Wisconsin Church Records

United States   Wisconsin    Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. Records may include names of other relatives who were witnesses or members of the congregation. The members of some churches were predominantly of one nationality or ethnic group.

Wisconsin Church Records
During the 1800s, two major denominations—Catholics and Lutherans—were widely represented in Wisconsin. This was largely because of the tremendous number of German, Polish, and Scandinavian immigrants who settled in the state. Methodists and Baptists were also represented but in much smaller numbers.

The records of many denominations have been preserved. They are especially valuable because often they cover time periods before the state began registration of births, marriages, and deaths. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of many church records from Wisconsin. Some church records have also been deposited with the Wisconsin Historical Society. Although some records of congregations have been gathered to major denominational repositories, the majority still remain with local congregations.

The early Roman Catholic records (1695–1821) for the mission of St. Ignace of Michilimackinac contain information about many of the early traders in what is now Wisconsin and are published in:


 * Draper, Lyman Copeland, ed. Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1855–. (Family History Library .) This series has the register of baptisms of the parish of St. Ignace de Michilimakinak, 1695–1821 (vol. 19), marriages 1725–1821 (vol. 18), and burials 1743–1806 (vol. 19).

The Family History Library has several Historical Records Survey inventories completed in the 1940s of the church archives in the state. These inventories may help identify what records are available and where they may be located:


 * Historical Records Survey (Wisconsin). Guide to Church Vital Statistics Records in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Records Survey, 1942. (Family History Library book ; film .) This gives the exact years of the church registers.

The Family History Library also has inventories that list the records available in the individual churches. The inventories were prepared by the Historical Records Survey between 1938 and 1942:


 * Assembly of God, Family History Library film item 7
 * Disciples of Christ, Family History Library film item 6
 * Moravian Church, Family History Library book 977.5 K2hi; film item 6
 * Church of the Nazarene, Family History Library film item 8
 * Protestant Episcopal, Family History Library film item 4
 * United Brethren in Christ, Family History Library film item 5

To learn which towns or cities had churches in 1940, see:


 * Historical Records Survey (Wisconsin). Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Historical Records Survey, 1941. (Family History Library book ; film item 12; fiche .) This directory lists churches by denomination and by county. Though it lists towns or cities that had churches, it does not give the year the registers began.

The Family History Library has histories of several denominations. An example is Stephen Peet,  (Milwaukee, Wisconsin: S. Chapman, 1851; (digitized) ; ).

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons)
Early church records for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for Wisconsin wards and branches can be found on film at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. The film numbers for each ward can be located through the Family History Library Catalog or by referring to Jaussi, Laureen R., and Gloria D. Chaston. Register of Genealogical Society Call Numbers. 2 vols. Provo, Utah: Genealogy Tree, 1982. (FHL book 979.2258 A3j; fiche 6031507). These volumes contain the film numbers for many (but not all) membership and temple record films.

Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA Archives) 8765 West Higgins Chicago, IL 60631 Phone: (773) 380-2818 Fax: (312) 380-2977

The above archives has microfilms of Evangelical Lutheran congregations for region nine, which includes Iowa, Illinois, upper Michigan, and Wisconsin. Many of their records can be borrowed for a small fee. (For a list of the church records for approximately 200 Wisconsin congregations in the collection, see Family History Library fiche .)

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Department of Archives and History 2929 North Mayfair Road Milwaukee WI 53222 Phone: (414) 256-3888

The following yearbook contains the names of congregations of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and includes name, telephone number, and address of the minister:


 * Yearbook of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Northwestern Publishing House, 1989–. (Family History Library book .)

Concordia Historical Institute 801 DeMun Avenue St. Louis, MO 63105 Phone: (314) 505-7900

They have some records of existing Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod congregations and records of some that have closed.

Methodist
Wisconsin Conference United Methodist Church 750 Windsor Street Sun Prairie, WI 53590 Phone: (608) 837-7328

For a history of the Methodist church in Wisconsin, see Pansey S. F. Bennett, History of Methodism in Wisconsin (Cincinnati, Ohio: Cranston &amp; Stowe, 1980; Family History Library .)

Protestant
Some church records have been gathered into central repositories or archives. The major denominational repositories are:

German Immigrants in NW Wisconsin Protestant Church Records German Immigrants in NE Wisconsin Protestant Church Records German Immigrants in SW Wisconsin Protestant Church Records German Immigrants in SE Wisconsin Protestant Church Records

Roman Catholic
Archdiocese of Milwaukee 2000 West Wisconsin Avenue Milwaukee, WI 53403 Phone: (414) 769-3300 The church records of the parishes in the above diocese have been microfilmed to about 1920 and are available through the Family History Library. These records include parishes in about eleven counties in southeastern Wisconsin. The records are cataloged by the town where the parish is located.

The Archdiocese consists of the following counties: Dodge, Fond du Lac, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington and Waukesha

Diocese of Green Bay 1910 South Webster Avenue P.O. Box 66 Green Bay, WI 54301 Phone: (414) 435-4406

The diocese consists of the following counties: Brown, Calumet, Door, Florence, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Waupaca, Waushara, and Winnebago

Diocese of La Crosse 421 Main Street P.O. Box 982 La Crosse, WI 54601 Phone: (608) 788-7700 The diocese consists of the following counties: Adams, Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Marathon, Monroe, Pepin, Pierce, Portage, Richland, Trempealeau, Vernon, Wood

Diocese of Madison 15 East Wilson Street, Box 111 Madison, WI 53701 Phone: (608) 256-2677

The diocese consists of the following counties: Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, Lafayette, Marquette, Rock, and Sauk

Diocese of Superior 1201 Hughitt Avenue, Box 969 Superior, WI 54880 Phone: (715) 392-2937

The diocese consists of the following counties: Ashland, Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Lincoln, Oneida, Polk, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, Taylor, Vilas and Washburn.

Finding Aids
There is a current directory of congregations:


 * The Official Catholic Directory. New Providence, New Jersey: P. J. Kenedy &amp; Sons, in association with R. R. Bowker, annual. (Family History Library .) This nationwide directory is available at many public libraries and has addresses and telephone numbers of Roman Catholic churches. The 1936 edition is on Family History Library.


 * Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records, 1695-1954 (Drouin Collection): This database contains the French Catholic parish records from the United States for the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The types of records include baptisms, marriages, and burials as well as confirmations, dispensations, censuses, statements of readmission to the church, and so on. They are written mainly in French, as well as English, Latin, and Italian.