Using the Minnesota State Census Indexes

One of my current projects involves gathering information about the widows and children who fled from the Dakota Indians during the 1862 war. I've been curious about how they rebuilt their lives -- did they return to the Minnesota River valley? if not, where did they go? how did they support themselves? and so on. Because some of the widows remarried quickly, this can be slow going. But it was curious that, while I could find families in the 1857, 1860, and 1870 censuses, I could not find them in the 1865. Why would that family 'disappear' for that census, when there is other evidence the family group remained in Minnesota?

As I gain more experience with the Minnesota State Census Indexes (both at Ancestry.com and on the Minnesota Historical Society website), I'm learning that effective use may involve more than the usual options. To understand why some different techniques are needed, it was useful to me to discover how the index was constructed. The indexes for all the State Censuses at Ancestry.com were outsourced and created in a very short period of time, from microfilm copies of the census records. MHS's search works a little differently, but is based on the same index database. Fortunately, MHS can make corrections more easily than Ancestry.com, and updates to some records have already taken place. There remain other problems, including those resulting from illegible microfilm and unfamiliarity with our ethnic surnames.

One of the larger unresolved problems exists with the 1865 Index, where many records were entered into the index database with no surname at all. If the census taker wrote the family surname for the head of household and only assumed but didn't enter that surname for the rest of the family, the database index has only the given name. Therefore, just entering the surname with a given name for the spouse and children will result in no record found.

For example, let's say the family includes John Doe (head), wife Mary, and children James and Ellen. Searching for Mary Doe on the index will not find her or the children with John. To find her, the search should be based on her given name, the specific census and the most specific location you know. For sure, include the county, and if at all possible the name of the township or village where the family lived. You may be able to find the specific location from the U.S. census for 1860 and 1870. Your result will come back with a blank surname, but you'll have the opportunity to match up each potential match with the right family.

It's unclear when, if ever, this problem will be completely resolved. Don't give up! When you find one of these in your family, you can make a WOTR (Write On The Record) entry to add the surname, which will eventually make it into the MHS index (see my research notes at ).

Good luck in all your searches.

This and that!

Time flies! and I haven't been blogging. Here's a few updates:

1. The Minnesota Genealogical Journal: 41 is ready for mailing this week. It will still be a few days before the contents make it to my on-line catalog, but you can see them at http://www.parkbooks.com/Html/mgj41.html.

2. The Annual Civil War Symposium, sponsored by several Roundtables in the area, will be held at Fort Snelling on April 25. It will feature presentations on Gettysburg, Corinth and the Home Front. Go to http:www.parkbooks.com/Html/2009_Symposium_Notice.pdf for the flyer advertising this event.

3. The Minnesota Genealogical Society will host its spring meeting on April 18, at their offices in South St. Paul. You can find details on their website, at http://mngs.org.

4. On a more personal note: Volume 5 of my series on Claims from the Dakota War of 1862 is at the printers. This has been underway for a llllllooooonnnngggg time! It covers Emergency Aid for the Sufferers, those who requested aid from the state to help them during the War and in the following year as they fled their homes with little or nothing. This should be available in the coming weeks. There are 100 or so pages of specific requests plus another 14 of index, in 3-column format, helping researchers put together detailed information on specific people.

I'm still looking for the personal stories about people who lived in Minnesota during the Dakota War, especially those who were directly affected. Where were your ancestors?

Mary

Anton Rost and the Dakota War of 1862

As I promised, here are the bare bones of the story of my ancestor during the Dakota War of 1862. His name was Anton Rost, and he and his family were living in Henderson, Sibley County. Anton was a butcher, and his wife Rosina ran the local hotel. The story was published in Rosina's obituary in 1913 [St. Peter Free Press, 11 Oct 1913] (but not in his!), after the family had moved to St. Peter, Nicollet County.

"In attempting to drive across the ice of the Red River it gave way and precipitated him and team into the icy water. Mr. Rost was unable to swim but managed to unhook the horses. The team, however, got away from him and left him struggling alone in the water. He succeeded to keep afloat until he reached a clump of willows in mid-stream and after being in the water for several hours attracted the attention of an Indian who rescued him. This Indian never afterwards failed to recall the attention of Mr. Rost to the fact that he had saved his life. Just before the Indian outbreak his recuer came to him and told him of the plans of the Indians, and requested Mr. Rost to take him and his family with him until the uprising had been put down. This Indian and family stayed with Mr. Rost at Henderson until hostilities were at an end."

I had a lot of questions. Is the story true? How did they take in the Indians? Who were they? Since Anton's mishap happened on the Red River in NW Minnesota, it's most likely the Indian family were Upper Sioux. When had Anton gone through the ice and specifically where? Basically, I wanted to know what was fact in the story, and what was oral tradition?

The first step was sorting out what information could be found in other records. Census records assured me that the family was in Henderson, and various other sources told me he was a butcher and she ran the hotel. Since he was reportedly delivering beef to the Indians, I looked for a contract with the U.S. Government. I found payment records for deliveries for the Upper Sioux, on order of John Grininger, as well as deliveries to the Lower Sioux. Nothing about going through the ice, nor a rescue by an Indian, however. On the other hand, it did mean that he could have developed relationships with individual Dakota, and could have known his rescuer. There are many stories of such relationships, including other warnings of the outbreak by Indians to settlers.

I looked at the newspapers for Henderson for the last part of 1862, and found no pertinent reference. Though the family had arrived in the U.S. in 1855, they lived first in Washington county, before heading for Henderson. His first land purchase in Henderson was in January 1858 [land records, Sibley county], but they could have been there earlier.

Was the hotel operational during the Dakota War? The answer to that is unequivocally "Yes!" Anton received payments for board and room provided to the military forces that stayed there [Claims from the Dakota Conflict, in 4 volumes], but he and/or Rosina are not mentioned in the 5th volume to be published in March on Emergency Aid for the Refugees. They didn't move to St. Peter until 1865.

So soldiers were staying at the hotel as they passed through town. That could be scary for an Indian, even if a non-combatant with a family. Could it be a mixed-blood family, who was fleeing from the necessity to join Little Crow? How would Anton protect them? The story suggests they remained in the Minnesota River valley. Where did they go afterwards? Even after my attempts to find evidence to prove the details of the family story, my questions haven't gone away.

Is this family story factual or true? While I couldn't identify collaborative evidence for all of the facts in the story, I didn't find any that suggests that it didn't happen either. And there is definitely enough other supporting evidence for a few of the facts to make me a believer of the truth in it.

Incidentally, any light you can shed on this story would be welcome! I'd still like to know who that Indian was and what happened to him and his family.


Your stories wanted
Has your ancestors' stories about the Dakota Conflict been passed along in your family? Share it with others, and pass it along here. You just may find a cousin who holds the key.