State Archives Online – Wisconsin to Wyoming

Wisconsin – The Wisconsin State Archives are tied to the Wisconsin Historical Society. To assist in research of ancestors in Wisconsin they have set up the Wisconsin Genealogy Index. The search engine allows the researcher to place a name, a county and a date. They have birth, marriage and death information from the mid-1800s. The information is an index, so an actual copy could be ordered. There are some newspaper articles, obituaries and biographical sketches. Comment: The state only offers the index with listings of individual records available. Some of the other databases, also as indexes include Civil War rosters and veterans, oral histories, historical images, county histories, and memoirs. Comment: The Wisconsin site has some information using the searchable indexes, but actual online copies of vital records are lacking.

Maine – The State of Maine has numerous databases with their collections of vital records and documents. There are Marriage Records from 1892 to 1967 and 1976 to 1996 and Death Records from 1960 to 1996. There are also many indexes of information such as Divorce Index 1800 to 1891, Maps 1674 to 1989, Land Grants and Pensions of American Revolutionary veterans, War of 1812 veterans, Mexican War soldiers, Civil War Maine sailors and photos from 1920 to 1959. Comment: The Maine Archives online are a good start and hopefully extra records will be soon added.

Rhode Island – The Rhode Island State Archives have a section titled ‘Virtual Archives’. The site includes historical Rhode Island elections, including about women getting the right to vote. There are numerous photos from different locations in Rhode Island, some dating back to the early 20th century. Comment: The Rhode Island State Archives have not added vital records to their Virtual Archives to-date.

Mississippi – The Mississippi State Archives have developed their ‘Digital Archives’ site. Much of what is online is historical, including the Anti-Slavery Alphabet, Photographs of the 1927 flood & Hurricane Camille in 1969, Postcard collection of some 4,600 images, Veterans of the Mexican War, many photographic collections, Maps, Oral histories and Civil Rights from 1956-1973. Comment: The historical selection is good and varied as well as easy to search. There is not much on vital records and documents.

Wyoming – The Wyoming State Archives has an ‘Archives Photo Database’ online with some 500,000 images of Wyoming. They also have an online map collection with some 12,000 maps, certificates and posters. The Wyoming Newspaper Digital Project is very searchable by name, city or county and presents the copy of the actual newspaper. Comment: The Wyoming State Archives have a very good start on their digital archives online. Much more on vital records can be added.