Minnesota eBooks:
Local History Books on the World Wide Web

by Thomas Jay Kemp

The following article originally appeared in an abridged form in Minnesota History, the quarterly of the Minnesota Historical Society, volume 57, #5 (Spring 2001). For more information on the magazine, click here. To order a back issue or a subscription to Minnesota History please call 800-647-7827 or 651-297-3243.

Every day we hear about the growing number of eBooks that can be downloaded and read on special hand-held readers. Microsoft, Barnes & Noble, netLibrary, and others are promoting eBooks that libraries can add directly to their online catalogs. In addition to these pay-per-view eBooks, thousands of others are already online, practical to use, and—best of all—free.

Over the last five years, universities, major libraries, and special projects have digitized and mounted thousands of books on the World Wide Web, making them freely available to anyone. The Library of Congress's American Memory Project, the Making of America, the Gutenburg Project, and Documenting the American South are some of the best-known and most successful digital library projects.

There are now well over 25,000 books online. Roughly 10 percent of them are local histories, genealogies, biographies, and similar material of interest to local researchers. Many of these items are scarce, being held by a handful of libraries with limited hours and restricted access. Having these books online not only broadens access but also makes them easier to use, as they are completely key-word indexed. With every word of the text, preface, and appendixes searchable, the pace and reach of our research will increase dramatically. We will be able to search secondary sources quickly and move on to a wider variety of primary sources. These resources will be used by more researchers than ever before, improving the quality of our local histories and genealogies.

The following list of Minnesota-focused local-history materials is a representative sample of the type of local histories, genealogies, and biographies freely available on the web. It is excerpted with permission from The Genealogist's Virtual Library: Full-text Books on the World Wide Web (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2000. 257 p.).

MINNESOTA

Andrews, C. C. Minnesota and Dacotah in Letters Descriptive of a Tour through the North-west, in the Autumn of 1856. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: R. Farnham, 1857. 216 p.
[link]

Bill, Ledyard. Minnesota, Its Character and Climate. New York: Wood & Holbrook, 1871. 214 p.
[link]

Bishop, Harriet E. Floral Home, or, First Years of Minnesota Early Sketches, Later Settlements, and Further Developments. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman and Co., 1857. 360 p.
[link]

Bond, J. Wesley. Minnesota and its Resources. New York: Redfield, 1853. 388 p.
[link]

Coffin, Charles Carleton. The Seat of Empire. Boston: Fields, Osgood & Co., 1870. 262 p.
[link]

Douthit, Davis. Nobody Owns Us: The Story of Joe Gilbert, Midwestern Rebel. Chicago: Cooperative League of the USA, 1948. 240 p.
[link]

Farrar, Maurice. Five Years in Minnesota. Sketches of Life in a Western State. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1880. 269 p.
[link]

Folsom, William Henry Carman. Fifty Years in the Northwest. St. Paul: Pioneer Press Co., 1888. 763 p.
[link]

Hall, Harlan Page. H. P. Hall's Observations, Being More or Less a History of Political Contests in Minnesota from 1849 to 1904. St. Paul: Author, 1904. 384 p.
[link]

Henson, Glenn, ed. The Frontier Holiday, Being a Collection of Writings by Minnesota Pioneers Who Recorded Their Divers Ways of Observing Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year's. St. Paul: North Central Publishing Co., 1948. 47 p.
[link]

Hewitt, Girart. Minnesota: Its Advantages to Settlers. 1868. St. Paul: State of Minnesota, 1869. 52 p.
[link]

Keating, William Hypolitus. Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River, Lake Winnepeek, Lake of the Woods, Performed in the Year 1823. Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1824. 2 vols.
Vol. 1: [link]
Vol. 2: [link]

Le Sueur, Meridel. Crusaders. New York: Blue Heron Press, 1955. 94 p.
[link]

McClung, John W. Minnesota As It Is In 1870. St. Paul: Author, 1870. 300 p.
[link]

Mayer, Frank Blackwell. With Pen and Pencil on the Frontier in 1851: The Diary and Sketches of Frank Blackwell Mayer. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1932. 214 p.
[link]

