Portage County, Wisconsin Genealogy

United States Wisconsin  Portage County

Guide to Portage County Wisconsin genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.



Parent County
1836--Portage County was created 7 December 1836 from Brown, Crawford, Iowa andMilwaukee Counties. County seat: Stevens Point

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
For a list of record loss in Wisconsin Counties see: Wisconsin Counties with Burned Courthouses

Neighboring Counties

 * Adams
 * Marathon
 * Shawano
 * Waupaca
 * Waushara
 * Wood

Cemeteries
Guyant Collection of Tombstone Inscriptions is on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. This collection includes tombstone inscriptions copied between 1970 and 1981 by Wayne and Alta Guyant in cemeteries in seventeen Wisconsin counties, and clipped newspaper obituaries and other related items. The records represent every known cemetery in Florence, Langlade, Portage, Waupaca, and Waushara counties and many in Adams, Barron, Forest, Green Lake, Juneau, Lincoln, Marquette, Oneida, Outagamie, Shawano, Winnebago, and Wood counties.

Portage County Cemetery Index

Forest Cemetery Records

Union Cemetery Records

Census
1855 Wisconsin State Census— Free searchable index to the 1855 Wisconsin State Census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search This census includes name of head of family, individuals in the household by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, insane and foreign born.

1885 Wisconsin State Census— Free searchable index to the 1885 Wisconsin State Census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search This census includes name of head of family, individuals in the household by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, insane and foreign born.

Church History and Records
Information about local churches (history and records) can be found on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website.

Lutheran

 * Records of Peace Lutheran Church, Amherst, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records
The surviving early probate files have been indexed and are on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website. Also indexed are the Circuit Court Criminal Case Files Index 1849-1919 and the Circuit Court Civil Case Files Defendant Index 1845-1919

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

Civil War
Civil War service men from Portage 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 Portage County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company B
 * - 3rd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company H

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization Records for Portage County have been indexed and the index is available on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website.

Newspapers
A complete listing of all Portage County newspapers can be found on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website.

Obituaries
The Portage County Obituary Index is now a part of the Central Wisconsin Genealogy Index. Full text obituaries from The Wisconsin Pinery (1853-1890) and The Plover Times (1866-1881) can be found on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website. These are not indexed in the Obituary Index.

Probate Records
Probate Index

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

Archives, Libraries and Museums
Nelis R. Kampanga University Archives

Portage County Public Library

List of genealogical resources available at the Portage County Public Library

County Courthouse
The Portage County Courthouse is located at 1516 Church Street, Stevens Point, WI 54481. The Register of Deeds office, which houses birth, death, and marriage records, as well as land records is open for genealogical research during the following days and times:

Monday - Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Closed for research on Fridays and from 11:30 - 1:00.

Societies
Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society

Portage County Historical Society

Birth
Birth Records Indexed

Marriage
Marriage Records Indexed

Death
Death Records Indexed

Web Sites

 * Portage County, WI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Group on Facebook