Besides the growing number of family histories about Minnesotans, there are sources of biographical information that may include a clue for further research. These can be divided into several categories:
County and local histories:
Sometimes called 'mug books,' biographical sketches were typically provided and paid for by family members. Many include photos as well. Publishers typically invited everyone to contribute (and then buy a copy of the finished product), but weren't particularly anxious to develop information on their own for publication.
The early county history publishers used salesmen to solicit biographical materials. For example, A.T. Andreas allowed unlimited space in his 1874 Illustrated and Historical Atlas of Minnesota for biographical information. His first round of sales put names on the maps and in the patrons' directory; salesmen returned to those customers to sell lithographs of homes, businesses and farms. Then they sold (at the sum of $.03 per word) biographies. The patrons' directory tells when the individual came to Minnesota. The biographies often give parents' names and other clues for family history. This atlas has been digitized and is available on the Minnesota Digital Library (MDL).
Some excellent local histories cover an area other than a county. For example, Fifty Years in the Northwest by Folsom covers the St. Croix River Valley, and Compendium of History and Biography-Northern Minnesota published in 1902 was published before all of the counties were formed.
Some cities and villages also have their own histories: for example, St. Charles in Winona County has a wonderful history about the development of that area, and The Forty-Niner has biographical information from Alden, Mansfield and Carlston townships in Freeborn County. Braham recently published a collection of newspaper articles from that four-county area. When checking computer catalogs, use township and city names as search terms, in addition to the county names.
Indexes:
Various individuals and local societies have produced indexes to works published earlier, some as separate volumes, others included in the work when it was reprinted. When checking computer catalogs, be sure to review all entries to determine if the work you are interested in has a separate index.
Vol. XIV of the Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society is subtitled "Minnesota Biographies." For the people included (mostly men), this work provides a brief biographical note and an index to many of the county and local histories published before 1915 as well as references to the scrapbooks held by the society and other sources.
The Minnesota Historical Society has a reading room card index file called the Minnesota Biographical Index. It includes references to Minnesotans in books, obituaries, serial sets (such as obituaries included in society proceedings, etc.), and other sources. While not a complete index to everyone in the state, it may provide a short-cut for the researcher who visits their Library.
Biography sets:
Don't overlook the various "Who's Who" books! Men of Minnesota from 1906 includes much useful information about the spouse, as does the Who's Who in Minnesota from 1941 and 1958. There are similar books for occupational categories (e.g., artists and writers) as well as for lineage societies.
While 'mug books' and other biographical data may reveal only what the contributor wanted published, the clues they provide can break down the brick walls of missing dates.
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