Recorded here are some of the Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese baptism and marriage registrations recorded in the years 1840 through 1853 as these relate to present day Washington County. During these years, Washington County included Ozaukee County.

The marriage registrations start with Father O'Kelly located in Milwaukee in July of 1840 and proceed on under various priests to 1854. The baptisms start under Father Heiss located in Milwaukee in 1844. This includes many registrations recorded in Washington County and some from the church books of the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Milwaukee. The Cathedral was previously known under Father Martin Kundig as St. Peter and before under Father O'Kelly as St. Luke.

In May of 1844 Father Michael Heiss was assigned as missionary priest to Washington County. Washington County then encompassing the land area which is today Washington and Ozaukee Counties. He recorded his registrations in the books of The Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Milwaukee. In 1846 Father Xavier Obermüller was assigned to St. Boniface located in Town Nine, Father Anton Meyer to St. Anthony The Hermit in Fussville at the northern edge in Town Eight, and these two priests ministered primarily in the southeast half of Washington County running the diagonal northeast to southwest. Father Charles Shrodenback was ministering in the northwest half of the county primarily in Towns Ten and Eleven and north. The Irish element in the southwest corner of the county was ministered to by Father Martin Kundig and later Father Thomas Morrisey out of St. John in Monches located as was St. Antony on the northern edge in Town Eight.

The indexes are displayed in surname, name sequence. For marriages, you will find the wife identified under her maiden name and her married name.

If a marriage took place in Milwaukee, it is possible that any of the four priests located there could have officiated at the ceremony. You have Bishop Henni, Fathers Martin Kundig, Thomas Morrisey, and Michael Heiss. For research purposes, most likely the priest who was assigned to the territory where the couple were located probably performed the ceremony.

If you find your ancestor identified here, The Home Team would appreciate knowing where your ancestor lived at the time. The mail link can be found below.

Disclaimer:

Please note, this information, or for that matter, any transcribed information is subject to errors. While the transcriber judiciously transcribes the information, the result is always subject to human transcription error, a read interpretation error, and there may have been errors in the original recording. A numeric 1 may look like a 7, a 3 may be seen as an 8, a "u" possibly an "o', a "y" like a "z", a "g" like a "y", and an o" for an "a". As most of the recordings were in human hand, penmanship plays a significant role in being able to decipher what was transcribed. Some individuals had beautiful penmanships; some left much, very much to be desired.

The spelling of names and the recording of dates mean more to us now than they did, say, in the mid 1800s, and even less as you go back in time. When a person couldn't read nor write, how could they correct what was transcribed.

The same is true with these registrations. The parties were not present when the transcription was actually made. Who checked them out? The pastor recorded what he was told. With the exception of the date of the event, where it occurred, and the presence of the individuals, all other recorded information came second hand to the priest.

For any transcribed information, what you see needs to be treated as suspect. Who knows better the spelling of a persons name.

Suggest this be but one source of your information. Most strongly encourage you to check this information against civil records and family records and if they all agree, that is great. When they don't, you need to make a decision based on available evidence.

With this in mind, select your item of interest from the choice on the left.