Washington County, Wisconsin Genealogy

United States Wisconsin  Washington County

Guide to Washington County Wisconsin ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.



County Courthouse
Washington County Courthouse 432 E Washington Street West Bend, WI 53095 Phone: 262.335.4301 County Clerk has birth, marriage, and death records from 1850, divorce and court records from 1849; Register in Probate has probate records from 1851

Parent County
1836--Washington County was created 7 December 1836 from Brown andMilwaukee Counties. County seat: West Bend

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Wisconsin County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Wisconsin County Boundary Maps" (1790-1961) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Neighboring Counties
Dodge •  Fond du Lac  •  Milwaukee  •  Ozaukee  •  Sheboygan  •  Waukesha



Census

 * 1855 Wisconsin State Census This census includes name of head of family; other individuals in the household are identified by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, insane and foreign born.
 * 1865 Wisconsin State Census Name index and images of the 1865 State Census which names the head of household. Most records have been destroyed but schedules exist for the following counties: Dunn, Green, Jackson, Kewaunee, Ozaukee, and Sheboygan.
 * 1875 Wisconsin State Census Identifies head of household by name.
 * 1885 Wisconsin State Census Search indexed census. Identifies by name of head of household.  Other information is statistical and identifies the rest of the household by race, gender and country of birth.
 * 1895 Wisconsin State Census Index and images. Identifies head of household by name. Other information is statistical.
 * 1905 Wisconsin State Census Name index and images of population. Enumerates by name all inhabitants.

Germans
Archives, Libraries, and Museums Biographies Church Records Cemetery Records Court Records Histories Immigration/emigration/migration Maps Newspapers Societies

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Wisconsin
 * Family Maps of Washington County, Wisconsin (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Civil War
Civil War service men from Washington County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are many companies or regiments that were formed from men of Washington County.


 * - 8th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company I
 * - 10th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company D (These men were from the town of Menasha. There is a town of Menasha in both Dodge and Washington Counties.)
 * - 12th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company D

Probate Records
Online Records


 * 1800 – 1987 Wisconsin Wills and Probate Records 1800-1987 at Ancestry.com — images and index $
 * 1848 – 1948 at FamilySearch — images

Repositories
See also a List of Wisconsin Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * West Bend Wisconsin Family History Center

Societies
Washington County Historical Society 320 S 5th Ave West Bend, WI 53095 Phone: 262-335-4678 Website

Germantown Historical Society Highway 145 & Holy Hill Rd Germantown 53022 Website

Hartford Genealogical Society 109 N Main St Hartford, WI 53027

Jackson Historical Society 2860 Division Rd Jackson, WI 53037 Phone: 262-677-4825 Website

Kewaskum Historical Society 1202 Parkview Dr Kewaskum, WI 53040 Phone: 262-626-4656

Richfield Historical Society PO Box 268 Richfield, WI 53076 Phone: 262-628-2841 Website

Vital Records

 * Washington County Family Section WIGenWeb project

Birth Records

 * 1826 - 1926 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1820 - 1907 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1826 - 1908 Wisconsin, Births and Christenings Index, 1826-1908 at Ancestry.com — index $

Marriage Records

 * 1836 - 1930 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1973 - 1997 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1973 - 1997 Wisconsin Marriages, 1973-1997 at Ancestry.com — index/images $

Divorce Records

 * 1965 - 1984 at FamilySearch.org — index

Death Records

 * 1867 - 1907 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1835 - 1968 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1820 - 1907 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1959 - 1997 at FamilySearch.org — index

Web Sites

 * Washington County, WI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Washington County WIGenWeb project
 * Washington County Archives USGenWeb Archives
 * Washington County Archives USGenWeb Archives