Veteran Grave Registration Index for Minnesota

The military history of Minnesota may not extend to the Revolutionary War, but nevertheless, as a frontier state, it has been home to many families from New England and others migrating to the west. A new database from the Adjutant General's Office may help find your missing link!

In 1927, the Minnesota Adjutant General was assigned the duty of registering veterans' graves. Twenty years later, embalming and funeral services were required to submit a form to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. Although the program officially ended in 1969, some counties - mainly Goodhue, Hennepin, Houston, Ramsey, and Swift, as well as the Fort Snelling cemetery - continued to submit reports through 1975. Approximately 70,000 reports are now in the State Archives at the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS). You can order copies of the reports directly from the index website.

For those who have used the MHS free Minnesota Death Certificate Index, or the free Minnesota Birth Certificate Indexfrom records of the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Veterans Grave Registration Indexwill look familiar. It, too, provides a researcher with the opportunity to order a copy of the actual document, or to find it easily on a trip to the MHS Library. The FAQ is excellent, outlining clearly the contents of the index and providing tips on how best to tweak results from it.

Veterans from the following wars are represented:
-War of 1812 (1812-1814)
-Mexican War (1846-1848)
-Civil War (1861-1865)
-Indian Wars 19th century (includes the Dakota Conflict of 1862)
-Spanish-American War (1898)
-Philippine American War (1899-1902)
-Boxer Rebellion (1900)
-Boer War (1899-1902)
-Mexican Border War (1916-1917)
-World War I "WWI" (1914-1918)
-World War II "WWII" (1939-1945)
-Korean War (1950-1953)
-Vietnam War (1964-1975)

NOTE: This index does not include all veterans ever buried in Minnesota. The law required forms to be submitted only for veterans buried between 1927 and 1969. However, many county veterans officers or interested individuals submitted reports for veterans buried in Minnesota prior to 1927. Thus, many Civil War and Spanish-American War veterans who died long before 1927 are included. However, it must be stressed that these reports are not comprehensive; nor is every veteran buried in Minnesota represented.

However, a researcher may find surprises. The form provides some basic information that many researchers will already know about their veterans, such as full name, date and place of birth and death, in which war and unit the veteran served, where enlisted and discharged, etc. And certainly this registration is not complete for those who served in Minnesota regiments, or to identify all those who died before the registration began in 1927, or even to ensure that every veteran who was buried while registration was in effect was included.

This sample illustrates one of the versions of the form that was used. Note that this veteran was born in Greece, served in the Nebraska National Guard during WWI, and has no relatives in Minnesota. But there is enough information on the form to collaborate other details, and to possibly open new doors for research.

Perhaps your veteran had 'itchy' feet. Some veterans who died elsewhere but who were brought back to Minnesota for burial are included. You may find the information on place of death the key to open new research. Perhaps you have been stymied in your search for military records. Now you have the official name of the unit, and a better idea of whether the records are state or federal level. Perhaps you have been unable to find the grave. Now you have the cemetery name, and in many cases, a specific location within the cemetery. Perhaps you are interested in finding other relatives. Here is a next of kin, with a local address at the time of the veteran's burial.

While the forms may not be comprehensive for all veterans in Minnesota, this new, free on-line index offers an easy way to locate 'lost' family members or flesh out your research. Try it -- Minnesota Veterans Grave Registration Index -- - I think you'll like it!

A Genealogist's Guide to Researching Civil War and Dakota Conflict Ancestors in Minnesota provides a road map for documenting family history for both wars, from beginning family research in Federal and Minnesota State census records, through locating compiled service records for veterans and their units, on-line resources, published records, and manuscripts. Included is a chapter on special records available for the citizens who were at home in Minnesota during the Dakota Conflict in 1862. It focuses on the people and their role during the two wars to help family historians develop personal information about an ancestor. Whether your ancestor was in a Minnesota Regiment or from another state, this Guide lays out a research methodology and resources to help. M-546, ISBN 1-932212-15-9, 2005, 60 pp., paper, illus., perfect bound, bibliography, $15.95

© 2005, Park Genealogical Books, Roseville, MN

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