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Wisconsin Genealogy Resources

Church Records

Wisconsin Church Record Repositories and Historical Collections. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (Milwaukee Urban Archives, churches from Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Sheboygan, Washington, and Waukesha counties, on microfilm - detailed finding aid available for this archives); Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society, Janesville; Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison; Marquette University Library, Milwaukee (Catholic special collection).

  • Articles For Local Historians provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society
     
  • Cemetery, Church and Synagogue Records
     
  • Church Records - Research Books - Washington County
     
  • Church Records for Genealogy from the Wisconsin Historical Society
     
  • Church Records in Milwaukee Wisconsin area
     
  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Historical Records Survey, 1941. Identifies church officers and denominational national and state headquarters. Notes denominational maps of area divisions and lists federations and councils. Includes county directories of churches and institutions.
     
  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Guide to Church Vital Statistics Records in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin Historical Records Survey, 1942. Gives regulations of each denomination on keeping records. Lists by county, then township, church records commencement dates and number of volumes.
     
  • Johnson, Martin William. Old Lutherans in Wisconsin & Minnesota [microform] : membership lists, cemeteries, passenger lists, etc. / transcribed by Martin Wm. Johnson. Belvidere, IL : M.W. Johnson, [1990]  2 microfiches : ill. Includes records from Lutheran churches and cemeteries in Wisconsin and Minnesota, passenger lists of Lutherans 32 . Arriving in New York, N.Y. and emigrating to upper New York State and Wisconsin in 1843, and the 1870 census for Pierce County, Neb. Title on header: 1842-1899 old Lutherans in Wis. & Minn. Includes passenger lists of Lutherans arriving in New York, N. Y. who emigrated to upper New York State and Wisconsin in 1843.
     
  • Minert, Roger P., editor. German Immigrants in American Church Records. Volume 2: Wisconsin Northwest Portestant. Picton Press, 2007. The volume has records from 55 churches from the following counties: Barron (3), Buffalo (7), Chippewa (4), Clark (10), Dunn (4), Eau Claire (12), Pepin (1), Pierce (2), Polk (3), Rusk (1), St. Croix (7) and Trempealeau (1). The compilers from Brigham Young University used microfilm from the Family History Library and church archives.
     
  • USGS List of Wisconsin Churches
     
  • Wisconsin Church Records Project ~ USGenWeb Archives Project
     
  • Wisconsin Churches
     
  • Wisconsin USGenWeb Archives Post Your Records

Amish

  • Miller, DeVon, 1963- Wisconsin Amish directory : with Rexford, Montana / DeVon Miller.
    Millersburg, OH : D. Miller, 1990. iii, 98 p. : maps ; 28 cm.

Assemblies of God

  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Assemblies of God. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942. Gives general information, maps, conventions and councils with record holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name and place indexes.

Baptist

Church of Nazarene

  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Church of Nazarene. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1941. Includes the church history, mergers, maps, assemblies, record holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name and place indexes.

Church of the Brethren

  • Heckman, John. Brethren in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin. Elgin, Illinois: Brethren Publishing House, 1941.
     
  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. United Brethren in Christ. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942.  Includes the church history, record holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name, and place indexes.

Disciples of Christ

  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Disciples of Christ. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942. Includes the church history, record holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name, and place indexes.

Episcopal

  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Diocese of Eau Claire. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942. Includes history and organization of the church with maps, church holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name and place indexes.
     
  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Diocese of Fond du Lac. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942. Includes history and organization of the church with maps, church holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name and place indexes.

Jewish

  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Jewish Congregations. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942. Identifies the various congregations in the state. Gives founding dates and general information. Includes bibliography.
     
  • Nauen, Lindsay B., editor. Guide to the Wisconsin Jewish Archives at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1974. Guide to the materials in the Wisconsin Jewish Archives, which were collected and organized through June 1974. Alphabetical by collected title. Indexed by name, selected subject and parishes.

Lutheran

Methodist

  • Bennett, Pansy S. History of Methodism in Wisconsin. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe, 1890. A general history of the development of Methodism in the state. Parts 1-3 concern the Methodist Episcopal Church and part 4 shows the various branches. The names of the ministers are given along with a necrology of the ministers and their wives, dates of church erections and appendices.
     
  • Blake, William. Cross and Flame in Wisconsin: The Story of United Methodism in the Badger State. Sun Prairie, Wisconsin: United Methodist Church, Wisconsin Conference, 1973. A general history with appendices that show various branches and a ministerial roster from 1828-1973. Indexed.
     
  • Nennett, Pansey S.F. History of Methodism in Wisconsin. Cincinnati: Cranston & Stowe, 1980.
     
  • United Methodist Church Annual Conference Archives Directory  - List of annual conference archive contacts for the state. For local Methodist church records, your best resource is the annual conference archives. The boundaries of the annual conference do not necessarily coincide with state boundaries, and some states may have several conferences within their borders.
     
  • Wesson Miller, Wisconsin Methodist Minister - Ancestry.com
     
  • Wisconsin Conference United Methodist Church Commission on Archives & History  - Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Moravian

  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Moravian Church. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1938. Includes the church history, record holdings and a bibliography. Chronological, church name and place indexes.

Presbyterian and Congregational

  • Chapin, John E. Early Presbyterianism in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1900. Contains documents relating to the Stockbridge Mission 1825-1848. These documents are also part of volume 15 of the Wisconsin series Collections.
     
  • Dexter, Frank N. A Hundred Years of Congregational History in Wisconsin. Volume 1. Wisconsin Congregational Conference, 1933. History of the church with biographies of the first pastors. Indexed.
     
  • History of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches and Ministers in Wisconsin  - Ancestry.com
     
  • Peet, Stephen. History of the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches and Ministers in Wisconsin. Milwaukee: S. Chapman, 1851.

Roman Catholic

  • Catholic Church in Wisconsin. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Catholic Historical Publishing Co., 1896. An illustrated history of every Catholic Church in the state along with accounts of the early pastors, founding members and buildings. Arranged by Dioceses. Indexed by churches and priests.
     
  • Chrysostom Verwyst, Wisconsin Pioneer Missionary - Ancestry.com
     
  • Henning, Harry H. The Catholic Church in Wisconsin: A History of the Catholic Church in Wisconsin from the Earliest Time to the Present Day Including an Account of the First Churches, Organization of Parishes, Diocese and Archdiocese, Statement of Present Condition of the Church; Illustrated by Portraits of Archbishop, Bishops, Priests, Prominent Laymen and Pictures of Churches, Educational and Other Religious Institutions. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Catholic Historical Publishing Co., 1895-1898.
     
  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin.  A Directory of Catholic Churches in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942. Denotes dioceses, maps and first pastors. Gives founding dates of each church with a short history. Includes bibliography. Indexed by name of the church and location.
     
  • Historical Records Survey. Wisconsin. Inventory of Church Archives of Wisconsin. Roman Catholic Church, Diocese of La Crosse. Madison, Wisconsin: Work Projects Administration, 1942.  Includes a short history, record holdings, organizational dates and a bibliography. Chronological, name and locality indexes.
     
  • Humling, Virginia. U.S. Catholic Sources: A Diocesan Research Guide. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry Inc., 1995.
     
  • Rummel, Leo. History of the Catholic Church in Wisconsin. Madison, Wisconsin: Wisconsin State Council, Knights of Columbus, 1976. Provides an overview of the Catholic Church in the state. Gives information on religious orders, the immigration of the various nationalities and an index of bishops and parishes in the state of Wisconsin.
     
  • Wisconsin - Local Catholic Church History and Ancestors Genealogy ...
     

Seventh Day Adventist

United Church of Christ