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
Remonstrance against legalizing the issuance of bonds for the Chicago and North Western Railroad Company
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against legalizing the official acts of the town of Turtle Superintendent of Schools
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against legislation that would create friction between railroads and business interests
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against levying a special tax to build a school house in school district no. 2 in Southport
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against levying a tax to build a schoolhouse in the Farmersville school district in Caledonia
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against levying a tax to build a schoolhouse in the Waterville joint school district
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against levying an additional tax in the 2nd ward of Milwaukee
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against levying an additional tax to build a schoolhouse in Southport
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against loaning any portion of the school fund to the "Milwaukee & Mississippi Rail Road Company"
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against locating the temporary county seat at Dartford in Marquette County
Collaboration is restricted.