Wisconsin’s newspapers began in 1833 in Green Bay. The Wisconsin Historical Society holds one of the largest newspaper collections in the country, and its Wisconsin Name Index includes nearly 30,000 obituaries clipped by Society librarians.
Wisconsin obituaries in historic newspapers
The Green Bay Intelligencer was first printed in 1833, when Wisconsin was still part of Michigan Territory. Milwaukee, Madison and the lake ports followed, and German immigration made Milwaukee one of the country’s major German-language newspaper cities, with titles such as the Milwaukee Herold and Germania.
Norwegian, Polish, Dutch, Czech and other immigrant communities published their own papers, and many rural weeklies ran obituaries that named the deceased’s birthplace in Europe and the year they arrived in Wisconsin, which is often the key detail for tracing a family overseas.
Between 1860 and 1950 librarians at the Wisconsin Historical Society clipped obituaries of locally prominent people into 52 scrapbooks known as the Wisconsin Necrology. These are indexed in the Wisconsin Name Index, which also covers county histories and other sources. The Society has collected Wisconsin newspapers for well over a century and lends its microfilm through libraries.
Where to find Wisconsin obituaries
Obituary and death indexes
- Wisconsin Historical Society (Wisconsin Name Index) — Search the Wisconsin Name Index from the Society’s Records pages, including the Wisconsin Necrology obituaries.
Archives and libraries
- Milwaukee Public Library — Milwaukee newspaper microfilm and local history collections.
- Wisconsin Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Wisconsin newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Wisconsin and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Wisconsin
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.