Rather than putting NEW and UNDER CONSTRUCTION signs up all over the place, as this page is always under construction, I  am putting up this notice so you can find out what is new every month on this website.  It will be updated every time something else gets added.

SPECIAL NOTICE

Join the Wisconsin Genealogy Group/Mailing List.
Just visit the Group HomePage and click the '+ Join this Group' button.

December 2023

December 2023

Added links to four off-site Bios on the Biographies Page

Added a link to an off-site list of Pierce County Civil War Draftees on the Civil War Page

September 2017

Dan Geister and the Pierce County The Pierce County Historical Association now has control of this site. Updates are being done on the cemetery indexes and throughout the site.  If you have suggestions on how to improve the site or for records to add, please let us know.

December 2008

The Pierce County Death Index L-Z for the years 1908-1935 are now complete and online.  Many thanks goes to Mary Yates for her outstanding efforts in making this information available to all!

August 2008

We have several new entries this month, thanks to some wonderful volunteers who took the time to transcribe and submit this information.

The first is the Pierce County Death Index A-K encompassing years 1908-1937 donated by Mary Yates.  Mary has spent many hours at the County Courthouse creating this index and intends on submitting the balance as time allows.  Thank you Mary!

The second is the 1883 Pensioners list for Pierce County submitted by Sheri Beeler Baker.  Thank you for this wonderful contribution Sheri!

The third submission comes from Linda Johnson who found a small, abandoned cemetery and transcribed and submitted the info for us.  It is the Storden Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery in Ellsworth Township.  Thank you as well Linda!

July 2005

Have begun a new project, an index of the WWI Civilian Draft Registration Cards for everyone registered in Pierce County in the 1917/1918 draft registration time period.  Most appear to have registered in 1918.  You may access this new resource by using the "Military" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

October 2004

The Civil War pension file of William Pumplin has kindly been donated and has been placed online in the Military section of the Pierce County site.  You can find it by clicking here.

February 2002

Jennifer Selbrede has kicked off a new section to the Pierce County site with her submission of the passenger list of the S.S. Vaderland from Belgium to Philadelphia in 1874.  Bernard Tschumperlin was a passenger on this ship and later a settler in Pierce County.  You can access this list by using the "Passenger List" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

There are two newspaper articles dealing with a Circus disaster in River Falls in 1893 on the "Newspaper" link on the main page, or use this link to access.

Only $20.00 more dollars are needed to get the 1910 Federal Census online.  If you would like to contribute, please email Debbie Barrett. Please place a reference to Pierce County in the subject line so I don't accidentally delete it!  Thanks!

March 2002

A list of the post offices in Pierce County for the years 1886 and 1939 have now been placed online, they were contributed by Tim Stowell, another WIGenWeb Coordinator.  Thanks Tim!.  You can access it by using the "Towns" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

May 2002

The 1840 and 1880 Federal Census Images were kindly donated by an anonymous person and are now online.  You can find them by using the "Census" link on the main page, or by clicking here.  The Declarations of Intent are now complete, K-L.  You can find them by using the "Naturalizations" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

January 2001

Happy New Year to you all!  I am looking for proofreaders for the Bride portion of the pre-1907 Marriage index I am creating.  If you have access to an index, and some time to donate, please contact me at MrsGrinnin@home.com for information!  The Naturalization index in nearly completed and will be online in its entirety soon.

Steve Belonger has completed the 1880 Ellsworth Village Census!  He did an excellent job and it is now online.  Thank you Steve!  You can access it by clicking on the "Census" link on the main page or by clicking here.

March 2001

Some great things are happening in the month of March.  Nick Schommer has ordered the 1850 St. Croix and 1860 Pierce County Census' from S-K Publications.  This is a wonderful donation to the project and I know will go a long way to help further research in Pierce County, thank you Nick!  They will probably be online by this summer in the USGenWeb Archives.  They will be linked to from the Pierce County site.  I put together a head of household index to the 1860 Federal Census, it is online on the census page.  Also, we are currently trying to get enough people together to get S-K Publications to do the 1900 census for donation to the Archives as well.  We have 3 on the list after just a couple of days and have 21 more to go.  If you would like to spare a few dollars on this, please visit the S-K Publications page for Pierce County, WI.  You can sign up using the Wait-List Form.  When we reach all 24 donors needed, S-K Publications will scan the Census to CD and donate a copy to the USGenWeb Archives Census Project.  Hope to see a good response to this!

