Genealogy Resources
Alma Public Library has a great list of local resources for your genealogy search. (Contact the appropriate organization for updated hours.)
Buffalo County Historical Society
Buffalo County Historical Society holds area history for Buffalo, Chippewa, LaCrosse, Pepin and Trempealeau Counties. You will be able to find Obituaries and local news on Microfilm of
- German newspaper 1880-1888, 1891-1899, 1907-1910
- Buffalo County Journals/Alma Weekly Express 1861-1980
- Cochrane Recorder 1914-1981
- Buffalo County Republican (covering Fountain City in English) 1924-1959
- Mondovi Herald 1876-1981
- Census Records 1840-1930
- Ancestry.com
The Society keeps family histories, wedding and anniversary files, Old Atlases and Plats from 1878, 1896 and 1914.
Location: Buffalo County Court House, 407 South 2nd Street, PO Box 394, Alma, WI 54610 (on the 3rd floor).
Website: https://bchsonline.com
Hours: Contact the Society for updated hours.
Contact: email: office@bchsonline.com phone: 608-685-6290
Heritage Quest
Heritage Quest is available online through Badgerlink, the Wisconsin state cooperative database collection. Residents have access to Badgerlink from anywhere: home, office, library, traveling, etc.
To access Heritage Quest Online:
- go to www.badgerlink.net
- on Top right-hand menu, click on Library Card Login
- choose your library (Alma Public Library)
- fill in your Library Barcode Number (omit any spaces)
- click on Login
- on Top right-hand menu click on for Genealogists
- scroll down and click on Heritage Quest Online
You will be able to search:
- Census records
- Over 28,000 family and local history books
- PERSI, an index of over 2.1 million genealogy and local history articles
- Revolutionary War Era Pension & Bounty-land Warrant Application files
- Freedman’s Bank, 1865-1874, found to serve African Americans
- U.S. Serial Set
wisconsinhistory.org/vital records.com (There are costs for some of the services provided.)
“A great pace to begin this trip back in time is a the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison. They have all the information you need and lots of friendly people to help find it.” …survey respondent
- More than 2.5 million pre-1907 Wisconsin birth, marriage and death records
- Thousands of Obituaries
- Biographical Sketches
- Newspaper articles from 1870-1970
- Wisconsin Civil War Service Records