done some of the "waypointing" and have been working mainly as an arbitrator for the last few weeks.  A lot of these files contain information on people who originated or left  heirs in the United States.  A large portion of this collection has already been published on familysearch.org  It can be found on their website under  Collections,…

Do you find that weeks and months can go by before you remember to check for updates on this web site?

If there is a subject or topic that you are interested in, add yourself as a member to any or all of the Groups created on this site. If you are a member of a group you will automatically be emailed anytime something new has been posted. If you created a Group, anything you post to it will be brought to the attention of people who join your group.

Just the…

Marie Grant is the most recent member to join the Kittson Historian.  This blog is directed to her personally but it may be of interest to others.  I have located her grandfather, Thomas Murray at the age of two, on the 1885 Census, along with many family members.It would appear that his father was Donald Murray, age 58, born in Scotland. Donald's wife was Isabella, age 51, born in Canada.

The following appears to be  the names and ages of the children, all born in Canada. Only Thomas…

My book, Little Minnesota:  100 Towns around 100, will be released November 16 by Adventure Publications.  Halma, Humboldt, St. Vincent, Strandquist, Viking, Goodridge, Holt and Strathcona, all incorporated and around 100 people, are included in the book.  So proud to be from small town Minnesota!

At the September Genealogy Association meeting the topic of early Kittson pioneers came up. Old Census records can provide lists but we were looking for something prior to a census. Cindy Adams, the director of the museum, managed to find an old tax book that contained three tax lists.  The first was for Kittson County in the year 1879 and contained some thirty names. It also contained two 1880 lists, one headed Hallock and the second called St. Vincent.

So far, these are the oldest…

 Exploring old farms in Northwestern Minnesota in order to photo the old buildings and equipment is a pleasant way to spend a day. Recently I discovered this old set of wagon wheels in some woods that overlook the Red River of the North.The farm is over a hundred years old and is surrounded by a large dike that has protected it from flooding many times in the past.…

For some years now I have been taking photos of the old farms and homes in Kittson County. I have watched the weather and gravity take their toll. Many of these farm sites were very active for a hundred years and more. They sheltered two or three generations of the same family. In the last thirty years the pace of farm abandonment has picked up.  The children move away to begin their own lives and to find work that is no longer available in the county. The parents grow old and have no one to…

By now each member will have received an email requesting donations to pay for the annual costs of our Ning.com service.  I know a few donations have already been received at the museum but we need each and every member to contribute at least five dollars if we are to continue with the Kittson Historian web page.

In two and a half years we have grown to a total of 95 members. That works out to an average of 3.16 new members a month. I believe we can do much better.

If we fail…

If you have been working on a Family Tree and reach a dead end or what is known as a brick wall, it can be frustrating. If you buy a membership on Ancestry.com they allow you to post your entire Family Tree on line. All of your information is added to their data base and included in any and all searches made by other members. My paternal grandmother came from Northern Ireland and searching the records has been very difficult. I discovered on a few scraps of new information. A…

Kittson County Historical Center and Museum News

On Wednesday, October 13^th, the Kittson Historian members met for their monthly meeting at the Museum in Lake Bronson. Those attending were Glenn Browne, Kathy Pederson, Marci Johnson, Allen and Joan Olson, Lori Bothum, Cindy Adams, Mrs. Leroy (Carol) Stumpf, Lyndon Johnson and Louise Coffield. Marie Lindstrom also…

NING PLUS upgrade completed July 20^th, 2010!

This afternoon Ning.com commenced selling upgrades and Kittson County Historical Society now has NING PLUS for our Kittson historian.ning.com web page. The original annual price was set at $199.95. Because we purchased it today as it first came available we were given a further discount and an extra months…