Wisconsin, Outagamie County Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What Is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images of land and probate records from the Outagamie Courthouse in Appleton, Wisconsin. The records include:


 * Land and Property - Deeds (1825-1901)
 * Probate Records - Wills (1872-1912)

County officials began keeping records from the time the county was formed.

The records cover the years 1825 to 1980.

Each type of record within the county was created for a different purpose, but most were created to keep track of the vital events happening in the lives of the citizens and to safeguard their legal interests and the legal interests of their heirs.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Depending on the record type, these records may include:
 * Date and place of event
 * Name of primary individual
 * Age, gender, occupation and residence
 * Names of parents
 * Biographical information about parents such as date and place of birth
 * Names of heirs, such as spouse, children, other relatives, or friends
 * Names of the executor, administrator, or guardian
 * Names of witnesses
 * Dates the documents were written and recorded (used to approximate event dates since a will was usually written near the time of death)
 * Description and value of property or land

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or the date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page.
 * 1) Select Record Category
 * 2) Select 'Record Type, Volume, and Year Range

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the age listed to determine an approximate birth date to find church and vital records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records. Also search for immigration and military records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members in censuses.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record. Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relatives that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Try variant spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Wisconsin, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the FamilySearch Library Catalog

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Image citation:

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