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 setting off a portion of the town of Salem to form a new town
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against settling with the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal Company
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against taxing lots in the 5th ward in Milwaukee that need adjoining streets graded
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against taxing the 1st and 5th wards of Milwaukee to build a harbor without approval of a majority of voters
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against taxing the lumber being transported on the Wisconsin River
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against the apportionment of Senate and Assembly districts in Fond du Lac County
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against the incorporation of Lake Geneva
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against the laws that prohibit suffrage based on skin color
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against the location of the county seat for Adams County
Collaboration is restricted.
Remonstrance against the many efforts to relocate the county seat of Dodge County away from the village of Juneau
Collaboration is restricted.