ERMPL Genealogy & Local History
Our library hosts a large genealogy, family, and local history collection in our second floor Felker Family Foundation Genealogy & Local History Room. The library has informational material not only from Marshfield and surrounding communities, but also from communities, counties, and states across the United States with an emphasis on Wisconsin connections. Besides the standard and expected resources, we pride ourselves in collecting limited edition works. We have electronic or microfilm access to all historical and current Marshfield newspapers.
E-Mail Reference
ERMPL accepts requests for obituary, birth, or marriage information via our electronic form. Information Desk staff will answer them as time permits. You may submit up to five requests at a time by using our online form at Make Marshfield Genealogy Requests.
We have a busy library, so staff are not able to provide in-depth research. However, we welcome you to visit our library to conduct research yourself. If in-depth research is required, we will gladly refer you to the Marshfield Area Genealogy Group at P.O. 337, Marshfield, WI 54449 or provide the names of individuals who are willing to do research for a fee.
Marshfield Public Library Online Genealogy Index
This special library owned database represents over 30 years of work by many individuals. Volunteers representing the Marshfield Area Genealogy Group and Marshfield Public Library culled through microfilm newspapers for records of births, deaths and marriages. Their efforts were complemented by the work of GreenThumb/Experience Works/SCET/CET workers, Hilly Weimert, Sherri Bullock, and Tom Watson, as well as UW-Marshfield/Wood County work-study students. This online index covers over 430,000 events reported in Marshfield, Wisconsin newspapers, and while it does not provide full-text articles online, it does point you to the title, date, page and column number where you can locate the article on our microfilm.
Marshfield Historical Business Directories
The Marshfield Historical Business Directories database results from a collaborative project between the North Wood County Historical Society and the Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library during Marshfield’s 150th Anniversary in 2022. Historical society volunteers collected the business name, street address, and directory date from phonebooks and city directories held by the historical society and library dating between 1881 and 2009.
Volunteers prepared individual databases for each year and then merged those into one comprehensive database.
For convenient use, the all-inclusive database is sorted and saved as three documents.
1) alphabetical listing by name
2) street name and address listing
3) business listing on Central Avenue only
Links to the databases are below, open them by clicking on the name of the list. In an open document, searches for a specific business are made easier with the “Search Bar” (click on the magnifying glass, or press “CTRL+F”) and then typing the business name into the search box. The dates listed indicate the year that the business name appeared in available phonebooks or directories, providing an approximate time frame for its operation, but not necessarily a complete time frame. The “Street Name” document provides the names of other businesses that might have occupied the same location over time.
A word of caution - in January 1941, a new numbering system was implemented in the city. Installed first in the Central Avenue business district, new numbers were set every 11 feet instead of what previously was every 22 feet, changing address numbers. For example, the Thomas House building, at 101 South Central became 103 South Central, while at the other end of the block, the Adler Building, which had been 135 South Central, became 171 South Central.
Volunteers who contributed to this project are Bob Apfel, Bob Kult, Sue Kult, Lorraine Rogers, and Don Schnitzler.
2009-1881 Business Directory by Name then Year
2009-1881 Business Directory by Street Location NSEW Number then Year
2009-1881 Business Directory on Central
Annuals
The Tiger is the yearbook for Marshfield High School and Marshfield Senior High. The digitized collection includes annuals from 1950 to 2019. Missing years include: 1967, 2005, 2013, and 2016.
Clio
Clio is an electronic bookshelf with over 1,500 online digitized state and county history books. The collection contains digital scans of history books from Wisconsin and surrounding states such as Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota. Also included are titles from Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Parish Registers of England. You may browse titles or search within all titles available.
Ancestry Library Edition
Genealogy information, including census data, passenger lists, and more.
Fold3
Discover your family’s military past with this database that provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.
HeritageQuest
Genealogy records and books, including census data, local histories, tax rolls, cemetery lists, and more.
American Ancestors
More than 1.4 billion records spanning twenty-two countries covering the United States, the British Isles, continental Europe, and beyond, including one of the an extensive collection of early American genealogical records, a searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines, and Boston's Catholic records. In Library use only. Trial ends August 2021.
Newspapers.com
Historical newspaper archive from the 1700’s-2000’s containing regional, state, and small local newspapers in the United States and other countries.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Wisconsin Collection
A database of historical Wisconsin newspapers in downloadable PDF format, including the Marshfield Daily News from 1921-1927 and the Marshfield News-Herald from 1927-2009. Other Wisconsin papers are listed below.
US Newsstream
Current and archival to 1980’s U.S. news featuring key national and regional sources such as Gannett titles Marshfield News Herald with full text coverage Feb 1, 2003 to present, the Daily Tribune from Wisconsin Rapids, and more.
Wisconsin History Day by Day
Provides historically significant information for each day of the year as well as a chronology of Wisconsin’s history dating back to 1848.
Other Helpful Links
- City of Marshfield Interactive Cemetery Index
- Upham Mansion/North Wood County Historical Society
- Wood County Genealogy
- McMillan Library Wisconsin Rapids Genealogy
- Wood County Wisconsin
- Marathon County Historical Society
- Wisconsin State Historical Society
- Clark County Cemeteries
- Wisconsin History for Kids
- US National Archives
- National Archives Genealogy and Family History
- Family Search – free family history, family tree, and genealogy records and resources from around the world provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
- Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
- German Script – where to learn
- World Language Dictionary
- Elsie's World War II Scrapbook: hundreds of newspaper clippings as originally published by the Marshfield News-Herald is courtesy of McMillan Memorial Library Digital Collections.
- Marshfield Area Genealogy Group
- Wisconsin State Genealogical Society
- Heart of Wisconsin Genealogical Society
- South Wood County Historical Museum
