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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
All works are fully transcribed.
Petition for allowing voters to decide on the sale of intoxicating liquors
Petition for allowing voters to decide on the sale of intoxicating liquors
Petition for allowing voters to select the county seat of Green County
Petition for allowing William Owen to build a dam on the Rock River
Petition for altering a mail route between Mineral Point and Monroe
Petition for altering a road that runs from Madison to Green Bay
Petition for altering how state appropriations are accounted for
Petition for altering school law to allow men and women of a certain age to draw public funds for school expenses
Petition for altering school law to appoint a Superintendent of Public Instruction and to determine how school districts should operate
Petition for altering the aid given to different railroads to extend their routes north of Oshkosh
