People of Burlington and Vicinity

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This database is an index to death, birth, and other information primarily on people who have lived in or near Burlington, Wisconsin, since about 1835. Marriage information is in a companion database called MARRIAGES OF PEOPLE OF BURLINGTON AND VICINITY.  Additional databases can be seen by clicking on the "Records" button above.

The databases, which are in draft form and subject to change, contain information obtained during research of newspapers, books, cemetery lists, and other sources. (For a list of sources and where they may be located, see the References and Sources page which can be accessed by clicking on "Notices" at the top of the page.) The research was started by Burlington area natives, Henrietta and Aloysius Vande Sand, long-time members of the Burlington Historical Society, and has been continued by their son, Don. The information is in summary form and is intended as a "finding aid." The databases are not a "primary source" in terms of genealogical research; neither are most of the source materials. 

Although the research is on-going and will not be finished for at least several years, the preliminary results are being made available for use by those seeking genealogical and other information on people who have lived in or been associated with Burlington and the towns and villages surrounding Burlington. The databases will be updated from time to time as the research continues. The latest update to this database was posted in February 2007, and includes references to the church records (generally through 1920) of several area Catholic Churches, including St. Mary's and St. Charles of Burlington, St. Mary's of Kansasville / Dover, St. Joseph's of Lyons, St. Kilian's of Bloomfield, St. Alphonsus of New Munster, St. John's of Paris, and St. Francis Xavier of Brighton.  It also includes some information from various censuses.

Information on more recent deaths may be available at the Daniels Family Funeral Homes website (http://www.danielsfamilyfuneral.com/ObituaryPage), which has obituaries dating from about October 2002 that can be accessed.

The "People" database contains upwards of 80,000 names, with married women listed under both their married and maiden names, if those names were found in the source documents. In cases where first names or maiden names were not recorded in the source documents, a question mark ("?") indicates that the information was not available. If the source documents contained differing spellings of names (such as Smith, Schmitt, and Schmidt or Katherine, Catherine, and Kathryn), those spellings have been incorporated in the database to the extent practicable. The same has been done when differing death or birth dates were included in the source documents.

The dates in these databases are in the month / day / year format. The year may be shown in full -- for example, 1897, 1934, 2001 -- or it may be shown with only the last two digits -- for example, 97, 34, 01. In the latter case, the first two digits of the year can usually be found or can be assumed from other information in the entry. Where a reference was not clearly associated with a person, the notation "c/b" (could be) is included. The information is, of course, accurate only to the extent that the source documents contained accurate information and the researchers accurately interpreted and recorded the information.

In some cases, particularly for deaths and marriages that occurred from the mid-1950s to the early 1990s, some of the "F" (Free Press) and "S" (Standard) references are not accompanied by a date. This indicates that the research has not yet been done to identify the date of the newspaper in which the death or marriage was mentioned. Also, references to newspaper dates in the year following a death or marriage indicate that information was obtained from an annual list of deaths or marriages that the Burlington newspapers sometimes published.

In cases where an issue of a newspaper contained more than one reference to an event, such as an obituary and the out-of-town attendees at the funeral, or a birth being reported in both the Burlington and Lyons "locals," the number of references is shown in parentheses following the newspaper date -- for example, S 1/11/23 (2), F 3/4/50 (3), etc. Not all newspaper references to individuals have been recorded. Also, for some individuals, there may be additional references in the Events in Burlington and Vicinity and Burlington Homes and Farms databases.

Information on the location and availability of documents and records is listed on the "References and Sources" page of this website. There may be other locations where the documents and records are available.  Abbreviations and acronyms are listed on the Abbreviations page.

While we would like to be able to provide copies of articles, we do not have the volunteer help necessary to do that. The microfilms of the newspapers are available at the Burlington Public Library, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, and possibly at other research facilities in southeastern Wisconsin, including the University of Wisconsin - Parkside. They may also be available through your local library's reference desk.  The Burlington Genealogical Society, from time to time, has members who, for a fee and expenses, will do limited research.  That Society can be accessed by clicking on the Related Sites button near the top of our Home page.

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