The 1850 St. Croix County Federal Census Index is now online.  You can reach it by using the "Census" Link on the main page, or by clicking here.

An index to the Delayed Births and Affidavits on file with the State of Wisconsin is now online.  You can access it through the Vital Statistics link on the main page, then click on births, or you can click here.

The 1860 Pierce County Federal Census Index and the 1890 Special Veterans and Widows Census Index are now online.  They can be accessed using the "Census" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

April 2001

Help get the 1900 Pierce County Federal Census Online!  SK Publications, in cooperation with the USGenWeb Project is currently taking donations to place this census online for all to use.  Cost is $20.00 per person, 24 people total.  We currently have 7 donating to this worthwhile project and hope to obtain more in the coming months.  If you are interested in helping, please click on the link to go to the SK Publications page for Pierce County.  They are a reputable company and have done this in conjunction with USGenWeb on numerous occasions already.  If you do not wish to pay by credit card, simply type in "Pay by Check" on the form when you submit.  You will be notified when all required donations are spoken for and you need to send your check in.  Use the form under Option B, "Wait List" to sign up.

The Pre-1907 Bride Index is now complete.  This will hopefully make it easier to find your ancestor's female siblings and who they married.  To access these indexes, please click here, or click on the Vitals link on the main page.

The last of the Naturalization Index (1903-1906) is complete and online.  To access this index please click here, or use the Naturalizations link on the main page.

May 2000

Still in need of donations to get the 1900 Pierce County, Wisconsin Federal Census Online!  If you can spare $20.00, won't you please consider donating to this project.  SK Publications will scan the 1900 census to CD and donate a copy to the USGenWeb Census Project for use online, free to all.  But we need your help to accomplish this.  You can pay online by credit card, or if you prefer to pay by check, simply type in "Paying by check" in place of your credit card number on the form.  You will then be notified when payment is to be made.  This will not occur until ALL required donations are signed up for.  Use the form under Option B, "Wait List" at the SK Publications Pierce County page.

Have begun locating ALL the Civil War units in which Pierce County men served during the Civil War and placing their names online.  This project is complete through the 25th Wisconsin Infantry.  I hope to have this finished before Memorial Day.  To view these units and men, click here or use the Civil War link on the main page.

I am also in the process of converting all the really large pages to text.  This will help speed up the download for faster viewing.  It will also allow users with smaller caches to view these pages with no difficulty.  Only have 30 more to go!

The Civil war rosters are complete.   You can click on the link just above this to access the new rosters.  And this month, this site reached 500 pages.  Most of these are data, with only a few entry pages and some queries.  We are slowly but surely getting there!

In keeping with the Memorial Day Holiday this month, and the honoring of our military dead, I have placed a list of the Korean & Vietnam War Casualties from Pierce County online.  You can find it using the "Korean & Vietnam War" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

The 1850 and 1860 St. Croix and Pierce County Census' are now online in the USGenWeb Archives.  I am working on an every name index, but you can still use the Head of Household Index provided to find the page your family was on.  You can access them by clicking here, or by using the "Census" link provided on the main page.

June 2001

All but the River Falls Township and Village and Trimbelle Township 1860 Census have been indexed and are online.  Joe Waddell also kindly donated over 200 obituaries which are being placed on the GenConnect Obituary board.  These are for people buried in the Spring Lake Lutheran Cemetery.  Joe also contributed a current index to that cemetery which can be found on the Cemetery page.  Thanks for all your hard work and your contributions to this site Joe!

We are still in need of donations to complete the 1900 Federal Census Image scan!  If you have a spare $20.00, won't you consider donating?  Email Debbie Barrett at mrsgrinnin@home.com for more details.  Give your poor CC's (me) typing fingers a break and contribute today!

