From 1836 to 1907, clergy, justices of the peace, and others solemnizing marriages were required to submit a certificate for each marriage performed. Before 1852 these reports were to be submitted to county clerks. After 1852 the reports were submitted to the county register of deeds. The register of deeds was required to enter the information into a registry book, maintain an index, and until 1905, send a copy of the registrations to the Secretary of State. After 1905 the copies were submitted to the state Bureau of Vital Statistics, now the Bureau of Health Services. Registrations on file with the Secretary of State were transferred to the Bureau.
When Wisconsin became a state in 1848, its divorce laws were liberal for the times but much stricter than today’s laws. Divorce had been regarded as almost exclusively a man’s right, in keeping with earlier notions that the husband’s authority over the family should not be questioned. But by the 1840s there was growing concern about drunken husbands’ abuse of their wives and children, and many new states including Wisconsin enacted liberal divorce laws to help women.
Nevertheless, 19th century society was not ready to make divorce easy or accept the idea that sometimes divorce is not due to failings by either spouse. Wisconsin was no exception: it allowed divorce only for “cruel and inhuman treatment,” desertion, and several other narrow reasons.
In 1866 the Wisconsin Legislature allowed divorce after a voluntary separation of five years, thus making Wisconsin one of the first states to create a no-fault basis for divorce. But most people did not want to wait five years. Cruelty became the most common ground for divorce, mainly because many Wisconsin judges interpreted the term quite broadly.
There are very few extant divorce petitions from the 1800s. The Wisconsin Historical Society has a sampling of these petitions online in their Wisconsin Citizen Petitions digital collection.
20th century divorce records are generally found in court records. For basic information such as names and dates, see the index to divorce records from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, which is available online through FamilySearch
We primarily have divorce records for Washington County.
1931-1962: “Circuit Court Case Files” (Washington Series 19), and “County Court Case files” (Washington Series 18).
1962-1985: Family Case Files (Washington Series 22)
Name Change Records
We only hold name change records for Milwaukee County.
Milwaukee County (Wis.). Register of Deeds. Court ordered name changes, 1871-1977.
Milwaukee Micro Series 9
List of name changes ordered by the courts, provided in two parts. The first part lists the names before the change, and covers 1890-1977, arranged by letter of the alphabet then by date of filing. The second part lists names after the change, and covers 1871-1976, arranged by letter of the alphabet then by date of filing. View finding aid.