From 1836 until 1907, clergymen, justices of the peace, and any others solemnizing marriages were required to submit a certificate for each marriage performed. These reports were to be submitted to county clerks, later to clerks of the district courts and then clerks of the circuit courts (except Dane County reports went to the clerk of the Supreme Court). Legislation in 1852 changed the recipient to the county register of deeds.
The register of deeds was required to enter the information into a registry book, maintain an index, and send a copy of the registrations to the Secretary of State. In 1905 the State Board of Health replaced the Secretary of State as recipient of the copies which were then maintained in the State Bureau of Vital Statistics (now called the Bureau of Health Statistics). Registrations on file with the Secretary of State were transferred to the Bureau. This series is a microfilm copy of those registration records.
A more detailed history of legislation relating to vital records, along with listings of local government holdings of such records as of 1941, may be found in the Wisconsin Historical Records Survey's Guide to Public Vital Statistics Records in Wisconsin (Madison, 1941).
