Michigan Genealogy – Free Michigan Genealogy

Michigan Genealogy. This state page of our website provides direct links to free Michigan genealogy databases and historical titles and information found on Michigan Genealogy, whether they exist on our site, or across the web.

Michigan Biographies

• Biographical History of Genesee County, Michigan
  Biographies of influential people of Genesee County, Michigan.

Michigan Cemetery Records

• Michigan Cemetery Records
  • Burial Records
    Lists of burial records by hobby genealogists. Many of these records may be incomplete or are not uniformly formatted.
    • Tuscola County
      • Almer Township — Record 1
      • Almer Township — Record 2
      • Civil War Veterans from Michigan
      • Hickory Island (Unionville)
      • Siple (Tuscola County)
      • West Dayton Township
  • Michigan: Various Cemetery Records
  • Albion: Selection of cemetery records, Riverside & Memory Gardens
  • Oakland County
    • North Oxford Cemetery, Oxford
    • Ridgelawn Memorial Cemetery, Oxford

Michigan Census Records

• Michigan Census Records
  • 1894 Michigan State Census
    This document lists the names by ward, township, and county of United States Soldiers of the Civil War Residing in Michigan, June 1, 1894. The information was extracted from the 1894 Michigan State Census. Since the 1890 federal census was destroyed in a fire, researchers can use this list of names as an additional tool beyond the census, to document their ancestors whereabouts during the 1890’s. There are approximately 50,000 names provided.
  • Michigan 1910 Census Addition Map
  • 1920 Michigan Census: Lithuanian Compilation

Michigan Church Records

• Registers of the Parish of Michilimackinac
  The records from the register at Michilimackinac are here provided as they were translated by Edward O. Brown back in 1889. His translation came from a transcript of the original, which latter is kept in the parish church of Ste. Anne, at Mackinac. Annotated throughout are Mr. Brown’s biographical knowledge of the events of Michilimackinac and the people within. Don’t pass over the footnotes for the record, you may find a biographical reference hidden there!
• Grand Rapids: 1929 Membership Records, St. Peter & Paul R.C. Church
• Saginaw: St. George Church Membership List (1918-1931)

Michigan Genealogy

City of Valparaiso Michigan

• 1917 Time Capsule
  • 1917 Phone Book
  • 1917 Photos
  • 1917 The Field Secretary
  • 1917 Welcome Letter
• Historic Maps
• Historic Photographs
  • 100 Years of Valparaiso
  • Farmers State Bank Fire
• History of Valparaiso
• Past Fire Chiefs of Valparaiso
  A list of all of the past Fire Chief’s of the Valparaiso Fire Department since it was originally organized in 1867.
• Past Mayors of Valparaiso
• Picture Postcards
  • 1880-1920
  • 1940-1960
• Valparaiso Flag History
• Old School Ledgers 1895-1919
  The Old School Ledgers are the financial ledgers of Valparaiso University (and its predecessors Northern Indiana Normal School and Valparaiso College) and cover the years 1895-1919. It is useful for genealogical researchers looking for information on alumni who were students during that time period.
• Valparaiso University Yearbook Collection
  The digitized yearbook collection includes annuals covering the period from the late 1890s up to a decade ago.

United States Genealogy

• Michigan History and Genealogy

United States GenWeb Project

• Michigan GenWeb

Alcona, Alger, Allegan, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Baraga, Barry, Bay, Benzie, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Chippewa, Clare, Clinton, Crawford, Delta, Dickinson, Eaton, Emmet, Genesee, Gladwin, Gogebic, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Hillsdale, Houghton, Huron, Ingham, Ionia, Iosco, Iron, Isabella, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kalkaska, Kent, Keweenaw, Lake, Lapeer, Leelanau, Lenawee, Livingston, Luce, Mackinac, Macomb, Manistee, Marquette, Mason, Mecosta, Menominee, Midland, Missaukee, Monroe, Montcalm, Montmorency, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oakland, Oceana, Ogemaw, Ontonagon, Osceola, Oscoda, Otsego, Ottawa, Presque Isle, Roscommon, Saginaw, Saint Clair, Saint Joseph, Sanilac, Schoolcraft, Shiawassee, Tuscola, Van Buren, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Wexford.

American History and Genealogy Project

• AHGP – Michigan

Allegan, Berrien, Eaton, Ionia, Isabella, Oakland, Saginaw, Tuscola, Wexford.