The 1860 Federal Census Index is complete and online.  Click here to access, or use the "Census" link on the main page.

Have begun transcribing "Pierce County in the World War", published Sept. 1919.  It, and all other materials relating to the counties records in the various wars can now be found under the link "Military" on the main page, or you can access them by clicking here.

July 2001

Elaine Ross has ordered the balance of the 1900 Federal Census from SK Publications.  Thanks Elaine, your generosity is amazing!  That means those of us who signed up on the "Wait-List" will be receiving notification soon regarding our payments.  When we get those all in, the census will be ordered, scanned and placed online.  As this project will now be complete, I would like to begin asking for donations for the 1870 Federal Census.  That one is much smaller and will only require 13 donations.  This is the link to SK for those who wish to donate.  The same rules apply for this as for the 1900.  Use the "Wait-List" form which is Option B, and you can pay by check if you wish.  Simply type in "Paying by Check" where it asks for your credit card number.

Part 4, Rock Elm-Spring Valley of "Pierce County in the World War", is now online and can be accessed from the Military link on the main page, or by clicking here.

Stacey Anderson has volunteered to transcribe the 1880 Oak Grove Township Federal Census.  Thanks Stacey, your efforts are very much appreciated!

Pierce County in the World War is now finished.  Use the "Military" link on the main page, then click on WWI, or click here.

An every name index to the 1850 St. Croix County Federal Census is now online.  The article "Sketch of Pierce County" by Oliver Gibbs, Jr. and C.E. Young, first published in 1857, has also been added to our collection of written histories.  You can access it by using the Towns link on the main page, or by clicking here.

Transcription of World War II materials has begun.  If you know a vet, or are one, who served from Pierce County, please contact Debbie Barrett, mrsgrinnin@home.com to submit your veteran or war story.  Please be sure to include a reference to Pierce County in the subject line.  To view the latest additions, use the "Military" link on the main page, or click here.

AUGUST 2001

Several letters and diaries of men who served with the 12th Wisconsin Infantry in the Civil War were brought to my attention by Gretchen Levings and presented on this website by permission of Russell Scott, host of the 12th Wisconsin Infantry website.  You can find them by using the Civil War link on the main page, or by clicking here.  The links to them are at the bottom of the page.

The 1880 Gilman Township Federal Census is online.  You can access by clicking on the "Census" link on the main page, or by clicking here.

September 2001

The 1880 Ellsworth and El Paso Township Federal Census' are now online.  You can access them from the main page using the Census link, or by clicking here.

The 1900 Federal Census Images are online thanks to SK Publications and the donations of several users of the Pierce County site.  I would like to thank all of them for their kindness in helping get this online free to use for all!  You can view the images using the "Census" link on the main page, or by clicking here.  We are only a few donations shy of getting the 1910 census online as well, if you are interested in helping, please contact me, Debbie Barrett, at mrsgrinnin@home.com for details.

The 1880 Maiden Rock Village & Township Federal Census is now online.  You can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.  The 1880 Salem Township Federal Census is online.  You can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.

October 2001

The 1880 Trenton Township Census is now online, you can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.  

The 1880 Union Township Census is now online, you can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.

The 1870 Federal Census Images are now online, you can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.

The 1880 Martel Township Census is now online, you can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.

The 1880 Trimbelle Township Census is now online, you can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.

November 2001

The 1880 Oak Grove Township Census is now online, thanks to the hard work of Stacey Anderson!  You can access from the main page using the "Census" link, or by clicking here.  Only River Falls to go, and it is currently being transcribed!

January 2000

A belated Happy New Year!!! to everyone.  Hope yours was as great as mine.

Well, I've gotten some more of the Pre-1907 Birth Index done.  It seems that there are as many records for the last three years as were generated for the entire 30 years prior.  Mama always said it was those looong winter nights!  But will keep adding more this month until it is complete.

