Portage County, Wisconsin Genealogy

Guide to Portage County Wisconsin ancestry, family history, and genealogy research page. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

United States Wisconsin  Portage County



Parent County
1836--Portage County was created 7 December 1836 from Brown, Crawford, Iowa andMilwaukee Counties. County seat: Stevens Point

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Wisconsin County boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Wisconsin County Boundary Maps" (1790-1961) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss
For a list of record loss in Wisconsin Counties see: Wisconsin Counties with Burned Courthouses

Neighboring Counties
Adams •  Marathon  •  Shawano  •  Waupaca  •  Waushara  •  Wood

Cemeteries
Guyant Collection of Tombstone Inscriptions is on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. This collection includes tombstone inscriptions copied between 1970 and 1981 by Wayne and Alta Guyant in cemeteries in seventeen Wisconsin counties, and clipped newspaper obituaries and other related items. The records represent every known cemetery in Florence, Langlade, Portage, Waupaca, and Waushara counties and many in Adams, Barron, Forest, Green Lake, Juneau, Lincoln, Marquette, Oneida, Outagamie, Shawano, Winnebago, and Wood counties.

Portage County Cemetery Index

Forest Cemetery Records

Union Cemetery Records

Census
1855 Wisconsin State Census— Free searchable index to the 1855 Wisconsin State Census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search This census includes name of head of family, individuals in the household by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, insane and foreign born.

1885 Wisconsin State Census— Free searchable index to the 1885 Wisconsin State Census can be viewed on the FamilySearch Record Search This census includes name of head of family, individuals in the household by sex and race, number of deaf and dumb, blind, insane and foreign born.

Church History and Records
Information about local churches (history and records) can be found on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website.

Lutheran

 * Records of Peace Lutheran Church, Amherst, in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America database at Archives.com ($).

Court Records
The surviving early probate files have been indexed and are on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website. Also indexed are the Circuit Court Criminal Case Files Index 1849-1919 and the Circuit Court Civil Case Files Defendant Index 1845-1919

Maps

 * Old Antique Atlases &amp; Maps of Wisconsin
 * Family Maps of Portage County, Wisconsin (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Portage County Maps

Civil War
Civil War service men from Portage County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are many companies or regiments that were formed from men of Portage County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company B
 * - 3rd Regiment, Wisconsin Cavalry, Company H
 * - 5th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry Reorganized, Companies D and F
 * - 7th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company G
 * - 14th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry, Company B

Naturalization and Citizenship
Naturalization Records for Portage County have been indexed and the index is available on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website.

Newspapers
A complete listing of all Portage County newspapers can be found on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website.

Obituaries
The Portage County Obituary Index is now a part of the Central Wisconsin Genealogy Index. Full text obituaries from The Wisconsin Pinery (1853-1890) and The Plover Times (1866-1881) can be found on the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society's website. These are not indexed in the Obituary Index.

Probate Records
Probate Index

Repositories
See also a List of Wisconsin Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Archives, Libraries and Museums
Nelis R. Kampanga University Archives

Portage County Public Library

List of genealogical resources available at the Portage County Public Library

County Courthouse
The Portage County Courthouse is located at 1516 Church Street, Stevens Point, WI 54481. The Register of Deeds office, which houses birth, death, and marriage records, as well as land records is open for genealogical research during the following days and times:

Monday - Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Closed for research on Fridays and from 11:30 - 1:00.

Societies
Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society

Portage County Historical Society

Birth Records
Birth Records Indexed


 * 1826 - 1926 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1820 - 1907 at FamilySearch.org — index

Marriage Records

 * Marriage Records Indexed


 * 1836 - 1930 at FamilySearch.org — index

Death Records
Death Records Indexed


 * 1867 - 1907 at FamilySearch.org — index
 * 1835 - 1968 at FamilySearch.org — index

Web Sites

 * Portage County, WI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Wisconsin Genealogy Network Group on Facebook