Research and Information Requests

The Becker County Historical Society is home to extensive historical and genealogical resources. Histories of townships, local churches, families, plat maps, and indexes to some Becker County courthouse records are just some of the materials that can be found in our Walter D. Bird Memorial Library.

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Visitors are welcome to delve into their own research here at the library. In the case that you cannot travel to the Society, we can do research for you. However, there are some guidelines that will make this an easy and efficient process.

Request Guidelines

Please submit your request through e-mail or by snail mail. Include your mailing address, e-mail address, and a daytime phone number by which you can be reached if we have questions about your request.

Include the following information in your request:

· The full name of the individual, and any possible spelling permutations.

· Date ranges for the information you've requested. The more specific you can be, the greater the chance of success.

· Any and all information you may have about that individual. Include pertinent information about immediate relatives in the area that may aid us in our search.

Please do not include information that is extraneous to this particular search.

In your request, please indicate whether you would like a basic individual search, or would like us to delve more deeply (for more information, please see the Fee Schedule below). If you would like us to go beyond the basic search, please indicate a maximum dollar amount you would like to spend.

Any information that we find for you will be sent to your mailing address. We will not e-mail the information to you. Requests to the Society Library are handled by researchers as they are received. Please expect a 4 - 6 week wait for your information.

Some Cautionary Notes

Please be aware that we only research requests that concern Becker County. Although someone may have resided in Becker County, this does not necessarily mean that their birth, death or marriage records are registered here. Just like today, people in the past moved frequently, and did not always leave a trail.

Fees and Payment

The Society charges $6.50 per individual search. For this fee, our staff will search our birth, death, and marriage transaction indexes, as well as obituary searches. Please be aware that the charge is to search one individual only. Additional individuals will be searched separately and charged accordingly. Also, even if our search for your individual is unsuccessful, you will be charged for the search. Please keep this in mind.

For further information on your individual, we charge a $13.00 per hour research fee. For this fee, our staff will use all the resources available in the libraries of the Historical Society and the Heart O' Lakes Genealogical Society.

An invoice will be sent to you with charges incurred. Upon receipt of your payment, your requested materials will be mailed to you.

Submit a Research Request

This page updated on 01/05/07