February 2000

Lorilee Scharfenberg sent in a short history of Diamond Bluff, as well as an index to the 1895 Plat Map for the area.  Both the history and the Plat Map index are online.  Thanks for the contribution Lorilee!

The Pre-1907 Birth Index is now complete and online.   This completes all the pre-1907 vital statistics indexes!  There are a number of delayed birth records as well, so if you checked this index earlier and didn't find a pre-1900 ancestor, try again, they may be there now.

With the upcoming 145th anniversary of the ending of the Civil War and Memorial Day remembering ALL soldiers who fought for the United States in the last 225 years, I have placed a "Memorial to a Civil War Soldier" on the Civil War Page.  It is the story of my gr.gr.uncle, William Allen Freeman who died during the Civil War, but it is also a call to remember all those who have lain down their lives in the service of their country.

March 2000

Recently I emailed everyone who had ever contacted me with an interest in Pierce County asking for volunteers to help transcribe the 1880 census.  Several of you have responded with offers of help.  Their dedication to the furtherance of free genealogical material online is wonderful.  They are:

Merylin Thelander - Clifton Township complete and online
Marilyn Pank - Diamond Bluff - complete and online
Barbara Tovrea - River Falls Township
Norm Morris - Ellsworth Township
Brenda Frazer - Union Township
Steve Belanger - Ellsworth Village
Jackie Root - Trimbelle Township
Loretta Shaver - El Paso Village and Isabelle Township - complete and online
Kathi Ellis - Trenton Township
Linda Peterson - Salem Township
Lynda Freeman - Maiden Rock Township
Martin Rodewald - Rock Elm Township - complete and online
Dave Janes - Hartland Township

I, and everyone who uses this site owes a debt of gratitude to these people for their selflessness and generosity.  Thanks!  

The following townships/villages are still available for adoption:  Martel, El Paso (township), Esdaile, Trimbelle Village, Gilman and Oak Grove Township.  If you have an interest in these areas, won't you please consider volunteering!

Marilyn Pank has finished the Diamond Bluff Village Census transcription and it is online, Loretta Shaver has sent me copies of the El Paso Village and Isabelle township census and I will be transcribing them this week.  Thanks to both of them for a job well done!

April 2000

The Isabelle Township census transcription is online with El Paso Village to follow shortly.  I have also heard from several of the other volunteer transcribers on the census and they are awaiting their films to begin, so more should be added in short order.  The St. Croix Valley Genealogical Society has donated a history of Pierce County.  They took the time to photocopy the entire book for me and it is in the mail.  When I receive it I will begin transcribing it in it's entirety between census transcriptions.

There is so much more out there to be contributed!  We are still in need of family biographies (doesn't have to be much, just a few short paragraphs), obituaries, plat maps, whatever you have that pertains to Pierce County history or genealogy, won't you submit it?  It really doesn't take much time!  I also need volunteers for the last few townships on the 1880 census!  Thanks!

Just finished compiling a history of Pierce County, its towns and villages in it's entirety.  Lots of early settlers named and many early facts about the settlement of each area of the county, check it out under the Town's button on the main page!  There is also a list of the County Officers from it's inception to the early 1930s.

Donna Berglund recently resurveyed the Trenton Cemetery and it's transcription now includes her list of additions and corrections.  Thanks Donna!

The 1880 El Paso Village and Rock Elm Township Census is now online thanks to Loretta Shaver and Martin Rodewald.  It's getting there everybody!  If you can help with the last few townships, please let me know!  Still needing adoption are:  Martel, El Paso (township), Esdaile, Trimbelle Village, Gilman and Oak Grove Township.

May 2000

Pierce County now has it's own mailing list.  Use it to exchange information, ask questions, or correspond with others interested in the same area of research as you are.  Information for subscribing is listed at the top of this page and the bottom of the main Index page.

I have also added GenConnect boards.  Use these to easily add your queries, wills, obituaries, bible records, pension files and biographies.  As of today, May 2, 2000, I will no longer be posting these items directly on the Pierce County site.

