Guardianship and adoption are two different issues. The usual case of guardianship occurs when a parent dies and a guardian is appointed by the parent's will (or by the court if the person died intestate), it's part of the probate record, and these are not private records. In these cases, the child generally remains in the same family, with guardianship passing to the other parent or to an aunt or uncle. For instance, I have a guardianship order from a Florida probate file that appointed a woman's HUSBAND as her guardian. The woman was still a minor and her mother's will governed. Note: This occurred in 1889! (Until the 20th century, many states did not even allow women to be appointed guardians of their own children, since women had no legal rights to govern their own lives, much less the lives of their children. A male - sometimes non-member of the family - would be appointed guardian. He would make decisions regarding their discipline, education, marriage, etc.) Adoption records in Wisconsin - as in most states - are governed by different laws. Wisconsin places a 99-year "seal" on adoption records. After the 99 years - and presumably when everyone involved in the adoption is deceased - the records may be unsealed. The laws were designed to protect against custodial interference in cases where children were forcibly taken from an "unfit" parent, and to protect the child against stigma in cases of illegitimacy. Actually, even in cases where a child was legitimate, there was a stigma attached to adoption, especially if the child came from a lower social class than the adopting family. There was a feeling that "Blood will tell." I was told by a clerk in Marinette County that in 2015 I could find out what exactly happened when 8 of my g-grandmother's 9 children (the youngest was still nursing) were taken from her by the State of Wisconsin in 1916 after her husband abandoned the family. Presumably she was judged "unfit" because she didn't have financial resources and didn't even speak English yet. Unfortunately, my search was at the request of the youngest child, born in 1915, who will probably be dead by then. She would like to know what went on in court, since there was no interpreter provided for my g-grandmother. Note that any person who signs a legal document has the right to a copy of that document. So, the parties who relinquished custody and who accepted custody would have had copies of the adoption papers. How long they kept their copies is a genealogical problem. . . . Mary Popovich

Mary, A most interesting story. I wonder if one could make friends with one of the clerks in the office where the adoption records are...and over time, sigh a lot over the questions still in the mind of the last surviving child of your great-grandmother. And so on. Good grief, do you mean we on the list have to wait till 2015 as well as you to know what happened?! I do hope she and you and all of us can hang in there till then. My (newly discovered) great uncle will be 94 next week, and is doing well. Best wishes, Ashley Mary Popovich wrote: > Guardianship and adoption are two different issues. The usual case of > guardianship occurs when a parent dies and a guardian is appointed by the > parent's will (or by the court if the person died intestate), it's part of > the probate record, and these are not private records. In these cases, the > child generally remains in the same family, with guardianship passing to the > other parent or to an aunt or uncle. For instance, I have a guardianship > order from a Florida probate file that appointed a woman's HUSBAND as her > guardian. The woman was still a minor and her mother's will governed. Note: > This occurred in 1889! > > (Until the 20th century, many states did not even allow women to be > appointed guardians of their own children, since women had no legal rights > to govern their own lives, much less the lives of their children. A male - > sometimes non-member of the family - would be appointed guardian. He would > make decisions regarding their discipline, education, marriage, etc.) > > Adoption records in Wisconsin - as in most states - are governed by > different laws. Wisconsin places a 99-year "seal" on adoption records. After > the 99 years - and presumably when everyone involved in the adoption is > deceased - the records may be unsealed. The laws were designed to protect > against custodial interference in cases where children were forcibly taken > from an "unfit" parent, and to protect the child against stigma in cases of > illegitimacy. Actually, even in cases where a child was legitimate, there > was a stigma attached to adoption, especially if the child came from a lower > social class than the adopting family. There was a feeling that "Blood will > tell." > > I was told by a clerk in Marinette County that in 2015 I could find out what > exactly happened when 8 of my g-grandmother's 9 children (the youngest was > still nursing) were taken from her by the State of Wisconsin in 1916 after > her husband abandoned the family. Presumably she was judged "unfit" because > she didn't have financial resources and didn't even speak English yet. > Unfortunately, my search was at the request of the youngest child, born in > 1915, who will probably be dead by then. She would like to know what went on > in court, since there was no interpreter provided for my g-grandmother. > > Note that any person who signs a legal document has the right to a copy of > that document. So, the parties who relinquished custody and who accepted > custody would have had copies of the adoption papers. How long they kept > their copies is a genealogical problem. . . . > > Mary Popovich > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query!