Minnesota was organized as a territory in 1849 and by 1852, the population was estimated at 20,000. Fillmore County, named for President Millard Fillmore, was created by an act of Territorial Legislature on March 5, 1853 when it was subdivided off what had been Wabasha County. At that time, Fillmore County included all of present-day Fillmore and Houston counties, most of Winona and some of Olmsted. Later legislation creating Houston, Winona and finally Olmsted counties reduced Fillmore to its present size of 24 townships. The county seat, designated originally at Chatfield, was later moved to Carimona, with the final move to Preston in April of 1856. The townships were organized in 1858 when Minnesota became a state.

In March and April, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the Kentucky Comprehensive Genealogy Database. The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in Kentucky, where collected databases would be stored. In addition, the databases would be indexed and cross-linked, so that even if an individual were found in more than one county, they could be located in the index. This led to the USGenWeb of which Minnesota is a part.