South Dakota or Bust

I promised to document my itinerary for my research trip out to South Dakota. The details of the trip are not set in stone but there are a few places that I need to hit.

Thursday:
I plan to leave very early Thursday morning so I can attempt to get there and visit everything in one day. My first stop is in Willmar, Minnesota, where I try and acquire a birth certificate for my grandfather, Melvin Scheevel, and attempt to find a land record for when they lived in Kandiyohi County a few years. My next stop will be in Montevideo, Minnesota. There I have to visit the city offices to inquire about a cemetery plot location for Martha Johnson, my great-great-great grandmother. I know she is buried in the Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Montevideo but it's a cemetery of about 5000 people so I'd be there all day if not for a plot location.

From there I cross over the border into South Dakota and visit the town of Madison. Madison is the county seat of Lake County, South Dakota, which is the county my great-grandfather and grandfather lived during the late 1800s. Hopefully there I am able to find a birth certificate for my grandfather, Joseph Larson Sr., at the courthouse and possibly acquire a land record for where they lived. I do have a 1900 census record for the family which lists they are living in Summit Township of Lake County so that should narrow my search a bit. Also in Madison is the Dakota State University which holds a large collection of obituaries for Lake County. I have a few people I'd like to acquire obits for while I'm there. Just to the northeast of Madison are two cemeteries I want to visit. South Lake Campbell Cemetery is where Joseph Larson's father Jonas' first wife Ragnhild is buried and Prairie Queen Cemetery is where Jonas' second wife Bergitte's brother Gustav Gudmundson (my great granduncle) is buried. That'll be great if I can manage to stop at all those places in one day.

The next day I'd like to spend in Sioux Falls going to the zoo and a few other fun things. On the way home I want to visit the Oslo Lutheran Church Cemetery in Trent, South Dakota, to see if I can find the grave of my great-great-great grandfather, Ole Skadsem. I have the grave and lot numbers so it shouldn't be to hard to find. Have a few other places I may visit but that is the extent of my research trip.