Rock County, Wisconsin Genealogy

United States &gt; Wisconsin &gt; Rock County

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

Populated Places
See Wikipedia entry

Neighboring Counties

 * Boone County, Illinois
 * Dane
 * Green
 * Jefferson
 * Walworth
 * Winnebago County, Illinois

Cemeteries
See WIGenWeb Rock County

Census
1855 Wisconsin State Census— Free unindexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot. 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.

1875 Wisconsin State Census— Free indexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot. 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 Record Search Pilot. 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 Record Search Pilot. 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 Wisconsin State Census— Free indexed images can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search Pilot. 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.

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

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

Local Histories

 * 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

 * 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

Military
Rock County Veteran Burials

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 Rock County. The Rock Island Public Library in Rock Island, Illinois provides free access to this database at its library.

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

Societies and Libraries

 * Rock County Genealogical Society
 * Rock County Historical Society
 * German Interest Group
 * 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

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Beloit Wisconsin Family History Center