Dane County, Wisconsin Genealogy

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

County Courthouse
Dane County Courthouse 210 Martin Luther King Blvd Madison, WI 53709 Phone. 608.266.4121 Clerk of Courts

Register of Deeds has birth, marriage, death, land and military records; Clerk Court has divorce, probate and court records

Historical Facts

 * Madison, Wisconsin History

Parent County
1836--Dane County was created 7 December 1836 from Crawford, Iowa and Milwaukee Counties. County seat: Madison

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.

Neighboring Counties
Columbia •  Dodge  •  Green  •  Iowa  •  Jefferson  •  Rock  •  Sauk

Biography

 * Dane County Briographies USGenWeb Archives

Cemeteries

 * Madison, Wisconsin Cemeteries

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.

Church History and Records

 * Madison, Wisconsin Church Records

Lutheran
Black Earth


 * Records of Black Earth Lutheran Church in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

De Forest


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

First Lutheran Church, Stoughton


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

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mt. Horeb


 * Records of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Mt. Horeb, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Madison Norwegian Lutheran Church


 * Records of Madison Norwegian Lutheran Church in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Roxbury


 * Records of Roxbury Lutheran Church in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Middleton


 * Records of St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Middleton, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Zion Lutheran Church, Madison


 * Records of Zion Lutheran Church, Madison, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Directories

 * Madison, Wisconsin Directories

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Wisconsin
 * Family Maps of Dane County, Wisconsin (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Civil War
Civil War service men from Dane 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 Dane County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company G
 * - 2nd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company F
 * - 3rd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Companies A, B, D, F, H, L and M
 * - 5th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Reorganized, Company G (Men were listed in the Roster as being from the city of Albion, which could have been from the counties of Dane, Trempealeau or Jackson.)
 * - 7th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Companies A and D
 * - 8th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Companies E, H and K
 * - 9th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company F
 * - 11th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Companies A, B, D, F, and G
 * - 12th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company C
 * - 15th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Companies B, E and H

Naturalization and Citizenship
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Wisconsin, Dane County Naturalization Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Newspapers

 * Waunakee Tribune (1896-2006) - available electronically online from the Waunakee Public Library; papers hosted by NewspaperArchive.com.
 * Madison, Wisconsin Newspapers

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

County Courthouse
Dane County's Administrative offices are located in the joint City-County Building at 210 South Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., directly south of the State Capitol.

This building houses the Register of Deeds office for the county. It is in this office that both deeds and vital records are filed.

Nearest public parking is approximately 2 blocks east in the city garage.

Family History Centers

 * Madison Wisconsin Family History Center
 * Sun Prairie Wisconsin Family History Center

Societies
Dane County Area Genealogical Society PO Box 5652 Madison, WI 53705-0652 Website

Dane County Historical Society Lussier Family Heritage Center 3101 Lake Farm Road Madison, WI 53711 Telephone: 608-224-3605 Website

Cottage Grove Area Historical Society Post Office Box 46 116 W. Reynolds St. Cottage Grove, WI 53527 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

 * Dane County, WI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Dane County Genealogy (Wisconsin Genealogy)
 * Dane County WIGenWeb Project
 * Dane County USGenWeb Archives
 * Dane County USGenWeb Archives