Genealogy and Local History
The Library Annex, located at 301 N. Iowa Street, has many publications for researching local families and historical events. The Annex also has publications from the Iowa County Genealogical Society.
Just beginning? Not sure where to look next? Stop at the Library Annex from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, for advice and help.
Find a list of available Local History & Genealogical collections retained by member libraries of the Southwest Wisconsin Library System here.
Resources for Sharing and Lifelong Learning is our go-to for statewide interlibrary loan.
The RS&LL website is full of great resources. Visit their page! Also, take a look at these FREE
Open Access Resources.
Genealogy Resources
Ancestry Library Edition
Ancestry is available for FREE on computers in the Dodgeville Public Library.
Ancestry® Library Edition delivers billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more. Answers await everyone—whether professional or hobbyist, expert or novice, genealogist or historian—inside the more than 7,000 available databases. Here, you can unlock the story of you with sources like censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps, and more. (Available on library computers only.)
HeritageQuest Online
HeritageQuest Online® resources is a comprehensive treasure —rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, convenient research guides, interactive census maps, and more. With more than 4.4 billion records, it delivers an essential collection of genealogical and historical sources—with coverage dating back to the 1700s—that can help people find their ancestors and discover a place’s past.
Click here and you will be directed to a login page. Enter your 14-digit library card number and begin your search.
Family Search
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides FamilySearch free of charge to everyone, regardless of tradition, culture, or religious affiliation. FamilySearch resources help millions of people around the world discover their heritage and connect with family members.
Wooden Flag Display
Library’s Wooden American Flag Display
(William Wallace Power, 1864-1945)
Wallace Power whittled this flag entirely from wood. While working days as a wood chopper during the 1930s, he carved the flag in spare moments over a period of ten years, often whittling by lamplight.
Power carved the field of stars from a single block of wood and carefully whittled each star until only the points hold it in place. He whittled three chains to create each of the thirteen stripes. Each chain originally consisted of a single length of wood. Power reportedly did not break a single link while carving, and there are altogether 2,100 links in the flag’s stripes.
Power first exhibited the flag in Milwaukee at a hobby show in 1939, where it received considerable attention from the press.
The flag has survived two house fires. Dodgeville whittler Don Berryman replaced several of the chains after the first fire. As a boy, he had watched Wallace Power work on the flag.
After the more recent fire, Power’s grandson Clifford Power of Madison, rebuilt the flag, replacing missing links and carefully scraping ones that were only slightly charred. His cousin, Hadie Stebleton of Hewitt, helped him paint the flag. “If grandpa took ten years to carve it, I guess I can take a few hundred hours to repair it so people can see what he made,” Bowers claimed.
This text is reproduced verbatim from a wall plaque at the Dodgeville Public Library. The American Flag whittled by Wallace Power of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, is on loan to the Library. Many thanks to the Wallace Power family for sharing this snapshot of their family heritage.