MILWAUKEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ----------------------------------- GENEALOGICAL and HISTORICAL RESEARCH COLLECTIONS of the MILWAUKEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY The research library of the Milwaukee County Historical Society has a wide variety of resources on the history of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, and the wider metropolitan, area and the state. All materials are for reference use only and do not circulate. Please note: all public records are for Milwaukee County only. NATURALIZATION PAPERS: (1836-Jan. 1941) Final Petitions for Naturalization and Declarations of Intent Alphabetical card index for naturalizations, bound indexes for intents. Papers after November 1906 are more detailed than those before that date. CITY DIRECTORIES: (1847-1990) Helpful in determining when a person or business was in the City of Milwaukee. Addresses and occupations for heads of households. Business subject listings. Reverse directories begin in 1921; these indicate who or what occupied a particular street address in a given year. COUNTY DIRECTORIES: (1896, 1902, 1903, 1907) Lists individuals who lived within the County of Milwaukee, but outside of the City limits. TOWNSHIP AND SUBURBAN COMMUNITY DIRECTORIES: (assorted) particularly for West Allis and Wauwatosa. OBITUARIES & BIOGRAPHIES: 1) Six volumes of Old Settler’s Club obituaries and memorials, indexed. 2) Microfilmed obituaries and biographical newspaper clippings, arranged alphabetically. 3) Name index to biographical sketches found in various sources in library collections. CENSUS RECORDS: The 1836, ‘40, ‘42, ‘46, & ‘47 Territorial Censuses, indexed. Federal Censuses of 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 & 1920. Note: Only 1850 is indexed. Wisconsin state census of 1905. To find names in later censuses a ward number must be determined; ask librarian for assistance. PUBLISHED HISTORIES: Rich sources of biographical and local history information, all indexed: Aderman, Ralph M., ed., From Trading Post to Metropolis: Milwaukee County’s First 150 Years(1987) Anderson, Harry H. & Frederick I. Olson, Milwaukee: A: the Gathering of the Waters (1981). Bruce, William George, History of Milwaukee City and Milwaukee County 3 vols. (1922) Buck, James, Pioneer History of Milwaukee, 4 vols.; Conard, Howard Louis, History of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County 3 vols. (1895) 1881 HIstory of Milwaukee [Frank Flower] Gregory, John 0., History of Milwaukee, Wisconsin 4 vols. (1931) Koss, Rudolph, Milwaukee (1871) Still, Bayrd, Milwaukee The Story of a City (1948) Watrous, Jerome A., Memoirs of Milwaukee County; 3 vols. (1909) Wheeler, Andrew C., Chronicles of Milwaukee (1860). COURT RECORDS: (1837-April 2, 1931) Bound alphabetical name indexes by court and years. Divorce proceedings have genealogical interest. Criminal court cases from 1838-1879 with index of all participants by term, indicating defendants, charges, and disposition of cases. JAIL REGISTERS: Sheriff’s Dept. (1855-1869, 1881 [name index onlyl, 1889-1926, 1929-1960, 1964). No name Index:includes name, offense, and court, some disposition and release date. Additional women’s registers, 1836-1969. PROBATE FILES: (1835-1889 Inclusive and scattered later tiles). Over 2,400 individual cases with, alphabetical name index. Generally noted as "will," "estate," and "assignment of guardianship." CORONER’S INQUESTS: (1873-1935) Full alphabetical name index, which includes cause of death for years 1873-1890. Files contain death certificates. INCORPORATION RECORDS: (1872-1960) Bound name indexes. Business and organizational articles of incorporation, amendments, and dissolutions. Includes names of founders. BUSINESS INDEX: Alphabetical card index by firm name. Includes published business information and pamphlet files. CIVIL WAR RECORDS OF WISCONSIN VETERANS: Alphabetical lists by name, rank, company, regiment, residence at enlistment, date of enlistment, cause and discharge from service. Indexed "Personal War Sketches" of E. B. Wolcott Post #1, Robert Chivas Post #2, and Rank and File Post #240. Soldier’s Relief Commission pension forms indexed by veteran or survivors. State censuses of veterans alphabetically arranged for 1885, 1895, & 