WI Roots.org

Established: 1845
County Seat: Chippewa Falls
Parent: Crawford County

* Records before the establishment of the county may be in the parent records.

Neighboring Counties

Rusk County – north Taylor County – east Clark County – southeast Eau Claire County – south Dunn County – west Barron County – northwest

From: Handbook of Wisconsin by S. Silas, 1855

CHIPPEWA.
pg. 52-54

One of the largest counties of the State, extending from the line between towns 24 and 25 north, to the line between 40 and 41, being 91 miles long, and averaging about 66 broad. Not one-half of the County is yet surveyed and brought into market. The County is watered by the Chippewa and Yellow Rivers, and their numerous branches, both large and small. It is, in its full sense, a well watered County. Our further description will apply only to the surveyed or Southern part of the County, which will undoubtedly soon be subdivided into several Smaller Counties.

The soil in the western part of the County is good, and great progress has been made in settlements for agricultural purposes. In the northeastern part, the soil is less valuable for farming purposes, but rich soil for the lumbering business, as it is covered with excellent pine.

Chippewa county contains one of the best and most extensive pineries in the State. There are now in successful operation twelve saw mills on the Chippewa River, capable of cutting 40,000,000 feet of lumber annually. The largest of these mills is located at Chippewa Falls and is commonly known as Allen's Mills; Menomonee, Mills; and at the month of the Eau Galla, is Carson and Eaton's. These mills average about 6,000,000 feet annually, and furnish employment for about 600 men.

The most of the land in the county is still subject to entry. It affords inducements to the immigrant both agricultural and mechanical, as the resources of the county are such as to give permanency to business, and a sure market is always to be found for the products of the forest.

Chippewa Falls, on Chippewa River, is the County seat. It is the principal depot of the lumbering operations on that River, the pines being above this village. Messrs. H. S. Allen & Co. have an extensive sawmill at these falls, sawing daily about 60,000 feet, and giving employment to about 400 men in the business connected with it. A road from Steven's Point to Hudson, passing this place, is soon to be opened.

We are indebted for most to the Hudson Journal, whose assistance we have occasion to acknowledge in another part of this work. Did the papers of other localities take the same pains to give local information as this, the Pinery at Steven's Point, and the Crescent at Appleton, we should possess much more sure and valuable information respecting the resources of our State. Such journals are worth more than the whole cost of publications to the different countries where they are located, and we do not doubt but they have been the direct means of doubting the population, and developing the resources in a corresponding ratio of the counties where they are respectively located.

General Genealogy and History Links

This section contains links to websites that have multiple databases or webpages with genealogical information.

Vital Records

Birth, Death, & Marriage Records:
Earliest Registration Dates*:
Births 1858
Deaths 1855
Marriages 1869

Chippewa Register of Deeds
711 N. Bridge 
Chippewa Falls, WI 54729 
Telephone: (715) 726-7994

Cemetery and Obituary Links

Census Links

Censuses contain valuable information about families. This section contains links to transcribed censuses, census indexes or census images for the county.

Residents of the County

This section contains links to family tree websites, biographies and information about individuals that lived in the county.

Area History

This section contains links of published histories and historical information about the county, its villages, cities or towns. Sometimes within these histories is information about founders, or other people that settled in the area. It may also include ethnic or religious histories of the communities.

Maps and Atlases

Military

Societies, Libraries and Offline Resources