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
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.
For an explanation of "Home Use" go to the Research Center page.
For links to Genealogy Internet Sites go to the Genealogy Subject Guide.
Obituary image
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

Vital Records - Winnebago County Indices

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.
  • The questions asked have varied over the years so be sure to check for your family in each census which included them.
  • Oshkosh Public Library has these censuses for all of Wisconsin on microfilm. For 1850, 1860 and 1870, two copies of the census were made. OPL's films are of the state copy, which was the first one made, and sometimes is easier to read. Online services are based on the federal copies. 1850, 1860, 1870 list all names, age, state or country of birth, and occupation. The state microfilms also include Mortality Schedules which list people who died in the preceding twelve months, Agricultural Schedules, and Manufacturing Schedules.
  • Transcriptions of the 1880 census are available online through FamilySearch. This is the first census to ask how people in the household are related.
  • 1890 census was lost in a fire, not available anywhere.
  • 1890 veterans census lists veterans and widows of veterans with service.
  • 1920 also asks year of immigration and year of naturalization. Soundex index.
  • 1930 asks if the person was naturalized, person's age at the time of his or her first marriage and asks which specific war a man fought in. There is no index for Wisconsin.
  • Census for the entire U.S. is available online through HeritageQuest.com, a subscription service. OPL subscribes to this service. Remote access is available to OPL patrons through the Library website: www.oshkoshpubliclibrary.org.
  • Census for the entire U.S. is available online through Ancestry.com, a subscription service. OPL subscribes to this service; it does not offer remote access; you must come to the library to use it.
  • More recent census are not available due to privacy restrictions.

    • OPL has the Wisconsin State Census for ALL of Wisconsin.

    • 1855, 1875, 1885, 1895 give name of head of household plus numbers of male and female.
    • 1865 lost in a fire. Statistics survive, but no individual data.
    • 1885, 1895, & 1905 special veterans sections are in Tabular statements of the Census Enumeration...; gives post office address and Civil War service.
    • 1895 and 1905 are available online through Ancestry.com, a subscription service. OPL subscribes to this service; it does not offer remote access; you must come to the Library to use it.

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Other Sources Newspaper Indexing:
(earliest papers, 1849; sometimes 5 at one time. Indexing incomplete)
  • There are two main sections to the indexing:
    • Obituaries 1900-present and 1874-1897 (German newspaper). Check the Online Obituary Index for obituaries from 1900-1999.
    • General indexing sometimes includes obits, especially the old section.
      • 1849-1899, 1903, 1922-1946 in section labeled "old newspaper index"
      • 1967-70 labeled The Paper index
  • It's always worth looking for an obituary if you have an exact date.
  • Try Omro Journal 1874-1916 for obits from Poygan and Rushford as well as Omro.
  • We do not have the Omro Herald 1894 to present; Wisconsin Historical Society does.
  • We do not have newspapers from Neenah or Menasha. For obituaries that could have appeared in the Neenah News Times (May 19, 1919-December 31, 1943), The Daily News Times (January 3, 1944-December 31, 1949), or the Twin Cities News Record (January 1950-May 1984), please contact the Neenah Public Library at (920) 886-6315 or http://www.neenahlibrary.org/. For obituaries that could have appeared in the Menasha Record (1903-1949), please contact the Menasha Public Library at (920) 967-5166, x720 or http://www.menashalibrary.org/.
  • For obituaries that appeared in the Winneconne News during the years 1871-1874, 1876-1879, 1909-1911 and 1929-1999, try the Winneconne Vital Records Database & the Winneconne Cemetery Index.

Cemetery Transcriptions:

  • There are over 60 cemeteries in Winnebago Co.; not all are copied. Notebooks group cemeteries by civil town.
  • 25 of the rural cemeteries are included in a surname index.
  • Riverside Cemetery has not been copied; please contact the office there directly: Riverside Cemetery, 1901 Algoma Blvd, Oshkosh, WI 54901.

City or County Directories
(earliest directory 1857; not published every year)

  • List head of household and adult children working outside home.
  • Women not listed unless widowed head of household until 1910 then listed with husband.
  • Early directories which cover the county are 1893-1895-1900-1905-1910-1914. All have Oshkosh in front, then Neenah, Menasha, Omro, Winneconne then county.
  • Oshkosh City Directories - Oshkosh Public Library has digitized twenty-nine city directories spanning the years 1857 to 1922.
  • 1957 House Renumbering: Keep in mind street names and numbers have changed over the years so looking for the old house is not straight forward. The big change was 1957-58, but there were many small shifts in the pre-World War I period.

For further suggestions, see: A Research Guide to Winnebago Co. Wisconsin by Ruth D. Protz, rev. 2009.
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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 are 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:
  • Biography
  • Cemeteries
  • Churches
  • Directories
  • Genealogy
  • History
  • Maps
  • Real property--maps

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)
  • New York: use subject term New York State to skip past New York City listings. Noteworthy items you might not spot:
    • Tree Talks from the Central NY Genealogical Society
    • Western New York Genealogical Society Journal
    • New York Genealogical & Biographical Record
  • New England: search under individual states as well. Noteworthy items you might not spot:
    • New England Historic Genealogical Record 1847 to present
    • Greenlaw Index (microfilm)

Canada

  • French Canadian: standard sources include Jett©, Tanguey, and a full set of Lost in Canada
  • New Brunswick: Old North Esk; Miramichi Papers, Irish Lumberman Farmer

Europe
As most immigrants were from Great Britain, Ireland or the German Empire, these are emphasized in the collection. Scandinavia, Austria and the Volga German District are also covered. Search by location first. example: Ireland--genealogy. Major sets:

  • Passenger and Immigration Lists Index
  • Germans to America. vol 1, January 1850 -- vol 67, June, 1897
  • Germans to America, series II : lists of passengers arriving at U.S. ports in the 1840s. vol 1, Jan. 1840--vol 7, Dec. 1849
  • Migration from the Russian Empire vol 1, January 1875 -- vol 4, May 1889

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