Lafayette County, Wisconsin Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Lafayette County Courthouse 626 Main Street Darlington, WI 53530; Phone. 608.776.4850

Register of Deeds has birth records from 1860, marriage records from 1847, death records from 1877 and land records from 1840; Clerk Court has divorce and court records; Register in Probate has probate records

Parent County
1846--Lafayette County was created 31 January 1846 fromIowa County. County seat: Darlington

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.

Populated Places

 * Lafayette County Townships, Cities, Towns, and Villages WIGenWeb Project

Neighboring Counties
Grant •  Green  •  Iowa  •  Jo Daviess County, Illinois  •  Stephenson County, Illinois

Biography

 * Biographies on Various Families in Lafayette County WIGenWeb project
 * Biographical Index: History Of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, 1881 USGenWeb Archives

Cemeteries

 * Lafayette Co. Cemeteries Surname Lookup WIGenWeb Project
 * Lafayette County Tombstone Photograph Pages USGenWeb Archives

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.

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Wisconsin

Civil War
Civil War service men from Lafayette 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 Lafayette County.


 * - 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company I
 * - 5th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Reorganized, Company I
 * - 7th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company A
 * - 10th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company A

Newspapers
Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Freeport, Illinois newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Lafayette County. The Rock Island Public Library in Rock Island, Illinois provides free access to this database at its 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

Societies
Lafayette County Genealogical Society PO Box 183 Darlington, WI 53530 Telephone: 608-776-2755 Website

Lafayette County Historical Society 525 Main St Darlington, WI 53530 Telephone: 608-776-8340 E-mail:[mailto:lafayettehistorical@centurylink.net lafayettehistorical@centurylink.net] 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

Websites

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