About
This collection comprises citizen petitions written to the legislatures of the Wisconsin Territory and later the State of Wisconsin, from 1836 to 1891. At the time, petitions were the only direct means for citizens to communicate with the government.
From requesting dams, roads, and money to build schoolhouses, to recording views on slavery, suffrage, and statehood, these petitions reveal what settlers wished to achieve for their communities, and the ways in which they hoped to connect Wisconsin to the expanding commerce and intellectual life of the United States. These petitions are mostly handwritten in blue and iron gall ink; most petitions comprise a title page, the petition itself, and signature pages.
For more information about this Collection, visit its Online Finding Aid and View the Online Collection.
The work of flattening, scanning, and describing these petitions was funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC) of the National Archives.
Works
Petition for attaching the Wisconsin Pinery to Dane County for judicial purposes
Petition for attaching towns in Dallas County to Polk County
Petition for attaching Winnebago County to Fond du Lac County for judicial purposes
Petition for authorizing a ferry on the Mississippi River at De Soto
Petition for authorizing a steamboat to travel between the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan
Petition for authorizing a vote on aid to the Sheboygan and Mississippi Railroad
Petition for authorizing a vote to relocate the county seat of Crawford County
Petition for authorizing a vote to relocate the county seat of Waushara County
Petition for authorizing A.E. Briggs & Co. to build a grist mill on First Creek