Abstract This collection consists of items pertaining to the Barney family of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Genealogical information about the Barney family, a scrapbook, family correspondence, newspapers, and reminiscences about the Barney family homestead near Good Thunder, Minnesota are all part of the collection. Members of the Barney family were among the early pioneers in Blue Earth County. The scrapbook of Asa Barney, who was witness to events during the 1862 Dakota Conflict, and the...

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This collection consists of a typescript of the autobiography of Andrew Friend, of Garden City, Minnesota. The item is entitled “The Life of Mr. Friend”, and was compiled in 1916. In his autobiography, Friend discusses his involvement in building sawmills and gristmills in southern Minnesota, the defense of New Ulm during the Dakota Conflict, and the operation of his flourmill at Garden City.

Abstract The Peter Geschwind collection consists of items pertaining to his work in the Sleepy Eye, Minnesota as well as some personal items. The collection contains The Charter of the City of Sleepy Eye with appended ordinances through 1907, manuscripts written by Geschwind about his views concerning the Ku Klux Klan and more specifically the Klan in southern Texas, and an undated photograph of Geschwind. Additionally, the collection contains numerous documents ranging from land deeds, to the will...

Abstract Scrapbooks of clippings compiled from Minnesota newspapers by Minnesota Historical Society staff on a variety of topics relating to Minnesota history, biography, and geographical locations. There appear to be numerous clippings on some topics, including the Dakota Conflict of 1862, the Civil War, Governor John A. Johnson and other prominent Minnesotans, the Minnesota Historical Society, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Mankato and other areas of Minnesota beyond the Twin Cities. Volumes 1-74, 76-83,...

Abstract The Lucius Denning Mills collection holds a typed copy of an unpublished manuscript entitled “Reminiscences of Pioneer Life” compiled by Mills. Mills recalled his family living in Illinois before migrating to the area around Garden City, Minnesota. Also, he discussed living conditions in Mankato, Minnesota for the year 1854, the Dakota Conflict and subsequent mass hanging in Mankato, and the hardships and joys experienced by pioneers on the Minnesota frontier during the...

Abstract This collection consists of items pertaining to Aaron Myers and his role in the 1862 Dakota Uprising. A typescript of Myers’ experiences in the fighting near Lake Shetek, Minnesota, is included in the collection. This undated typescript was dictated to his son Arthur, and is titled “An Account of the Lake Shetek Massacre”. Newspaper clippings from the Mankato Free Press that describe the Lake Shetek affair are also included in the collection. They are from 1962 commemorative editions of the...

Abstract The Sioux War Trial Transcripts contains records of the United States Senate hearings regarding the Dakota Conflict of 1862. The collection includes original transcripts and a message from Abraham Lincoln dated 11 December 1862. The first reel contains Lincoln’s message and transcripts for trials 1 through 127. The second reel includes cases 128 through 295. The third reel provides the transcripts for cases 296 through 392. Furthermore, this reel contains the names and information regarding...

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The Benjamin F. Smith collection contains the special orders issued by or during Smith’s command of a Civil War military training camp at Fort Snelling. Furthermore, it includes pay rolls, muster rolls, special orders, and financial records dating from his service as commander of the militia for Blue Earth County in the Dakota Conflict.

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The J. G. Thompson collection contains a contemporary letter written on 5 July 1863 from Hutchinson, Minnesota. The letter contains information concerning the murder of Little Crow in 1863.

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This collection consists of a transcribed photocopy, jfrom German to English, of the reminiscences of August Edward Winter. Winter served as a German Lutheran minister on the Minnesota frontier, and he detailed his experience in the paper. In the document. Winter described of living conditions, wages, Minnesota communities, the Dakota Conflict, a grasshopper invasion, and Minnesota's pioneers.