Waushara County, Wisconsin Genealogy

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



County Courthouse
Waushara County Courthouse 209 S Saint Marie Street PO Box 488 Wautoma, WI 54982 Phone: 920.787.0442 Register of Deeds has birth and death records from 1876, marriage and land records from 1852; Clerk of Circuit Court has divorce and court records; Register in Pro has probate records

Parent County
1851--Waushara County was created 15 February 1851 from Marquette County. County seat: Wautoma

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
On April 30, 1928, the Waushara County Courthouse was completely destroyed by fire. Fortunately, the vaults withstood the intense heat and the records and valuable papers were saved.


 * Unknown - Wautoma, Wisconsin Waushara County Court House Fire April 30, 1928

Flames Destroy Waushara Court House Loss of building at Wautoma put at near $75,000

Wild Rose and Red Granite fire trucks prevent damage from flying firebrands; chimney dynamited.

(special to the Tribune)

Wautoma, April 30 Flames, supposed to have originated in the basement when the furnace door blew open, between 5 and 6 o’clock this morning completely destroyed the Waushara County Courthouse in this city with a loss estimated at from $60,000 to $75,000. Though fire departments from Wild Rose and Red Granite responded to calls for help, they were unable to do anything further than to stand by and help extinguish roof fires starting on buildings nearby, ignited by sparks from the burning structure. An extremely high wind scattered firebrands over a large area and only sufficient fire fighting equipment kept the loss confined to the court house.

Dynamite Chimney As the roof of the building collapsed, grave concern was felt over the tall brick chimney which swayed dangerously in the high wind. Citizens at once decided on the use of dynamite and the chimney was brought down with a crash. The brick walls of the court house collapsed shortly after.

Started Fire at Five O’Clock John Hahn, janitor at the court house, started the fire in the furnace shortly after 5 o’clock as is his usual custom. He then went home to breakfast. Smoke bursting from the building was noticed at 5:45 by Wilbur Johnson, foreman at the county machine shop. He spread the alarm but the flames had gained such great headway that no time was left to carry much from the various county offices. District Attorney G. Jones rushed into his office and carried out a letter file and a typewriter. Nothing else was saved.

The Wautoma fire department, a Ford truck with pumper attachment, forced water from White River, two blocks distant, through two hose lines. The rest of the equipment was needed to combat small roof fires.

All records of the county were in the various vaults and late this afternoon they were found still too hot to open. It is believed however that the records are safe, as the vaults were fire proof.

The regular meeting of the Waushara county board was scheduled for tomorrow morning in the court house chambers. The meeting will be held in other quarters and it is expected that steps will be taken at once toward providing a new county building to replace the one destroyed.

Insurance totaling about $30,000 was carried, it is said.

The Waushara county court house was built in 1888 at an approximate cost of $10,000. Later additions and improvements to the extent of $45,000 were added.

Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids, WI 30 Apr 1928 (source:GenDisasters)

Neighboring Counties
Adams •  Green Lake  •  Marquette  •  Portage  •  Waupaca  •  Winnebago

Cemeteries

 * WIGenWeb Waushara County Cemetery Index -  Many are only partial listings.
 * Find a Grave Map of Waushara County Cemeteries
 * Waushara County Tombstone Photograph Pages USGenWeb Archives

Census

 * Waushara County Census Records State, Federal and Special Censuses. WIGenWeb project

State Census

 * 1855 - 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 - 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 - 1875 Wisconsin State Census Identifies head of household by name.
 * 1885 - at FamilySearch — index and images. 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 - at FamilySearch — index and images. Identifies head of household by name. Other information is statistical.
 * 1905 - at FamilySearch — Name index and images of population. Enumerates by name all inhabitants.

Church History and Records

 * Waushara County Churches WIGenWeb project

Lutheran

 * Records of the Lutheran Church, Waushara County, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases & Maps of Wisconsin
 * Family Maps of Waushara County, Wisconsin (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Simple Map of Waushara County Townships
 * Download PDF single page map of Waushara County
 * Various Maps of Waushara County WIGenWeb

Military History and Records

 * Military Information Links to information on most wars. WIGenWeb project

Civil War
Civil War service men from Waushara 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 Waushara County.


 * - 7th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Companies E and I
 * - 11th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company I, many men from the town of Berlin which is found in Waushara County or Green Lake County

World War II

 * Waushara County Army Enlistees Names ALFSEN - PATTERSON USGenWeb Archives
 * Waushara County Army Enlistees Names PEARSON - ZUEHLKE USGenWeb Archives

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * Naturalization Index for Waushara County WIGenWeb project

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

Societies
Waushara County Historical Society 221 S St. Marie Wautoma 54982 Telephone: 920-787-7584 E-mail:[mailto:nevadamarv@yahoo.com nevadamarv@yahoo.com]

Waushara County Historical and Genealogy Society PO Box 616 212 S St Marie Wautoma, WI 54982 Telephone: 920-787-7584 Website

Berlin Area Historical Society 111 S Adams Ave Berlin, WI 54923 Telephone: 920-361-2460 Website

'''Wild Rose Historical Society PO Box 63 Wild Rose, WI 54984 Telephone: 715-575-2007 E-mail:[mailto:waushara@yahoo.com waushara@yahoo.com]

Birth Records

 * 1826 - 1926 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1836 - 1930 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

Websites

 * Waushara County, WI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * WIGenWeb Waushara County
 * USGenWeb Archives Waushara County
 * Linkpendium Waushara County
 * Cyndi's List Wisconsin Page  Scroll down to Waushara County Section, or Search for "Waushara County"
 * Cyndi's List Wisconsin Page  Scroll down to Waushara County Section, or Search for "Waushara County"