Milwaukee County
Online Genealogy and Family History Library[ Back to top ]
THE DEAD
Due to the fact that there are nearly 6,400 names in the burial register book the names have been broken up by years.
This list is far from complete. It was a work-in-progress. (see note below)
The records do exist for the poor farm. From the information that I have they are in a binder book, that is kept in the office at the Milwaukee County Buildings and Grounds department, located on Watertown Plank Road in Wauwatosa. This book is not indexed. Any look-up would be manual. The B&G dept takes care of the County grounds, including the poor-farm cemetery, which is located just north of 87th St and Watertown Plank Road.
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List of Burials
1872-1934 1893-1913 (partial)
1935-1974 1956-1974 (complete)
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HISTORY OF THE CEMETERIES
The Milwaukee "County Farm" Cemetery (a.k.a. Potter's Field) was used during the years 1872-1974. This cemetery was used for the poorhouse inmates and also for burial of other indigent people and transients for whom no funds were available for burial. The cemetery may have been in use prior to 1872. However, there is no documentation of burials occurring before 1872.
A total of five pauper cemeteries have been located to date within the Milwaukee County. There was one on the east side North of North Avenue and East of Oakland. The remaining four are on the Milwaukee County grounds. The second cemetery was discovered in April of 1932, during construction of a nurses' home. The third one is where the most recent burials are and is known as the Milwaukee County Cemetery. A fourth cemetery was found in 1991 west of the Milwaukee County Cemetery. A fifth cemetery were found in 2000 in a small wooded area less than a quarter-mile northwest of the graveyard between Watertown Plank Road and the Menomonee River.
News article on recent finding
It has been reported, that the Superintendent of the Poor was often delinquent in the care of the cemeteries. A Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper story in 1878 was titled, "A Disgraceful Potter's Field". The article went on to complain of coffins popping out of the ground and insufficient dirt covering the coffins.
The Register of Burials for the Milwaukee County Poor Farm began in 1882 and lasted until 1974. Most of the burials were from the Almshouse, County Hospital, or transported from area hospitals or the downtown morgue. There were 431 unknown persons listed. Ages were not recorded until 1898, and cause of death not recorded until 1908.
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ALMSHOUSE HISTORY
In 1852, Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors purchased a county farm for $6,000 to act as a poorhouse. They named it Almshouse. Admission to the Almshouse required a number of things: a judge's order documented poverty lack of any relatives or friends that would take you in and the signatures of two County taxpayers.
Many of the common causes for admitance were:
Deaf and dumb inmates
Disabled by blindness
Disabled by old age
Disabled by disease and loss of limb
Epileptic
Feeble minded
Alcoholism
Out of work
Soon after the Almshouse was established it became clear the facility was not suitable for all the inmates. In 1858, the county opened a second facility for children. The Lady Elgin steamship disaster of 1860, resulted in a huge influx of orphans. Many of these orphans were sent to the Almshouse creating a need for a large facility which eventually developed into the Home for Dependent Children and Infant's Hospital in 1898. In 1860, a hospital was also established to separate and care for inmates with contagious disease. This institution evolved into the present day Milwaukee County Medical Complex.
In 1878, the Milwaukee County Insane Asylum was built, consisting of a facility for the chronically ill called South Division and a North Division which cared for patients with acute illnesses.
In the 1880's the Almshouse went through a couple of name changes. In 1883 it was called the County Farm for Inebriates and Idiots and in 1885 the Milwaukee County Retreat for Weak and Feeble Minded Persons.
In 1917 the name was changed to County Infirmary. The infirmary was torn down in the mid 1970s and replaced with a parking lot.
More information on the Milwaukee Almshouse can be found Poorhouse Story.
NOTE: The burial record transcriptions were found online at another website.
After numerous attempts to contact the creator of the above site and getting no response, I thought it a wise decision to copy the genealogical data found there to this site. Since the site above is a freeserver, if no one maintains the site, it is in jeapordy of being removed. I would hate for all of the valuable research and pain staking transcription work to be lost.
Unfortunately there is no name on the website listed above, therefore I have no idea who I can even thank for their hard efforts. If you are the person that created the original site, or know who did please contact me at the email address below.
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