| The federal government has taken a census every 10 years,
starting in 1790. It also conducted territorial censuses, beginning in
Wisconsin in 1836. The State of Wisconsin conducted censuses in mid-decade
from 1855 to 1905. The content of the census records varies.
The 1850 federal census is the first to list each person by name. Name
indexes exist for many of the census records, some on film and some on
paper. CountyCat gives details of the library’s holdings, which
chiefly cover Wisconsin from its territorial days through 1930. Federal
Censuses for other states can be found on Ancestry Library (electronic
resource) and HeritageQuest (electronic resource). Federal censuses that
include names are published 72 years after the statistical
census. |
The Library has microfilm copies of
Milwaukee County birth records (1854-1911), Milwaukee County marriage
records (1836-1911), Milwaukee County marriage certificates (1822-1876)
and Milwaukee County death records (1852-1912). There are indexes available.
All microfilm is located in the Periodicals Department. On microfiche
in the Frank P. Zeidler Humanities Room are indexes for pre-1907 birth
records, pre-1907 and 1973-1997 marriage records, 1965-1983 divorce records,
and pre-1907 and 1959-1997 death records for the state of Wisconsin.
Some obituaries and death notices for Milwaukee are available for varying
dates. Ask the librarian for information on what is available. |
