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Genealogy and Local History Resources

What are Vital Records?

Vital Records are Birth, Marriage and Death Records. UW-Parkside holds these records for Racine and Kenosha for dates before 1907.

Earliest registration dates by county:

How to find records?

Wisconsin Genealogy Index, 1852-1907 

Birth, marriage, and death records are owned and indexed by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/vitalrecords/

 Once a record has been located in the index, copy the microfilm reel information to request a copy of the record.

Wisconsin Genealogy Index Help

Problems Finding a Record?

Registration of events prior to 1907 was voluntary and vital records were not filed for most events. It has been estimated that less than 50% of the records were prepared and submitted for permanent filing before that time. Records are not on file for events that occurred before the dates listed in the following table. Divorce certificates from any county are not available before October 1907.

Obituaries

Obituaries are often requested by people who are looking to find more information about their ancestor. There are numerous ways to find these records.

Obituaries, 1949-1978 - Racine Journal Times   Obituaries from the "Racine Journal Times," mounted by the newspaper staff in volumes, in chronological order annotated with name and address of survivor and date of publication. 

Access NewspaperArchive Billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U.S. and the world, including obituaries, birth announcements, sports articles, comics, and more. View historical newspapers as full-page images. Coverage varies by title, with some dating back to the 1700s. Funded by BadgerLink

WHS Obituary Search WHS has an obituary search service where they will look up obits for a $15 fee using their newspaper collection. It may be something to suggest if AccessNewspaper Archive is not showing results.

 

 

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