NELIS R. KAMPENGA  UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES & AREA RESEARCH CENTER Phone: 715-346-2586 | Room 506, University Library e-mail: archives@uwsp.edu Archives Hours: Monday - Friday, 7:45-noon & 1:15-4:30 Due to a small Archives staff and unanticipated eventualities, patrons are urged to call ahead to verify public hours for a given day or week.

TIPS ON SEARCHING FOR VITAL RECORDS

• Vital records document births, marriages, and deaths. Each state maintains the vital records of the events that take place within their borders.
   
• Early Wisconsin vital records are extremely incomplete. Birth and death records are particularly incomplete. Although Wisconsin Law required each county to register these events since 1852, only a limited number were actually recorded by the counties before September 30, 1907. (Note: these events did not have to be registered in the county in which they took place.)
   
• One of the most important aspects of a vital record is the informant. Many records provide the name of the informant toward the bottom of the form. When reviewing the potential accuracy of the record, consider the informant’s relationship to the event being recorded. Is the informant a member of the immediate family and therefore more likely to provide accurate information? Someone who is not related to the family, such as a physician or midwife, may have completed the form. The further removed the informant is from the immediate family, the more likely mistakes may have been made. Cross-reference the information in vital records with other sources, such as a family bible, whenever possible.
   
• The UWSP Archives has the Pre-1907 Statewide Indexes for Births, Marriages, and Deaths. We only have the microfilmed records for the nine counties we serve: Adams, Juneau, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, Waushara, and Wood.
   
• The UWSP Archives does not have any post-1907 Wisconsin vital records.
   
• To obtain post-1907 Wisconsin vital records contact the appropriate county Register of Deeds Office or the Wisconsin Center for Health Statistics:

Wisconsin Center for Health Statistics
Vital Records
P.O. Box 309
Madison, WI 53701-0309
Email: VitalRecords@dhfs.state.wi.us

For the addresses of Wisconsin Register of Deeds Offices visit this website:

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/genealogy/vitalrecords/courthouse_address.asp

• For additional information on Wisconsin Vital Records visit these websites:

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

http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/VitalRecords/genereq.htm