Genealogy Tools & Resources
Online Research
Eau Claire County History – (Obituary, Marriage, Divorce, Birth, Eau Claire history)
Note: Available again! Thank you for your patience as the service was being restored. (Updated 04-25-2022)
The Eau Claire Obituary and Cemetery Indexes are maintained by the Genealogical Research Society of Eau Claire (GRSEC). Includes marriage, birth, and divorce records with additional records compiled by area authors Lois Barland and Cheryl Janke. Also includes citations to obituaries from the Augusta Area Times. Please contact the Augusta Public Library (larose@augustalibrary.org) for records citing the Augusta Area Times, AAT, or have only a date.
Family Search Access to restricted images available in-library only
One of the largest collections of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world. Provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Users must create a personal account to access images. Instructions are available here.
Ancestry Library Edition The world’s largest online family history resource offers instant access to hundreds of years of history in billions of historical documents and millions of historical photos from all over the world. Are you in the library? Click here to access this resource.
HeritageQuest Online
Provides access to one of the largest collections of genealogy material in the country. Included are over 25,000 word-searchable family and local histories; searchable versions of all available U.S. Federal Census (1790-1930) with completely new indexes created by HeritageQuest; and more.
The National Archives
Genealogy information aids, guides and research tools.
NewspaperArchive.com (Eau Claire library card required)
We offer access to the Wisconsin Collection. You can discover the stories of the past with NewspaperArchive.com, the world’s largest online newspaper archive. You’ll need your library card to use the archive.
Newspapers.com
Now available! Historical newspapers archive from the 1700s – 2000s, containing thousands of well-known regional, state, and small local newspapers the United States and other countries.
Wisconsin Genealogy Index
Wisconsin obituaries published before 1999; births, deaths and marriages before September, 1907.
Find tombstone inscriptions and photos at:
Cemetery Junction, Find A Grave, Interment
Other Local Resources
West-Central Wisconsin History, Clark County, Jackson County, Marathon County, Taylor County, Wood County , Local Logging Videos
Genealogy Basics
BadgerLink Resources for Genealogy
Resources from BadgerLink: Wisconsin’s Online Library. Includes the Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers, Heritage Quest Online, History Reference Center, and Newspaper Source Plus.
Genealogical Charts and Records
Pedigree Charts, Family Group Records, Source Notes and more.
Genealogy How-To Articles
Articles and information on locating different types of family information and getting started in genealogy.
Land, Vital, and Probate Records
Eau Claire Area Research Center (ARC)
The ARC, located on the UW-Eau Claire campus, is a cooperative project of the University and the Wisconsin Historical Society to preserve historical records in a six-county region consisting of Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Eau Claire, Rusk and Taylor counties. Online Reference Requests are accepted.
Eau Claire County Clerk of Courts
By law, probate records are open to the public. Researchers can look up their own records by locating the case number in the docket book at the Eau Claire County Courthouse. Copies may be made for a small fee. The charge is $4 per record if you need assistance in finding a record. Cases before 1916 are located at the Area Research Center. The Wisconsin Circuit Court provides access to more recent court records.
Eau Claire County Register of Deeds
All land, birth, death, and marriage records for Eau Claire County.
Researching the History of Eau Claire Houses
Resources for identifying the previous owners and architectural history of local buildings.
Wisconsin Land Records
This is an interface to the Pre-1908 Homestead and Cash Entry Patents from the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office (GLO) Automated Records Project.
Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association
The Register of Deeds files, records and issues instruments and documents of significance both to the community as a whole and to its individual citizens. Vital records document the span of our lives from birth to death. Applications, fee schedules and county addresses are available at this site.
Vital Records
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides information on where to write to obtain vital records.
Local Print Resources
The library has many local genealogical resources in print format:
Eau Claire County Brides/Grooms Index: Volumes 1-70. (SPECIAL COLLECTIONS 929.377545 G286b) A five-volume set of the combined listing of brides and grooms names as fount in the Eau Claire County Courthouse records from 1850-1959.