Minnesota, the Empire State of the New Northwest, the Commercial, Manufacturing and Geographical Centre of the American Continent. St. Paul: Board of Immigration, 1878. 88 p.
[link]

Minnesota Historical Society. Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society. St. Paul: Society, varies.
Vol. 1: [link]
Vol. 5. [link]
Vol. 7: [link]
Vol. 9: [link]
Vol. 10, pt. 1: [link]
Vol. 10, pt. 2: [link]
Vol. 12: [link]
Vol. 15: [link]

Neill, Edward D. A Hand Book for the Presbyterian Church in Minnesota, Designed to Promote Order in and Love for the Sanctuary. Philadelphia: Ashmead, 1856. 72 p.
[link]

Old Rail Fence Corners; The ABC's of Minnesota History. Austin, MN: McCulloch Printing Co., 1914. 333 p.
[link]

Parker, Nathan Howe. The Minnesota Handbook 1856–7. Boston: Jewett, 1857. 160 p.
[link]

Sevareid, Arnold Eric. Canoeing with the Cree. New York: Macmillan, 1935. 201 p.
[link]

Seymour, E. S. Sketches of Minnesota, the New England of the West, with Incidents of Travels in That Territory during the Summer of 1849. New York: Harper, 1850. 281 p.
[link]

Shutter, Marion Daniel. Progressive Men of Minnesota. Minneapolis: Minneapolis Journal, 1897. 514 p.
[link]

BLUE EARTH COUNTY

George, Alice Mendenhall. The Story of My Childhood, Written for My Children. Whittier, CA: Smith, 1923. 87 p.
[link]

BUFFALO LAKE (Renville County)

Carrigan, Wilhelmina Buce. Captured by the Indians: Reminiscences of Pioneer Life in Minnesota. Buffalo Lake: News Print, 1912. 68 p.
[link]

CLEARWATER LAKE (Stearns County)

Dally, Nathan. Track and Trails, or Incidents in the Life of a Minnesota Territorial Pioneer. Walker, MN: Cass County Pioneer, 1931. 138 p.
[link]

FORT SNELLING

Eastman, Mary Henderson. Dahcotah, or Life and Legends of the Sioux around Fort Snelling. New York: Wiley, 1849. 292 p.
[link]

Van Cleve, Charlotte Ouisconsin. "Three Score Years and Ten": Life-long Memories of Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Other Parts of the West. Minneapolis: Harrison & Smith, 1888. 176 p.
[link]

LE SUEUR COUNTY

George, Alice Mendenhall. The Story of My Childhood, Written for My Children. Whittier, CA: Smith, 1923. 87 p.
[link]

NORTHFIELD (Rice County)

Grose, Ingebrikt F. Fifty Memorable Years at St. Olaf, Marking the History of the "College on the Hill" from Its Founding in 1874 to Its Golden Jubilee Celebration in 1925. Northfield, MN: Northfield News, 1925. 46 p.
[link]

ST. PAUL

Manahan, James. Trials of a Lawyer: Autobiography. Minneapolis: Farnham Printing, 1933. 248 p.
[link]

Moore, Frank. Reminiscences of Pioneer Days in St. Paul. St. Paul: Author, 1908. 134 p.
[link]

Williams, J. Fletcher. A History of the City of Saint Paul, and of the County of Ramsey, Minnesota. Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, vol. 4. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1876. 490 p.
[link]

STEARNS COUNTY

Dally, Nathan. Track and Trails, or Incidents in the Life of a Minnesota Territorial Pioneer. Walker, MN: Cass County Pioneer, 1931. 138 p.
[link]

WRIGHT COUNTY

Vandergon, Gertrude Braat. Our Pioneer Days in Minnesota. Holland, MI: Author, 1949. 138 p.
[link]

Tom Kemp, a well-known librarian and genealogist, is the chair of the ALA Genealogy Committee (RUSA/HS), and the author of numerous reference books including The Genealogist’s Virtual Library: Full-text Books on the World Wide Web (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2000. 257 p.). He can be reached at GenAnnual@aol.com.