What Do We Have?

We do not have a master index of all of the people in the archdiocese.
Requests should be limited to no more than 5 individuals. Please complete all required fields in the electronic form, or if you send in a request by regular mail, please include as much information as you know regarding the people you are researching:

1. Full names of parents and children.
2. The type of sacramental record requested. (Baptismal, marriage, etc)
3. Approximate dates the sacrament occurred.
4. The parish where the sacraments took place, the city, town, or county where they lived. The more precise information that you can provide with regard to names, places, and dates, and any other information, such as the administering priest's name or your ancestors' addresses will be most helpful to our volunteer researchers. We will not respond to requests for a general search such as, "Everything you have on the Schneider family from 1850-1920." Please be specific.
5. You will receive an acknowledgement of your request via e-mail. We try to respond to all inquires within 4 weeks of receipt.
6. The Archive's holdings of post-1920 records are limited. Parishes should be contacted in writing with requests for information after 1920. Remember that church records are not public records. Pastors are not obligated to allow researchers to look at sacramental record books.

How to obtain a record

At this time we do not have sufficient staff or equipment to accommodate on-site genealogical researchers. All genealogical research at our facility must be submitted through our electronic request form or by standard mail. If you prefer viewing our records personally, our pre-1921 microfilms are available for viewing through a Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Family History Center. The LDS and the Archdiocesan Archives have copies of these films. You can learn what LDS Centers are in your state by using this link. This website allows researchers to search the Family History Library Catalog to determine what records are available for the parishes in the archdiocese.
The LDS Family History Center in the Milwaukee metro area:

Milwaukee Wisconsin
9600 W. Grange Avenue
Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States
Phone: 414-425-4182
Hours: T-Th 8:30am-3:30pm, 6:30pm-9pm; Sat 10am-1pm (Call to confirm hours)

Donations

The Archives requests a $25.00 donation for genealogical research requests. We do think of this as a donation and will perform the research whether or not a donation is made. Make checks payable to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Please note that even if we do not locate any records in which you are interested we have still spent time doing the research.

Mr. Tim Cary
Archdiocesan Archivist
Archdiocese of Milwaukee
PO Box 070912
Milwaukee, WI 53207-0912