Michigan County Resources

From Rootsweb
Revision as of 20:10, 28 April 2010 by 66.43.16.199 (talk)
Jump to: navigation, search

This entry was originally written by Arleigh P. Helfer, Jr. and Carol L. Maki for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.

This article is part of
Michigan sil.png
the Michigan Family History Research series.
History of Michigan
Michigan Vital Records
Census Records for Michigan
Background Sources for Michigan
Michigan Maps
Michigan Land Records
Michigan Probate Records
Michigan Court Records
Michigan Tax Records
Michigan Cemetery Records
Michigan Church Records
Michigan Military Records
Michigan Periodicals, Newspapers, and Manuscript Collections
Michigan Archives, Libraries, and Societies
Michigan Naturalization
Ethnic Groups of Michigan
Michigan County Resources
Map of Michigan


Records at the county level are the responsibility of different offices. The office of the county clerk has birth, death, and marriage records. The register of deeds has land records, and the office of the probate judge has probate files. Circuit court offices or office of the county clerk: circuit court records.

Callard's Sourcebook... (see Background Sources for Michigan) provides a bibliography of relevant titles for each of the eighty-three Michigan counties. It is available for $6 from the Department of Management and Budget, Office Services Division Publications, State Secondary Complex, 7481 Crowner Dr., P.O. Box 30026, Lansing, MI 48909.

For some counties on the chart, there are two years listed for 'Date Formed.' The first is the year the county was created, the second is the year it was fully organized, if it differs from the creation year. Under the heading 'Parent County/ies,' the name/s listed may be the county or counties from which the respective county was formed, or it may be names by which the county was originally known. 'Unorganized' denotes that it was formed from non-county lands. A county name in parentheses is the county to which the unorganized land may have been attached at that time. An asterisk (*) under 'Parent County' indicates those locations in which you may also find records for the listed county. The * county may have been 'attached' to the listed county for some period of time. The date listed for each category of record is the earliest record known to exist in that county. It does not indicate that there are numerous records for that year and certainly does not indicate that all such events that year were actually registered.

Callard (1987) and McGinnis (1987), described in Background Sources, and more recent online resources, were used for the following guide to county information.

Each county has its own policies regarding the number of genealogists allowed to conduct research concurrently and whether or not children are permitted in the records area. It would be wise to check these rules with the county office in advance of an on-site visit.

Some Michigan counties provide Internet search capability for selected vital records. Such availability can be determined by checking the county's website, a list of which can be found at www.michigan.gov/emi. Look for the 'About Michigan' section of the 'Michigan Government' tab.


Map County County Address Date Formed Parent County(ies) Birth Marriage Death Land Probate Court
Aischum 1840 (renamed Lake, 1843) Mackinac/*Ottawa
F7 Alcona 106 5th St., P.O. Box 308 1840 (1869) (as Negwegon; renamed 1843) *Mackinac/ *Alpena/ *Cheboygan/ *Iosco 1869 1869 1869 1869 1869 1872
C4 Alger 101 Court St., Munising 49862-1103 1885 Schoolcraft 1884 1887 1884 1884 1889 1885
J5 Allegan 113 Chestnut St., Allegan 49010-1332 1831 (1835) Barry/unorganized 1867 1836 1867 1835 1839 1837
E7 Alpena 720 W. Chisholm St., Alpena 49707-2453 1840 (1857) (as Anamickee; renamed 1843) Mackinac/*Cheboygan 1869 1871 1871 1858 1858 1871
Anamickee 1840 (renamed Alpena, 1843) Mackinac/unorganized (Saginaw)
E5 Antrim 208 E. Cayuga St., P.O. Box 520, Bellaire 49615-0520 1840 (1863) (as Meegisee; renamed 1843) Mackinac *Grand Traverse 1866 1866 1867 1867 1863 1867
G7 Arenac 120 N. Grove St., Standish 48658-0747 1831 (1883) unorganized land *Saginaw 1883 1883 1883 1882 1883 1883
Arenac was eliminated in 1857 and recreated 1883 from Bay County.
B2 Baraga 16 N. Third St., L'Anse 49946-1002 1875 Houghton 1875 1875 1875 1875 1876 1875
J5 Barry 220 W. State St., Hastings 49058-1849 1829 (1839) unorganized land *St. Joseph/*Kalamazoo 1867 1839 1867 1834 1862 1850
G7 Bay 515 Center Ave., Bay City 48708-5125 1857 Midland/Saginaw/Arenac 1867 1867 1867 1835? 1857 1883