Richard Langer has sent some wonderful stories and they are now transcribed and online in the Memories section of the site.  I have to say, life certainly was different in the 20 odd years difference between he and I.  We all complain about how little time we have between work and kids, but I can say honestly, we have it far easier than our parents and grandparents.  Oh and Richard, I think I will continue buying my soap whether Martha Stewart teaches me how to make it or not!

Excerpts (as they pertain to Pierce County) from the book "History of Northern Wisconsin, published in 1881 are now online under the Towns button on the main page.  Has biographies of some of the earliest settlers and an in-depth history of the founding of Pierce County.

June 2000

Excerpts from "Fifty Years in the Northwest, by W.H.C. Folsom, published in 1888 is now complete and online.  You can find it by going to the main page and clicking on the Towns button.

Added a link to the Pre-1907 Delayed Birth Registrations.  You can find it by going to the Birth Index off the main page or click here.

July 2000

I am beginning to scan and place online the approximately 150 pages from the "History of the St. Croix Valley by Augustus B. Easton published in 1909.  It was photocopied and sent to me by Heidi Nelson who, I believe is associated with the Burnett County Historical Society in Burnett County, WI.  Many thanks to her for taking the time to do this and sending it to me.  It can be found under the Towns button on the main page or by clicking the link above.

On July 11th a new search engine was added to replace the GenSeeker search engine that seems to be malfunctioning more and more often.  This engine completely indexed this site of over 200 pages at this time and is ready for use.

The 1880 Clifton Township Federal Census is now complete and online with much thanks to Merilyn Thelander who transcribed and sent it on to me.  Thanks Merilyn!!!

Another 30+ pages of the "History of the St. Croix Valley" by Augustus Easton is online.

August 2000

Another 50+ pages of the "History of the St. Croix Valley" by Augustus Easton is online.  This project is now just over 50% complete and will be ongoing until it is done!

Another 10 pages have been added to the History of the St. Croix Valley.  There is also a new project on the page for photos of people and places in Pierce County.  If you have old photos you would like to see added here, please contact me at MrsGrinnin@home.com.  You can see this new project by going to the main page and clicking on the Photo Album link.

All 200+ pages of the "History of the St. Croix Valley" are online!  HOORAY!

More photos have been added to the Photo Album project.  Check them out!

The 1880 Hartland Township Federal Census is online with much thanks to Dave Janes!

September 2000

The Pre-1907 Death Index has been updated with new additions.  If you've checked it before, try again, you might get lucky.  

The 1855 State Census is online.  This census includes the townships of Greenwood (now River Falls); Martell; Prescott and Trimbelle.  If you have a master index to this census and can provide information on that material not decipherable from the microfilm I used, please contact me at MrsGrinnin@home.com.

Patricia Powell Dawson has donated the History of Washington County and the St. Croix Valley, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota by Rev. Edward D. Neill published 1881as it pertains to Pierce County.  There is also an index to this work which can be accessed on the Towns button on the main page.  After checking the index, you can use your browsers find function to locate all occurrences of your given surname.  Thanks Patricia for a wonderful contribution.

Nance Sampson, the Burnett and Sawyer County WIGenWeb project Coordinator is working on typing up bios from the History of the Chippewa Valley.  An index to that work is already on line.  Thanks Nance for all your hard work!

The bios from the "History of the Chippewa Valley" are now online with much thanks to Nance Sampson.

October 2000

Added a way for you to be notified when this page changes.  This will let you know when anything new has been added to this page, and thus this site.  It's at the bottom of the page, it is private and only takes a moment to set up.  I am currently awaiting film on the Declarations of Intent and the Naturalizations so I can begin working on those.  These will be abstracts of the info on the forms, not just an index.

January 1999

First, as you can see, a Search Site has been added thanks to Rootsweb and HTDig.  I've been waiting for this for a long time as this site now has over 20,000 names on it and growing, so it will help immensely in finding who you are looking for.  Just remember that it can take a few days for new additions to the site to be indexed by the server, so give new things some time to show up.

The music is going to have to go bye-bye for awhile, no matter what I try it seems to conflict with the pages and just is not worth it.