1905. ROSTER OF WISCONSIN TROOPS IN THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR: For year 1899. Lists by regiment include transfers, discharges, cause and date of death, where died, and burial city. SCHOOL CENSUS RECORDS: (1863-1960) Scattered volumes for City of Milwaukee, suburban communities, and Towns in Milwaukee County. See librarian for lists. Contains children of school age, and some dates of birth, parents, addresses, and teachers. Early vols. do not list children’s names. ASSESSMENT & TAXATION RECORDS: (1839-1887) Scattered vols. for Bay View (village), Franklin, Granville, Greenfield, Lake, Milwaukee (city), Milwaukee (town), Oak Creek, and Wauwatosa. NATIONAL DEFENSE PROGRAM: Post World War II era registration cards for Milwaukee County employees only, name index. 13,150 fingerprint cards include name, date and place of birth, address, physical description, job applied for, citizenship status, and photograph. MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS: Card index and detailed finding aids to unpublished, primary material relating to individuals, businesses, organizations, institutions, and government. Also file of unpublished monographs and theses. PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTIONS: Thousands of images, including individual portraits, (indexed by name), city and county views, organizational, and business files. Arrangement by streets and specific subject card index. MAPS: Wide selection of city, county, suburban, and state maps. Helpful for locations and old street names. Card index. County plat maps (excludes city of Milwaukee) for 1858, 1876, 1893, 1916, 1926, 1954, & 1961 which show owners name and may include acreage. Local and state atlases. The 1898 Baist’s Atlas and 1910 Sanbom fire insurance set show individual structures on enlarged street sections. Incomplete set of Sanbom fire sets for 1927, 1929, 1930, and 1937. Helpful for building research. MICROFILM: Includes newspaper clippings, alphabetically arranged by subject. Particularly helpful for finding articles where no newspaper index exists. Among the categories are biographical, business, religious, education, and government. BOOKS: Library book catalog includes 19th and 20th century volumes relating to local and state history. PERIODICALS: MCHS magazines, Historical Messenger and Milwaukee History. Assorted journals and newsletters, including The Wisconsin Magazine of History. ORDINATION PAPERS: (1836-1934) Name index includes date and denomination. Contains Catholic, Protestant, and other denominational certificates of credentials as ordained clergy. CHURCH RECORDS & PAMPHLET FILES: Microfilm baptisms, burials, marriages, confirmations, for the following churches - Episcopal: St. James (Milwaukee), St. John Chrysostom (Delafield), St. Luke (Racine), St. Peter’s (West Allis), St. Paul’s (Watertown, Columbus, and Ashippun), St. Mark’s (Beaver Den), St. Edmund’s (Elm Grove); Our Saviour’s Lutheran (Milwaukee); Ascension Lutheran (Milwaukee); St. Peter’s Lutheran (River Hills); West Granville Presbyterian; St. Peter’s Roman Catholic (Milwaukee), but no indexes. Individual church files include anniversary publications and church histories, indexed by denomination and church name. Records of the Milwaukee Episcopal Archdiocese. MAIL REQUESTS: There is a $5.00 fee for mailed requests for genealogical and historical research. Census research fee is $10.00 and may take several weeks to process. Write to: Judith A. Simonsen , Curator of Research Collections, MILWAUKEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 910 North Old World Third Street, Milwaukee, WI 53203. LIBRARY HOURS: Monday through Friday: 9:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Call for available Saturday hours. A $1.00 per day user fee is charged for non-members of the Milwaukee County Historical Society. PHONE:(414)273-8288. 910 N. Old World 3rd St. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 (414)273-8288 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obtained from writing to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee concerning Genealogy. Please note that this document is a couple years old, and new resources may have been added to the Historical Society. It was written by the Milwaukee Historical Society