Genealogy Resources
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HeritageQuest Online Genealogical resources including census data, family records, local histories, military records and genealogical & local history magazines. *Home Use |
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Ancestry.com - Available at the Library Only Genealogical and historical research tool with access to more than 1.5 billion names and 4,000 genealogical databases. *See Reference Desk for assistance. |
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| For an explanation of "Home Use" go to the Research Center page. For links to Genealogy Internet Sites go to the Genealogy Subject Guide. |
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 Oshkosh Online Obituary Index This index covers only those obituaries, death notices and funeral notices published in the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper from 1861 - current. The Northwestern has been the city's only newspaper for most of the 1900s. |
| This index is a joint project of the Winnebagoland Genealogical Society and the Oshkosh Public Library. |
| Oshkosh Public Library Genealogical Research Resources Includes indices, maps, census data, marriage information, and many other suggestions on where to look for specific information. Helpful hints will make your search easier. Good Luck! |
| Oshkosh/Winnebago County Genealogy The history of Oshkosh and Winnebago County begins, for genealogical purposes, with Menominee and Winnebago (Ho-chunk) Indians and French-Canadian fur traders. The official first settler of Oshkosh was W. Webster Stanley, a Connecticut native who came in 1836. The 1840 census showed only 135 people, but by 1850 there were over 10,000 and by 1900, Oshkosh alone had 28,000 inhabitants. Generally, they came from New England, upstate New York, Canada, or directly from Europe. Welsh and Norwegian groups came in 1847. Germans, including Pommeranians and other northern Germans, came as early as the 1840s. South Side "Highholders" from the Bavarian/Bohemian border area came in the 1880s. Volga Germans settled on the west side between 1900 and 1910. Lao and Hmong families arrived in the 1970s. Please note that most of these sources, with the exception of the census, do not intend to include every resident. The plat maps list only landowners, the early city directories seldom list women, the county histories have biographies of "leading citizens"--who may have paid to be included, or at least subscribed for a copy of the book! Remember to check variations in spelling of names, as most information was written down by someone other than the person it was about. County and regional histories and biographies:
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Plat Maps
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Vital Records - Winnebago County Indices
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Federal and Wisconsin State Censuses Federal Censuses were taken in the years ending in 0. For Wisconsin, 1830 through 1930 are available. More recent censuses are not available due to privacy restrictions.
OPL has the Wisconsin State Census for ALL of Wisconsin. |
| Other Sources Newspaper Indexing: (earliest papers, 1849; sometimes 5 at one time. Indexing incomplete)
Cemetery Transcriptions:
City or County Directories
For further suggestions, see: A Research Guide to Winnebago Co. Wisconsin by Ruth D. Protz, rev. 2009. |
| Winnebagoland Genealogical Society Oshkosh Public Library, 106 Washington Ave, Oshkosh, WI 54901 The Winnebagoland Genealogical Society meets at 7:00 p.m.on the second Thursday of each month except in summer. Most meetings ar held at the Oshkosh Public Library. Volunteers from the Society are available to help visitors at varying times throughout the week. |
| Wisconsin There are some special tricks to searching the library catalog for genealogy materials. Materials are listed by location first. Example: Milwaukee County (Wis.)--genealogy. And the locations are as precise as possible: Waukau not Winnebago County. Use the old style abbreviations (Wis). Secondly, the Library of Congress does not label as genealogy all the materials we use for family history. Subheadings under a geographic location may include:
What we have on an area depends partly on what has been published, partly on the location. Local histories are perhaps the items most frequently found in these searches. A large number of county histories were published in the Midwest from 1876 to around World War I. For the earlier part of this period, many of the original settlers of Wisconsin were still here to tell their stories. There was often a biographical section with articles on "prominent citizens". This meant someone so civic minded as to say "sign me up for a copy of that book when you're done". In some cases people paid to be listed. Of course, this means all the biographies are flattering but they are often full of good clues. We have at least one county or regional history for each county in Wisconsin. Histories from other states are available on interlibrary loan. General Land Office Records including Wisconsin are available on the Internet. This indexes the original sale of land by the U.S. government to an individual. To Top |
| U.S. American settlers in Wisconsin prior to 1900 were primarily from New England and upstate New York. Consequently, that is where we concentrate our resources. For other states, we try to have at least a guidebook. Check the catalog under the location. (example: Kentucky--genealogy)
Canada
Europe
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