Searching for Ancestors in Minnesota The Sources on this Page Minnesota has a few Icelandic information sources on the Internet. Maps, land patents, and historical societies are available. Most of these sites are available at the USGenWeb Project. 1895 Map of Minnesota shows Lincoln, Lyon, and Yellow Medicine Counties in the southwest corner and Roseau at the top. It is large and slow to download. Roseau County GenWeb lists a few items that may be of interest. Two people in the Lookups section will help you search for names in the county. Bureau of Land Management provides a search by name of homestead land patents in a state. This site will tell you if your ancestor homesteaded in the state, and if so, where. The date of patent is at least 5 years after the person first occupied the land. For US$10 you can order a copy of the patent application forms which will provide details about the buildings and livestock at the time of application. Map of Minnesota Counties. Most Icelanders are in Lincoln, Lyon, and Yellow Medicine Counties in the southwest corner. There is also a small settlement in Roseau County at the top. Lincoln County Township Map has no ranges or townships on it. Roseau County Historical Society & Museum will conduct searches of local records for a nominal fee. Minnesota Historical Society lists other information that can be searched in the state archives. Resources include a large collection of digitized photographs. Social Security Death Index contains the records of deceased persons who possessed Social Security numbers and whose death had been reported to the Social Security Administration. It is most useful for later generations that died after 1962. It can provide the date and address at death. Vestur-Íslenzkar Æviskrár by Benjamín Kristjánsson and Jónas Thordarson, published in 6 volumes by Bókaforlag O. Björnssonar and Bókaútgáfan Skjaldborg in the years 1961-1992. This is a collection of family histories of Icelandic immigrants to North America in Icelandic. Many are drawn from obituaries in Icelandic newspapers. Some entries are about residents of Minnesota. With the help of an Icelandic-English dictionary, the reader can usually determine the year of immigration, ancestors, siblings, and children of the people recorded in the book. Modern Sagas, The Story of Icelanders in North America by Thorstina Jackson Walters published by North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo ND, 1953. This book is found in various libraries. It describes the history and development of the Icelandic community, but has relatively little detail about individuals. Hálfdan Helgason - Reykjavík - Iceland halfdan@itn.is back