The Land Patent site will be on-going until it is completed.  It is now complete through "F" on 1/18/99.

St. Bridget's Cemetery in River Falls is finished 1/12/99.
The Mount Zion Cemetery is on-line 1/12/99
The New Catholic Cemetery is on-line 1/13/99
The Farm Hill Catholic Cemetery is on-line 1/16/99
St. John's Catholic Cemetery is on-line 1/21/99
Wilkens Family Cemetery is on-line 1/19/99
Zion Covenant Cemetery is on-line 1/19/99
Tabor Cemetery is on-line 1/21/99
SVEA Lutheran Cemetery is on-line 1/22/99
Spring Lake Lutheran Cemetery is on-line 1/25/99
Salem Lutheran Cemetery is on-line 1/25/99
St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery is on-line 1/28/99
St. Martin's Cemetery is complete 2/2/99

February 1999

Foster Cemetery is on-line 2/2/99, and that is the last of the Pierce County Cemetery Tombstone transcriptions (Thank Heaven).

Another one bites the dust: the Land Patent Index is complete on 2/17/99!!!!

Yes, I'm at it again, trying out a few new things. I've got to have some fun with this, don't you know. Hope you like the way it looks.

I am looking for volunteers to help with a major project I have to now undertake. I have been able to obtain a microfilm index of the pre-1907 Pierce County Marriages, so that won't be too hard to finish, but after that I will need help with the births and the deaths. If you live near an LDS Family History Center, or check with your local library, they may have it, or a University of WI Area Research Center, and have about 5 hours to contribute to helping with this index, please let me know. If I could get about 20 volunteers, this would take no time at all, without additional help, it will take me most of the remainder of this year to complete this section. If you have the time available, please email me (with the subject as Pierce County Volunteers) and I will fill you in on the details. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Marilyn Pank, bless her, has volunteered to transcribe the "G" death index when she has the time. Thanks Marilyn!!!!

March 1999

The Pre-1907 Death Index is now complete through "K" 3/30/99

The Pre-1907 Marriage Index is complete through "K" 3/31/99

Bruce Schumaker has volunteered to transcribe the "J" index for the Pre-1907
Death Index. Marilyn Pank has completed the "H" index and it will be online soon. I am still in dire need of volunteers to help with this project. The Marriage Index has proved to be huge, it is only complete through "I" and probably has close to 3000 entries in it already, so I will be working on that for some time. Please, no matter how little time you do have available to spend on this project, volunteer, as I need all the help I can get with it. And thank you Bruce and Marilyn for your time.

Marilyn Pank has finished the "K" portion of the pre-1907 death index and it will be online next week.

Kate Doonan, who is also a lookup volunteer on the Resources/Lookups page, has several copies of The Spring Valley Sun Newspaper from the turn-of the-century. She is currently in the process of indexing all of the names that appear in these newspapers, along with a small snippet of what it is in reference too, and the date of the paper in which it appears. Once this is done, it will be going online here under the new heading of Newspapers. From this she will be doing lookups and can send a photocopy of the article to whomever requests it. I want to thank Kate for doing this, it is no small task and she has already done so much for many people who have visited this site by her diligence in her volunteer lookups. It is completely due to her, Marilyn Pank, Bruce Schumaker, Kelly Selzle and all the lookup volunteers who help with the information on this site that has made it what it is and I can't thank them enough. If you have materials of this sort and would either like to volunteer to do lookups or can take it one step further and would like to transcribe the information for inclusion on this site, please do so, we are always looking for new material that will aid ALL of us in finding our ancestors.

April 1999

Well, it's another month and here I am again begging for more volunteers to help transcribe the pre-1907 Death Index. The "L" listing is almost complete, thanks to my daughter, Andrea (she owed me big time) and will be going online soon. If you have just a couple of hours to spare, please consider volunteering, it is for all of us. Please email me if you can and I will send you the details. Please place Pierce County Volunteers in the subject line of your email so I don't accidentally delete it. Thanks for your time.