Regional Michigan Websites:

• Grand Traverse Region

Michigan History

• American Ancestors of Michigan Governors
• Charles Alonzo Horton Letter, Great Lakes Disaster, 1913
• Charlevoix County
  • 1901 Charlevoix County MI Plat Book
  • Charlevoix High School Yearbooks, Charlevoix Michigan
    These are Charlevoix high school yearbooks for Charlevoix, Charlevoix County, Michigan. If your ancestor attended high school during the years of 1924, 1945-2008 then the following yearbooks may have a photograph of them. This is part of a collection of free yearbooks being scanned and placed online by the cooperation between the Charlevoix Public Library, Friends of the Charlevoix Public Library, and a local company, Village Graphics, who performed the digitization.
• The History of Detroit and Michigan
  The manuscript featured here is a comprehensive study into the first 200 years of Detroit and Michigan history. Source: The History of Detroit and Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopaedia of the Past.
• History of Livingston County, Michigan
  Biographies, illustrations, towns, and the history of Livingston County, Michigan.
• A History of Saginaw County, Michigan
  “History of Saginaw County, Michigan; together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens.”
• A Short History of Michilimakinak
  No more colorful settlement existed in the Middle West than the mission and fort at the Straits of Mackinac, for the French early realized its importance and directed their westward explorations from this base. The concentration point for the fur trade of the Middle West, Mackinac held an important place for many years, both during the British and American regimes.
• The Migration of Voyageurs from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828
  The story of the transfer of the British garrison from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828 and the migration of voyageurs connected with the post has never been told in print. In the following notes Mr. Osborne has endeavored to gather this story from the lips of the few survivors who migrated at that time. Descendants of French-Canadians largely predominated in this movement, but we also get glimpses of what a strange and heterogeneous people once gathered around Mackinaw and Drummond Island, especially about the time of the coalition of the two fur companies in 1821. The migrant voyageurs settled principally near Penetanguishene, in the township of Tiny, Simcoe County. Offshoots of the band settled at Old Fort Ste. Marie, at Fesserton and Coldwater, and another south of Lake Simcoe, near Pefferlaw, York County. These notes will form a useful supplement to Joseph Taase’s “Les Canadiens de l’Ouest.”
• W.A. Craker Diaries

Michigan Land Records

• U.S., Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1820-1908
  3,907 land management tract books containing official records of the land status and transactions involving surveyed public lands arranged by state and then by township and range. These books indicate who obtained the land, and include a physical description of the tract and where the land is located. The type of transaction is also recorded such as cash entry, credit entry, homesteads, patents (deeds) granted by the Federal Government, and other conveyances of title such as Indian allotments, internal improvement grants (to states), military bounty land warrants, private land claims, railroad grants, school grants, and swamp grants. Additional items of information included in the tract books are as follows: number of acres, date of sale, purchase price, land office, entry number, final Certificate of Purchase number, and notes on relinquishments and conversions.
• Arizona Land Patents online. Index.

Michigan Military Records

• Military Records
• Michigan Forts
  List of colonial forts, trading posts, named camps, redoubts, reservations, general hospitals, national cemeteries, etc., established or erected in the United States from its earliest settlement to 1902.
• Revolutionary War Records
  • Revolutionary War Pension Records
  • 1840 Pensioners Census
    The information contained in this 1840 Pensioners Census database is a compilation of the data on the Revolutionary War pensioners gathered from the 1840 census returns. The information is organized by place – state, county, then township. It also lists the name and age of the veteran, and the name of the head of household with whom the pensioner resided on the census date.
• War of 1812
  • War of 1812  – Pensions
  • War of 1812 Pensioners in Michigan, 1883
• Civil War Records
  • Civil War Pensions Index Cards
    Each card gives the soldier’s name, unit, the application number, the certificate number and the state from which the soldier served. In some cases, the soldier’s rank, terms of service, date of death and place of death are given. The index cards refer to pension applications of veterans who served in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917. The majority of the records pertain to Civil War veterans, but they also include veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, Indian wars, and World War I.
  • Civil War Soldiers in the 1894 Michigan State Census
    Otherwise known as the 1894 Michigan Veterans Census. This document lists the names by ward, township, and county of United States Soldiers of the Civil War Residing in Michigan, June 1, 1894. The information was extracted from the 1894 Michigan State Census. Since the 1890 federal census was destroyed in a fire, researchers can use this list of names as an additional tool beyond the census, to document their ancestors whereabouts during the 1890’s. There are approximately 50,000 names provided.
  • History of the 7th Michigan Cavalry
    The 7th Regiment Michigan Volunteer Cavalry was an cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a part of the famed Michigan Brigade, commanded for a time by Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer.
  • Thirteenth Michigan Infantry
• World War 1 Records
  • World War 1 Draft Registration Records
  • Grand Rapids: WWI Draft selections, 1st Ward
• World War II Records
  • World War 2 Casualties – Army, Air Force
  • Michigan World War II Navy – Marines Casualty List
  • Korean War Casualty List
    The National Archives and Records Administration prepared these Korean War casualty lists by creating extracts from the military casualty data files in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330). The lists are based on the “home of record – state” data provided by the serviceman or woman upon last entrance into military service. “Home of record” does not necessarily refer to the place of birth, residence of next of kin, place of longest residence, or other common uses of the term “hometown.”
  • Vietnam War Casualty List
    The National Archives and Records Administration prepared these Vietnam War casualty lists by creating extracts from the military casualty data files in the Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (Record Group 330). The lists are based on the “home of record – state” data provided by the serviceman or woman upon last entrance into military service. “Home of record” does not necessarily refer to the place of birth, residence of next of kin, place of longest residence, or other common uses of the term “hometown.”
• Allegan County
  • Indigent Soldiers and Sailors

