Facts on Local Church Records

Religion of the European in Wisconsin began with the French when Father René Ménard, born in Paris in 1605 and the first Jesuit sent from Canada to Wisconsin, offered the first mass in the state in 1661. Beginning in 1687, the missions became almost nonexistent in Wisconsin because of problems with the natives and the British government in control.

Father Bonduel wrote of Green Bay, “The Catholics of this little French colony lived sometimes ten, twenty, and thirty years without seeing a priest.” Marriages and baptisms in the state were often officiated by missionary priests, resulting in large numbers of Catholic records in Wisconsin either being lost or sometimes located in repositories in Quebec Province, Canada. Tracing Catholic families in Wisconsin could require searching French-Canadian records. Some of the oldest Catholic marriage and baptism records for Wisconsin are in the “Mackinac Register” in Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (see Background Sources).

When the American flag first flew over eastern Wisconsin in 1816, the Catholic religion again took a firm hold among the French settlers in the state. European immigration and American migration brought other religious affiliations, but the heavy German and Irish settlement in the state provided for continued numbers in the Roman Catholic denomination.

Missionary clergy for other denominations in the state frequently took their records with them as they traveled from place to place. Therefore, although searching for church records in Wisconsin should begin with the local church, denominational archives and headquarters might have helpful material.

The most widely represented Protestants in Wisconsin were the Lutherans, the first faithful of that group coming from Germany and Scandinavia. Despite divisions, dissensions, and reorganizations within the Lutherans, they remain a religious force in the upper Midwest.

Smaller numbers of Methodists, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists also settled in Wisconsin. In 1834 the first Baptist church was established in the state by Brotherton Indians on the east shore of Lake Winnebago.

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.

Find Wisconsin Church Record Books at Amazon.com

Back to top

Facts on Local Cemetery 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.

Find Wisconsin Cemetery Record Books at Amazon.com

   Cemetery records and gravestone inscriptions are a rich source of information for family historians. Cemetery and other sources of information associated with death include:

Back to top