By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
GENEALOGY ASSISTANCE: Portage County has something that few, if any, other counties in the state or nation have.
In a joint effort, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Archives, the Portage County Public Library and the Stevens Point Area Genealogical Society maintain an index of obituaries that appeared in Portage County newspapers from 1872 to present.
The index is readily accessible to anyone. It's on the Internet at http://library.uwsp.edu/obits/ and provides a ready reference to someone trying to trace a family tree.
The Gazette is linked to that Web page, and we use the index frequently, particularly to check for maiden names of parents or spouses.
The index lists the date the obituary appeared in a newspaper and sometimes the specific page. It also lists alternative names, such as maiden name ("name from home") or nicknames. The database includes more than 100,000 names.
For obituaries that appeared in The Gazette since July 1999, there is a hyperlink to the full text of the obituary. For other obituaries, photocopies can be ordered through the University Archives.
We periodically receive inquiries from people trying to trace their family tree who know someone in their relation was from Portage County.
After directing them to the index, we've received several "thank you" notes. The index, and the Internet link, are valuable.