Genealogy

Genealogy Research

OFFICE HOURS & POLICIES

Monday-Thursday 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Central Time.

The office is closed on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day before Christmas, Christmas Day, & day before New Year’s.

No appointment is necessary. However, space is limited and researchers are admitted on a first come, first served basis. You may be asked to leave after two hours if others are waiting.

You will be asked to complete an application form and present proof of identity. We ask that you refrain from loud talking, laughter and noise making. Please do not bring children under twelve. Handle all materials with respect and care; do not place books on top of each other or write in books. Use only pencils.

VITAL RECORDS

Birth, Death and Marriage certificates are on file for events which occurred in Door County. Older records are incomplete; we have very few records from the 1850’s-1870’s. before the vital statistics law went into effect in Wisconsin in 1907, fewer than fifty percent of vital records were filed. You may find spelling errors in the older records. We cannot make corrections to these records, they must be preserved as they were originally filed.

You may find records for events which occurred in other counties. These are courtesy copies which are sometimes sent by the county of occurrence to the county of residence. However, your best chance of locating a record is to search the county of occurrence.

When searching for death records, remember that the death may not have occurred in the same county where burial took place. Many people locate graves in local cemeteries, but are disappointed to find no record of the death filed in our office.

Copies are $20.00 for all Vital Records, which include: Birth, Death and Marriage certificates.   Additional copies of the same record are $3.00 each if issued at the same time.

LAND RECORDS

To search land records, we have a general index arranged chronologically by grantor (seller) for records prior to 1876. In June of 1876, separate chronological indexes were kept for grantors (sellers) and grantees (buyers).

Land records were also indexed by legal description in a tract index. You can try this method of searching if you know the section, township, range and quarter/quarter section or the plat name with the lot and block number of the property.

If you locate a land record in one of the indexes, you can view the recorded document.

Copies are $2.00 for the first page of a document, and $1.00 for each additional page of the same document.

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

For assistance those conducting genealogical searches may wish to contact the

Peninsula Genealogical Society
477 North 6th Avenue
Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235


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