Forest County, Wisconsin Genealogy

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

United States Wisconsin  Forest County



County Courthouse
Forest County Courthouse 200 E Madison Street Crandon, WI 54520 Phone: 715.478.2422 Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, death and land records from 1885; Clerk of Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Register in Probate has probate records

Parent County
1885--Forest County was created 11 April 1885 fromLanglade County. County seat: Crandon

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
Florence •  Iron  •  Langlade  •  Marinette  •  Oconto  •  Oneida  •  Vilas

Cemeteries
List of Cemeteries (with some links) WIGenWeb, Forest County

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.

Maps
Courtesy of the Crandon Public Library:


 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Wisconsin
 * 1940 Census Enumeration District Maps: Wisconsin, Forest County, ED21-1 - ED 21-19

Obituaries
The Crandon Public Library in the city of Crandon has made an obituary database on its website. This index was begun by local and library volunteers and converted to an online database by the library. The index currently covers the years from 1909 – 1923, 2001 – 2003, and 2005. This is an ongoing project. There are nearly 1,800 records in the index. The data fields include last name, first name, age, newspaper, and date of publication. Click on the column header to sort the records.

Enter a surname in the search box to bring up a list of individuals with that name. You may request a copy of the obituary from the library for a small fee. As noted on the website, you may also request a copy of an obituary for someone who died in years not included in the index, if you have an approximate date of death.

Copies of the obituaries are available from the library. ($)

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 &amp; Genealogical Societies

Schools

 * Crandon High School Yearbooks: 1938, 1943, 1945-1948, 1950-1951, 1953, 1955, 1958-1961, 1963-1964


 * School Census Records 1905, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910 (Crandon and Wabeno) - WIGenWeb, Forest County

Societies
Forest County Historical and Genealogical Society 103 W. Jackson Street P.O.Box 432 Phone:(715) 478-5900 Crandon, Wisconsin 54520 Email: forestctyhistory@gmail.com Website

Forest History Association of Wisconsin 403 McIndoe St Wausau, WI 54403-4746 Phone: 715-848-6143 Website

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

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