Rock County, Wisconsin Genealogy

Guide to Rock 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  Rock County



County Courthouse
Rock County Courthouse 51 S Main Street Janesville, WI 53545-3978 Phone: 608.757.5660  Register of Deeds has birth, marriage and death records from 1849 and land records from 1839; Registrar in Probate has probate records

County Offices


 * Rock County government website
 * Rock County Circuit Court website
 * Rock County Register of Deeds website

Parent County
1836--Rock County was created 7 December 1836 from Milwaukee County. County seat: Janesville

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.

There have been no boundary changes in Rock County since its inception.

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

Populated Places
See Wikipedia entry

Neighboring Counties
Boone County, Illinois •  Dane  •  Green  •  Jefferson  •  Walworth  •  Winnebago County, Illinois



Cemeteries
See WIGenWeb Rock County Janesville,_Wisconsin

Census
1855 Wisconsin State Census— Free images can be viewed at the FamilySearch website. This census includes name of head of household, number of individuals in the household by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, insane, and foreign born.

Wisconsin State Census— Free indexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch website. This census includes name of head of household, number of individuals in the household by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, and insane.

1885 Wisconsin State Census— Free indexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch website. This census includes name of head of household, number of individuals in the household by sex and race, number of individuals from each country of origin.

1895 Wisconsin State Census— Free indexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch website. This census includes name of head of household, number of individuals in the household by sex and race, number of individuals from each country of origin.

1905 Rock County, Wisconsin State Census— Free indexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch website. This census includes name of each member of the household, sex, race, age, marital status, country of birth, country of parents' birth, occupation, and home ownership.

Church History and Records

 * Janesville,_Wisconsin

Lutheran

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

Directories
City and county directories from 1858 to 1931 can be found at the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Janesville,_Wisconsin

Genealogy

 * Rock County Townships (sic) Guides - resources in each civil town, published by the Rock County Genealogical Society
 * Local History Database - index to obituaries, newspaper articles, and photos, maintained by the Hedberg Public Library, Janesville

History

 * Janesville's Past - digitized books, documents, and photos can be found in this collection, part of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. *The History of Rock County, Wisconsin, 1879. Digitized volume at the Wisconsin Historical Society website
 * Portrait and Biographical Album of Rock County, Wisconsin, 1889. Digitized volume at the Wisconsin Historical Society website

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Wisconsin
 * Family Maps of Rock County, Wisconsin (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * 1858 Plat Map of Rock County at the Rock County Genealogical Society website
 * 1873 Plat Map of Rock County at WIGenWeb Rock County
 * 1922 Plat map of Rock County at the Rock County Genealogical Society website
 * Official Wisconsin DOT Map of Rock County, showing cities, highways, town boundaries, and survey township numbers

Civil War
Civil War service men from Rock 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 Rock County.


 * - 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Companies K, L, and M
 * - 3rd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Companies C, E, H, and L
 * - 5th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company E
 * - 5th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Reorganized, Company B
 * - 6th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company G
 * - 8th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company G
 * - 13th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Companies A, B, D, E, F, G, H and K
 * - 15th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company G

Rock County Veteran Burials

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has digitized historical newspapers from Janesville from the late 1800s and early 1900s that covered local news on residents from Rock County. Janesville,_Wisconsin Free

Vital Records
The Wisconsin Genealogy Index at the Wisconsin Historical Society contains an index of pre-1907 Wisconsin vital records.

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

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

Rock County Historical Society 426 North Jackson Street Janesville, WI 53548 (608) 756-4509 http://www.rchs.us/

Archives, Libraries and Museums

 * Beloit Public Library
 * Clinton Public Library
 * Edgerton Public Library
 * Eager Free Public Library, Evansville
 * Hedberg Public Library, Janesville
 * Milton Public Library
 * Orfordville Public Library

Family History Centers

 * Beloit Wisconsin Family History Center

Societies

 * Rock County Genealogical Society
 * German Interest Group-Wisconsin

Web Sites

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