Counties adjacent to Douglas County are Bayfield County (east), Sawyer County (southeast), Washburn County (south), Burnett County (southwest), Pine County, Minnesota (southwest), Carlton County, Minnesota (west), St. Louis County, Minnesota (northwest). Douglas County Cities Include Superior. Towns Include Amnicon, Bennett, Brule, Cloverland, Dairyland, Gordon, Hawthorne, Highland, Lakeside, Maple, Oakland, Parkland, Solon Springs, Summit, Superior, Wascott. Villages Include Lake Nebagamon, Oliver, Poplar, Solon Springs, Superior.
PLEASE READ FIRST!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.
All Departments below can be contacted by clicking the link below for each department.NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Douglas County Register of Deeds Officehas Birth Records from 1861, Marriage Records from 1854, Death Records from 1877 and Land Records from 1854.
In 1848 the Wisconsin Constitution established the Register of Deeds as a permanent element of the County level of governmental structure. The purpose of the Douglas County Register of Deeds is to provide official record keeping for Records or files land record documents authorized by law, such as deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, certified survey maps, plats and Federal Tax liens. Files and indexes Birth, Death and Marriage records, Military Discharges, and issues certified copies upon request.
Douglas County Register in Probate Office has Probate Records from 1856. It is the responsibility of the Register in Probate to maintain and update files regarding probate of estates, guardianships, protective placements, adoptions and mental commitments. This is a statutory office with the position of Register in Probate filled by judicial appointment.
Douglas County Clerk of Court Office has Court Records from 1855. The Clerk of Court is part of the Judicial Branch of local government and as such is required to maintain a record of all documents filed with the courts, keep a record of all court proceedings, and collect various fines and forfeitures ordered by the court and specified by statute.
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Wisconsin Land Records: This database contains information on Wisconsin (U.S.A.) land records. The database comes from the Bureau of Land Management's Wisconsin Pre-1908 Homestead and Cash Entry Patent and Cadastral Survey Plat Index. Information recorded in the collection includes patentee name, land office, legal description, etc.
The earliest tax records in Wisconsin appear to be for real estate. Brown County has an extant tax roll for 1824. Tax rolls are kept by the county treasurer for each county. Many of these records have been transferred to the appropriate Area Research Centers.
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
Douglas County Treasurers Office
The County Treasurer's office collects all real estate taxes including postponed and delinquent, all county revenues in addition to the research and issue tax deed applications. Our department is the holder of tax records and assessed values.
Click Here to Search Wisconsin Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.
Wisconsin Division of Health, Vital Records, 1 West Wilson Street, Rm 158, Madison, WI 53701. Thier mailing address is Wisconsin Vital Records Office, P.O. Box 309, Madison, WI 53701-0309. Telephone: For automated assistance 24 hours a day, please call (608) 266-1371. To contact our service counter during the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 4:15 P.M. (C.S.T.), Monday through Friday, please call (608) 266-1373. All fees are not refundable if no record is found. You must enclose a personal check or money order made payable to "Wis. Vital Records". Please do not send cash. Please include a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope with your request.
They have the following records:
Birth, Marriage & Death Certificates: In Wisconsin, official registration of births, marriages & deaths vary by county, see the table below for the Earliest available records.
Cost: $20.00 is the cost for the search, which includes one copy of the birth, marriage or death certificate, if found. Additional copies of the same record, requested at the same time as the first, are $3.00 each. The cost is the same whether you request a certified or uncertified copy of the birth certificate.
Processing Time: Filled requests take 3-6 months when ordered by mail (Application for Birth, Marriage or Death) or 2-5 Days when you order online.
Divorces: Divorces on availible since Oct 1907.
Cost: $20.00 is the cost for the search, which includes one copy of the divorce certificate, if found. Additional copies of the same record, requested at the same time as the first, are $3.00 each. The cost is the same whether you request a certified or uncertified copy of the birth certificate.
Processing Time: Filled requests take 3-6 months when ordered by mail (Application) or 2-5 Days when you order online.
Order On-Line: To obtain a certified copy of a vital record by on-line purchase with a credit card, please link to VitalChek.
