Wisconsin Research Tips and Strategies

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Wisconsin

Research Tips and Strategies

Purpose of Research Tips and Strategies Wiki Page The Wisconsin Research Tips and Strategies page consists of links to specific research strategies for Wisconsin. It also contains general tips and other resources for finding your ancestors in this locality.

Wisconsin Research Strategies

Below are links to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in Wisconsin:

Finding Wisconsin Birth, Marriage or Death Records

• Finding Wisconsin Births, Marriages, and Deaths using Guided Research

Finding Wisconsin Records

• Wisconsin Record Finder

Wisconsin Statewide Databases

• Montana Online Genealogy Records

Wisconsin Research Process

• Step-by-Step Wisconsin Research, 1880-Present
• Step-by-Step Wisconsin Research, 1850-1910
• How to find Wisconsin Birth Records
• How to find Wisconsin Marriage Records
• How to find Wisconsin Death Records

Wisconsin Research Tips

These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in Wisconsin:

Birth and Death information:

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• Statewide registration: Statewide registration of births and deaths began in 1907 and complied with by 1917 for births and 1908 for deaths.
• County registration: A few counties began keeping birth and death records in the 1850s, but most records date from the 1870s or later.
• Access to records: See Wisconsin Vital Records for more information about birth, marriages, and deaths in Wisconsin.

Substitute Records:

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• Secondary source: Substitute records are used when primary sources do not exist for an event, such as birth, marriage, and deaths. Secondary sources list information about the event but they were not recorded at the time of the event and they are not an official record of the event.
• Accuracy: Because the information about an event in substitute records was not the official recording of the event (such as, cemetery or obituary records) inaccuracy may occur. Use other substitute records to help verify information.
• List of substitute records: See Wisconsin Substitute Records for more information.

Finding Parents:

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• Death records: Most death records started in 1870s and requested information about the deceased's birth and parent information. Information was not always provided and the accuracy of the information was limited by the grieving relatives' memory.
• Obituaries: Official obituaries can also include the names of parents and other family members. See Wisconsin Newspapers and Wisconsin Obituaries for more information.
• Church records: Knowing the denomination of the church the family belonged to helps in locating information about the parents. See Wisconsin Church Records for more information.

Additional Tips:

• In Wisconsin, vital records the county name often was written as a four-letter abbreviation that may resemble another place name: Adam, Fond, Lacr, Winn, Wood, etc.

Further Wisconsin Research

• Wisconsin Family History Library Research Outline
• WIGenWeb - Wisconsin GenWeb Project
• Wisconsin Genealogy Trails - Collection of transcribed data for the state of Wisconsin
• Cyndi's List - Wisconsin genealogy websites
• Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness - State of Wisconsin Records Guide