Cemeteries in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. 1995. (REFERENCE 929.377545 G286c) Includes Hales Corners/Scotts Valley, Holy Guardian Angel, St. Luke’s, Thompson Valley and Union cemetery.
Chippewa County Wisconsin Cemetery Index. 1998. (REFERENCE 929.5 B666c) An index to Chippewa County, Wisconsin cemeteries.
City Cemeteries-Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 2001. (REFERENCE 929.377545 G286c) An index to all city cemeteries except Lakeview and Forest Hill.
Eau Claire County Area Obituaries and Death Notices. 1995. (REFERENCE 929.375545 G286i) An index to many obituaries found in the Eau Claire newspapers from the earliest days to 1995.
Index to 1910 Eau Claire County, WI Atlas. 1999. (REFERENCE 912.77545 J258i) An index for locating the property of a landowner in 1910 in Eau Claire County.
Forest Hill Cemetery – Eau Claire, WI. 2002. 2 vols. (REFERENCE 929.5 G286f) An index to Forest Hill Cemetery.
Lakeview Cemetery & Angel of Hope Memorial. 2004. (REFERENCE 929.5 G286L) Lists the names of those buried in the cemetery and of those memorialized in the Angel of Hope Memorial Garden.
Lakeview Cemetery, Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 1994. 4 vols. & index. (REFERENCE 929.677545 G286l) An index to Lakeview Cemetery.
Vital Statistics Index to the Eau Claire (weekly) Free Press. 1990. (REFERENCE 929.375545 An23v) Lists births, deaths and marriages in the Eau Claire Weekly Free Press, 1858-1876.
Wisconsin Biographical Index. 1999. (REFERENCE 929.3775 J258w) An index to County histories and biographical sketches found in Reference books throughout Wisconsin.
Census and Military Records
The library also has the Wisconsin Necrology for 1846-1944 (7 reels), a collection of obituaries on microfilm of prominent Wisconsinites, “old settlers,” etc. In addition, the library subscribes to AncestryPlus, a website with digitized images of the U.S. Federal Census from 1790 forward. AncestryPlus is available on any workstation at the library or you may access HeritageQuest in the library or from your home computer with your library card.
HIGHLIGHT: Established by Congress in 2000, The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.
Additional Resources:
Soundex Coding System Soundex is a coded surname (last name) index based on the way a surname sounds rather than the way it is spelled. Surnames that sound the same, but are spelled differently, like SMITH and SMYTH, have the same code and are filed together. The soundex coding system was developed so that surnames can be found even though they may have been recorded under various spellings.
Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers The volumes reproduced here list all the soldiers known to have participated in Wisconsin’s Civil War regiments. Known as the Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, these two volumes were compiled in 1886 from original archival records and their alphabetical index was published in 1914.
Chippewa Valley’s Contribution to World War II Searchable database of servicemen from the Chippewa Valley area who served the United States during World War II.
Wisconsin Veterans Museum Many fine compilations of links to military history and museum web sites already exist. To complement these existing resource guides, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum chose to include sites which relate to Wisconsin and the Old Northwest as well as sites with comprehensive collections of military history or museum-related links.
Wisconsin Military Resource Center The Wisconsin Military Records section of AccessGenealogy has a wide range of excellent military information including how to order military and pension records, the 1890 Special Enumeration of Union Veterans and Widows, biographies of Wisconsin Civil War veterans and casualty lists. Scroll down for access.
CastleGarden.org Offers free access to a huge database of information on 10 million immigrants from 1830 to 1892, the year Ellis Island opened.
Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is a computerized database containing very basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War.
Ellis Island Land Records Searchable database containing arrival records for 22 million immigrants who entered through the port of New York from 1892-1924.
Military Personnel Records The National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records, is the repository of millions of military personnel, health and medical records of discharged and deceased veterans of all services during the 20th century.