Order In Person: You can apply in person for a copy of a marriage certificate at 1 West Wilson Street, Room 158, in Madison, Wisconsin (driving directions/parking). The office is open from 8:00 A.M. until 4:15 P.M. (C.S.T.), Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Identification is required to pick up certified copies of vital records in person. The acceptable forms of identification are listed below.
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Wisconsin Births, 1820-1907: This database indexes over 985,000 births recorded in the State of Wisconsin, USA, prior to 1907. Information provided in the index includes: name, birth date, country, and source information.
Wisconsin Deaths, 1820-1907: This database indexes over 435,000 deaths recorded in the state of Wisconsin prior to 1907.
Wisconsin Marriages, 1973-1997: This database is an index to approximately 949,000 marriages that took place in the State of Wisconsin, USA, between 1973 and 1997. Information that may be found in this database includes groom's name, groom's age, groom's residence (county and/or state), bride's name, bride's age, bride's residence (county and/or state), marriage date, marriage county, and marriage certificate number.
Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907: This index contains over 920,000 individuals married in the State of Wisconsin, USA, prior to 1907. Information that may be found in this database for each individual includes their name, marriage date, county of marriage, and source information.
Click Here to Search Wisconsin Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Census Records by clicking the link below:
Wisconsin Census, 1820-90: This database contains indexes to the Wisconsin (U.S.A.) portions of the 1820-1860 U.S. Federal Censuses as well as indexes to the 1836-1838, 1842, 1846, and 1855 State Censuses, the 1840 Pensioners Lists, the 1890 Veterans Schedules, and other early censuses. Information contained in these indexes can include name, state, county, township, year of record, and name of record set.
Wisconsin State Censuses, 1895 and 1905: This database contains an index to the 1895 and 1905 Wisconsin state censuses. Both censuses cover all counties that existed at the time. Information listed includes: name of individual, and place of enumeration. The 1905 census also includes relationship to head of household, race, gender, age, marital status, and birthplace.
Genealogy Atlases has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for other states.
You can view rotating animated maps for Wisconsin showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
You can view rotating animated maps for Wisconsin showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries . You can view a list of maps for other states and State Department of Transportation Maps at County Maps. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation has county maps the show the locations of churches, cemeteries, roads, ect... free for viewing or download here
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Maps. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Maps by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Wisconsin Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.
The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design. A list of Wars fought on American.
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Wisconsin (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
Wisconsin Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Click Here to Search Wisconsin Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.
The Wisconsin Historical Records Survey Project of Madison published the Directory of Churches and Religious Organizations in Wisconsin in 1941 and Guide to Church Vital Statistics Records in Wisconsin in 1942. There are also numerous publications by the project for specific denominations. Extensive microfilm collections of church records in Wisconsin are available through the FHL. The State Historical Society of Wisconsin and Area Research Centers have a variety of church records including microfilm and original records.
Numerous cemeteries have been read and transcribed by local genealogical societies in Wisconsin. The transcriptions are frequently deposited with an Area Research Center, a local library, or the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. A considerable number have been printed in the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society Newsletter. Some have been privately published.
The Wisconsin State Old Cemetery Society, 6100 West Mequon Road,
Mequon, WI 53092, publishes a newsletter and maintains an archive of tombstone inscriptions from around the state. Contact the society for membership information
Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Click Here to Search Wisconsin Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.
When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Douglas County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Douglas County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Wisconsin Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Wisconsin Genealogy Index. Search more than 150,000 Wisconsin obituaries and biographical sketches published before 1999, as well as 1,000,000 births, 400,000 deaths and 1,000,000 marriages registered before September 1907.
From: Handbook of Wisconsin by S. Silas, 1855; pg. 64-68
This County was formed from La Point (sic) in 1854. A few surveys have been made along the shore of Lake Superior, and settlers are rapidly directing their course to that point. Though the most Northern county of the State, the winters are represented to be mild and pleasant. The present communication with the outer world is through Lake Superior or down the St. Croix River. A road is now building from Superior, near the mouth of the St. Louis to a point on the St. Croix River. The Bay of Superior, at the head of the Lake, is said to be the best harbor on the Lake. Superior is a rapidly growing place. The first settlement being made in 1853, and in the fall of 1855 numbered about 700. A newspaper is now published there. Prospectively this occupies an important point. It is the head of the chain of inland Lakes on the north-west. It is the north-western terminus of the Wisconsin system of Rail Roads. It is the point, and the main point, from which the Pacific Rail Road is to leave the Lake Navigation, and from this point the road is to be built.