The Pre-1907 Marriage Index is now complete through "R" 4/21/99
The Pre-1907 Death Index is now complete through "L" 4/12/99

Janet Poff has kindly volunteered to transcribe the "M" portion of the pre-1907 Death Index. Thanks Janet!!!

May 1999

The Pre-1907 Marriage Index is now complete through "Z" 5/8/99. (Whew!!!)

I still need volunteers to help with the pre-1907 Death Index. If you can volunteer some time, please email me at MrsGrinnin@aol.com with Pierce County Volunteers as the subject and I will send you the details. Thanks to those who have already donated their time and efforts and to those who will in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 1999

For those of you who thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, rest assured, I have not. I was just taking a very long needed rest. There are currently 4 volunteers working on the M-P portion of the death index and I will have those transcribed and placed online as soon as I receive them. I have added two new sections to the website, Obituaries and Newspapers. If you have an obit you would like to share please email me with Pierce County Obit in the subject line and the obit in the body. I will transcribe it and place it online. As for the Newspapers, this section will come along piecemeal. I am currently working on transcribing information sent to me by Kate Doonan, one of the lookup volunteers for this website. She has in her possession some of the early Spring Valley Sun Newspapers which she is indexing and sending to me and I will be placing that info online. She is also willing to do lookups from these newspapers and when the index is complete, it will go a long way in aiding her in this process.

I still need more volunteers for the Pre-1907 Vital Statistics and will welcome any offers of help.

You may have noticed that there was a write-up on this website by the local Prescott newspaper (at least I was told there was going to be, I hope it happened). I want to thank them for the exposure . It really helps to get the word out that this site is here to assist with your genealogical and historical interests in Pierce County.

I have also redone the buttons on the main page. I had received several emails from people telling me the buttons were difficult to read, so I hope that this will fix the problem and make the site easier for everyone, it may also take a little longer to load so I have removed a couple of things to try and compensate.

Kelly Selzle has been resurrected after a prolonged absence and has kindly donated the W-Z portion of the death index. Thank you Kelly!!! With her contributions and those of the other 4 volunteers currently working on M-P, the death index should be done soon. Thanks guys!! Your efforts are more appreciated than you know!

The pre-1907 Death Index is now complete with the exception of the following: M, N, O, R and part of the S index. Marilyn Pank and Kelly Selzle have been outdoing themselves this month in getting material to me, I've just been a little slow in typing it up.

The obituaries page is beginning to get some new submissions. Keep them coming!!

Turn up the speakers, I'm at it again. The music is back on the main index page. I chose "Coming to America by Neil Diamond. For those of you familiar with the tune, you'll know why, for those not it is a song about immigrants to America. And no matter what our family heritage we all have that one thing in common, somewhere along the line, whether it was 300 years ago or last year, someone left their home and their life and family behind and headed to America, so I thought it appropriate. So enjoy your visit and happy ancestor-hunting!

July 1999

Well, I don't know about you but after 2 1/2 years of looking at the same images over and over again, I decided it was time for a change.  So as I have the opportunity I will be revamping every single page on this site.  And everything, with the exception of 2 graphics, was made by me.  I already have all of the main pages done, but with over 100 pages on this site, it will take awhile, so I hope you like it.  I have also redone my Grandmother's memorial page, after hours searching for just the right image to build it around.  I hope you take a look, I think it's my best work yet.

Janet Poff has donated the "M" section of the death index and Marilyn Pank the rest of the "S" index, so they are now online and complete.  Thanks guys for all your help.  Only the N, O and R sections to go and another one bites the dust. A big "Way to Go" to everyone who has helped with this.

September 1999

Marilyn Pank has done another section of the death index and the "N" is now online.  It is so close to being completed now.  There is only the O and R sections left to go.  This has been a huge project and I would like to thank everyone who has had a hand in getting it completed.  I have been very busy myself (my husband and I are remodeling our home and I have started a new business), so have not had the time available that I would like to devote to the site, but as things get rapped up here, I should be able to get back on track.

