Fields to Include In Your Forms

Here you will find a list of the fields you should include on the forms you use to copy data onto from individual vital records at a county courthouse in Wisconsin or Michigan. You will typically not be able to fill in every field on a form because the data on records varies according to the time period in which the record was created, and because it's common for a requested data field not to have been filled in by the original recorder for one reason or another. You want to have one single form that fits all records of a given type, though, in order to make it easier to retrieve information from your forms after you get home.

These are the fields one would want to use for vital records specifically from Wisconsin and Michigan. For vital records from other states, possibly different fields would be more appropriate.

There will be some information on most records which I have not included spaces for on my own forms, because I am not interested in it. For example, I don't record the filing dates of birth or marriage records or the name and address of the midwife or physician that delivered a child or returned the information. If you find any data fields not included here that you want to copy, just add them to your own forms.

I am listing the fields in the order that's generally most helpful. I experimented with different orders to see what lets the copying go most smoothly, and this is what I wound up with. No order is perfect for all records of a type, though, because the order of fields on the forms changed during the years. I never found a convenient order for death records for some reason - too big a variability in the order of fields on the forms from different periods, I guess - but did my best.

Birth Records

• County of Record - if I am printing copies off my computer and I know where I'm going, I type the name of the county in so I don't have to write it out - saves a lot of writing. To allow for having printed more forms than I'll need and not wanting to waste any, I'll add a line to write in the name of the county, too, so the first line of the form will look something like:
  Walworth, WI  Racine, WI Other:________   
  Then I just circle the county name if it's typed out at the top, or write it in if it's not one of the names I typed out.
• Child's Name
• Date of Birth
• Volume
• Page (on same line as volume)
• Record Number (some counties use this instead of volume and page)
• Sex of Child (M or F is on the form, just circle one)
• Other Living Children (A long line)
• Father: Name (but omit the "Father:" - just group father's fields together with one label; same for mother's data)
• Father: Residence
• Father: Age or Birthdate
• Father: Occupation
• Father: Birthplace
• Mother: Name
• Mother: Residence
• Mother: Age or Birthdate
• Mother: Occupation
• Mother: Birthplace
• Number of Child of Mother, inclusive
• Number of Children Living, inclusive
• Stillborn?

Marriage Records

• County of Record (see method given above for birth records)
• Groom
• Bride
• Bride Maiden Name (at end of the same line as the name in the record)
• Date of Marriage
• Volume ___ Page ____ Record Number _________ (some counties use record number instead of volume and page)
• Groom Residence
• Bride Residence
• Groom Age ____ Birth Date ______________
• Bride Age ____ Birth Date ______________
• Groom Birthplace
• Bride Birthplace
• Groom Occupation
• Bride Occupation
• Groom Father ____________ birthplace ______________
• Groom Mother ____________ birthplace ______________
• Bride Father ____________ birthplace ______________
• Bride Mother ____________ birthplace ______________
• Previous Marriages: Groom:____ Bride:____ Info on reverse Y N
• Place (this is the city and venue of the ceremony)
• Officiant
• Title or Type of Ceremony (referring to title of the officiant)
• Witness 1 _______________ Residence ___________
• Witness 2 _______________ Residence ___________

Death Records

• County of Record (see method given above for birth records)
• Name of Deceased
• Date of Death
• Volume
• Page (on same line as the volume)
• Record Number (some counties use this instead of volume and page)
• Place of Death
• Was place of death an institution? (just a short space to put a check in if yes)
• Social Security Number
• Sex
• Date of Birth
• Age at Death: ___years ____months ____days
• Residence (a long line for full street address if given)
• Marital Status: Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed, Never Married (circle one)
• Spouse Name:
• Trade, Profession, or Nature of Industry
• Birthplace
• Father:________ Birthplace:________
• Mother:________ Birthplace:________
• Was in armed forces: ___ (just check or write in if answer is yes)
• Groom Father's Birthplace (on same line as his name)
• Informant (three lines with room for address
• Date of Burial
• Place of Burial (cemetery name and/or city)
• Undertaker (two lines, second for the address)
• Date Filed
• Principal and Related Causes (a list of some common ones, check if it's the reason, else write it in)
  • ___ heart problem of some kind
  • ___ carcinoma of ____________
  • ___ cerebral Hemorrhage (stroke)
  • ___ atheriosclerosis (___ generalized ___ heart)
  • ___ pulmonary tuberculosis
  • ___ other ___________________________ (a long line)
• Contributory Causes