A road is opening from Superior striking the St. Croix, and following down the Minnesota side which will be ready for use the coming winter. The land along this road is reported good, timbered with maple, lynn, elm, ash and white oak, interspersed with pine. The head of Lake Superior is about twelve miles wide, and forms two semi-circular points. The Southern, or Wisconsin point, is four miles long, and the northern, or Minnesota point, is eight miles long. The St. Louis and Left Hand Rivers meet and discharge their waters into the Lake between these points. Inside of the points the river forms a bay eight miles long, and from one to two miles wide, with from six to twenty-four feet of water. The points are from twenty to sixty rods wide, sandy grounds, covered with yellow pine and an undergrowth of whortleberry. These are the great summer camping grounds of the Chippewa Indians, and here large quantities of the Siskawit, Trout and Whitefish are caught in the Lake and around the entry to the Bay. The St. Louis River is navigable for Lake steamers for eighteen miles to the American Fur Company's post, sometimes called Fond du Lac, and is a succession of bays, islands covered with blue joint grass, bayous, and channels, among which a stranger would easily be lost in the at-attempt (sic) to navigate it without a guide. The Left Hand river is a narrow, deep stream, and can be navigated with keel boats for a distance of ten miles. These rivers abound in the Muskelonge, Pickerel, Pike, Bass, and other river fish.
The entry to the bay is sixty rods wide, with nine feet of water on the bar--is a hard gravel bottom, and does not shift.
The country to the north and south, and nearly parallel with the Lake, rises into lofty ranges of primitive and trappean rocks. That to the south lies about six miles from the lake or bay. Native Copper in regular and well defined veins--some of them ten feet wide, with distinct walls of clay and traceable to any distance--have been discovered on this range, and will be opened and worked the coming summer. The conglomerate and sand-stone have the same relative position to the trap that they have on other parts of Lake Superior. There is another range ten miles south from this, and running parallel with it, forming a beautiful valley between, and meandered by the American river, along the banks of which are meadows of blue joint grass, and well timbered with pine, spruce, maple, birch, red oak and cedar. The country on the north side of the Lake is bold, rugged and mountainous; and the coast from the mouth of the river to the Canada line, and beyond is what a sailor would call iron bound--precipices several hundred feet high, extending along the shore. The water is very deep and but few places where a vessel could anchor. There are three good harbors on this shore, in Minnesota--"Camp Harbor" forty-five miles from the head of the Lake, forming a bay about one mile wide, with an island in front, "Grand Marias" fifty-five miles farther down, is a circular inland bay, three-fourths of a mile in diameter, with a good entrance from the westward--and "Grand Portage Bay" and Island, near the mouth of Pigeon River, and between that river and Fort Williams, in Canada, are several fine bays completely land-locked, with good entrances, deep and spacious inside, and full of siskawit, trout, and sturgeon.
Isle Royal is visible here, about twenty miles to the south. Pie Island and Thunder Cape rise about one thousand feet above the water, and stand facing each other like the Russians and Allies, now and then throwing several hundred tons of rock from off their bald pates down to the bottom of Lake Superior. All of the streams except Pigeon river, and the river at Fort Williams are small, and fall rapidly from the mountains several hundred feet, in beautiful cascades, some of which are over a hundred feet deep. These streams contain speckled trout of a large size, and weighing sometimes over ten pounds. Numerous small lakes lie inland, around which on beaten trails roam herds of Red Deer, together with rabbits and partridges.
The ranges of mountains are of various kinds of rock, coarse granite of different colors, and stone, grey and red trap, amigdaloyd (sic), greenstone, and slate--the latter sticking up edgewise--with spar veins of the sulphuret of copper and iron from ten to twenty feet wide, some crossing the regular formation of rock, and others running with it. Native copper, also, in smaller veins is found.
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