You will find a couple of new offerings this month.  First, Bruce Schumacher has sent me a link to the St. Paul's United Church of Christ last month and that link is online on the Churches page.  He's put a lot of hard work into placing genealogical material from the church's records online and I hope you will all give it a look.  Second, I have decided to try a chat room for Pierce County.  The site is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to whomever would like to use it.  So, if you have found a cousin or a connection on this site and would like to get together and chat, please feel free.  I am going to try and be available once a month on the chat room, preferably the first Sunday of every month at 6:00 pm PT (8 and 9 CT & ET respectively).  Since it is already past the first Sunday this month, the first chat will be held on October 3, 1999 at the given time.  If this proves to be popular enough, I may have to expand to more days, but we'll give this a try to begin with.  I hope to see you there Sunday, the 3rd and in the future.  You have to have a browser that is Java Script enabled to use this site, so I hope that won't be a big problem.  This chat room does NOT require a name and password, unless you are using a username that is connected to XOOM.com, who hosts the site.  If that is the case and you can't remember your password (like me) just use a different username and you will get in.  Thanks for your support, Debbie

October 1999

Another month is here and there will be a couple of new additions this month.  First, Marilyn Pank is finishing the pre-1907 Death Index (thanks Marilyn) and I will be working on the Pre-1907 Birth Index which I was able to find on microfilm through the LDS, this should make this index go much quicker.  Second, the very first monthly chat in the Pierce County Chat room will be on October 3rd.  I've got it marked on my calendar and will try to be there from 6:00-7:00 pm PDT.  Hope to see many of you there.  This will just be a free discussion regarding Pierce County and to get acquainted with all the people who have been so supportive of this website over the last couple of years.  I hope to see you all there (and I hope I don't forget).

It's done!!!!  Marilyn Pank just submitted the O and R portions of the death index and that now completes that project.  I just started the birth index and will be compiling information on that to place online, so there should be something new on it in the next few days.

George Foss, bless his soul, has sent me scads of obituaries and I have been busy adding them to the Obituary page, check them out and see if there is anyone familiar.

Recently I became aware that there was a cemetery listing missing from my site, but not anymore.  The Old County Poor Farm Cemetery in Ellsworth Township was kindly donated by Mr. Ed Hass who transcribed it in 1985 and it is now online on the cemeteries page.

We also have a couple of new lookup volunteers, Darrow Wehman and George Foss and I would like to say thank you to both for volunteering.  We could use more like them to help this site along, Thanks!!!!

The first installment on the Pre-1907 birth index is now completed.  This index now runs through 1885 and will be added to as I get the info.  It should not be considered complete until you read it here.

George Foss authored a book called "Small Potatoes" which is a collection of memories from his childhood beginning in the 1930s.  He has kindly donated that to the Memories page of this site.  The first installment is now up and will be added to on a regular basis until complete.  Thank you George!

The pre-1907 Birth Index is now complete through 1896 with a partial listing of 1897.  Getting closer!!!

November 1999

The pre-1907 Birth Index is completed through 1901 with a partial listing of 1902.

Don't forget the chat in the Pierce County Chat Room on Sunday, November 7, 1999 at 6:00 pm PST (that's 8 and 10 CST and EST respectively).  Hope to see you all there.

This month marks the second anniversary of my taking over the Pierce County page.  When I began there was only a short listing of lookup volunteers, some queries and resources.  Since then this page has grown in leaps and bounds, no small thanks to the many people who have helped either with their time or by donating materials to the site.  I just want to thank everyone for their continued support of this website and encourage all of you who use it to send in material, no matter how small, to be placed online.  It goes to benefit all of us as genealogists to get as much material as possible for each area online.  We can use biographies of your family, obituaries, memories, whatever it might be, any and all is appreciated.  So send them in today!!!  Thanks.

The ever vigilante Sue Watson at the UWRF-ARC found a transcription for the Trenton Cemetery and it is now online.  This cemetery contains the burials of several of the Sea Wing disaster victims.  Thanks to Sue for keeping an eye peeled!

Enjoy your visit and check back here for updates.

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