Michigan Native American Records

• Michigan Indian Tribes
  • Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements of Michigan
  • Michigan Indian Agencies and Schools
  • Indian Tribes in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and North West Territories, 1822
  • Condition of the Michigan Indians in 1890
  • Michigan, Minnesota, and Mississippi Indians Wounded in Action
• Michigan Land Patents ~ Chippewa ~ Ottawa
  • Michigan Chippewa Land Patents
  • Michigan Ottawa Land Patents
• Current Federally Recognized Indian Tribes by State
  • State Recognized Tribes
  • List of Federally Non-Recognized Tribes

Michigan Historical Newspapers

• Coloma Courier (November 1899-1969)
• Otsego County Newspapers 1869-1937
• Tri-City Record (1984-2010)
• Tuscola County Advertiser 1885-1943
• Watervliet Record (1890-October 1984)
• Michigan Obituaries

Michigan Vital Records

• Michigan Vital Records
• Registers of the Parish of Michilimackinac
  The records from the register at Michilimackinac are here provided as they were translated by Edward O. Brown back in 1889. His translation came from a transcript of the original, which latter is kept in the parish church of Ste. Anne, at Mackinac. Annotated throughout are Mr. Brown’s biographical knowledge of the events of Michilimackinac and the people within. Don’t pass over the footnotes for the record, you may find a biographical reference hidden there!
• Michigan Birth Records 1867-1902
  Name index and images of Michigan statewide birth registration entries. Clerks of each County Court recorded births that were reported by parents, doctors and midwives beginning in 1867. This information was then sent to the secretary of the state. From 1867 to 1879, about 15% to 20% of the births were recorded; from 1880-1902, coverage increased to about 60% to 70%
• Michigan Death Records 1867-1897
  Name index and images of Michigan statewide death registration entries. From 1867 to 1897 the township supervisor or city assessor or supervisor annually canvassed their area and recorded the deaths that took place the year preceding the first Monday in April. The supervisor or assessor returned the results to the county clerk within 30 days of completing the canvass. Each year the county clerk forwarded the records to Secretary of State. The Secretary of State had the records bound in books, one for each year, and made an annual report to the Governor. Registration was initially very incomplete. Some counties did not report any deaths during the first three years of this statute. This law remained in effect until 1897 when the state required a death certificate be issued. It is believed that approximately half of the deaths were missed in the time period from 1867 until 1897.
• Michigan Death Records, 1897-1920
• Michigan Death Records, 1921-1952
• Michigan Marriages 1868-1925
  Name index and images of marriages recorded in the State of Michigan between 1868 and 1925. In some instances, marriages were celebrated and recorded in a county different from the county where the marriage license was issued. An 1805 law required registration of marriages with the clerk of the local district court. In 1867 an additional law required the counties to send copies of the records to the Office of the State Registrar. A very high percentage of marriages that took place in Michigan were recorded by civil authorities.
• Michigan Divorce Records from 1897-1952
  Michigan began requiring divorce records to be recorded on a county level in 1897, however, some counties began recording them as early as 1892.There are two sets of information for this database. The first, comprises images, and an index to those images, of Michigan divorce records for the years of 1897-1938; the second contains only an index of records from 1939-1952. In total, however, you have access to divorce records issued in Michigan for the years 1897-1952, and a few earlier then that.
• Van Buren County
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Births 1867 – 1871 A – C
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Births 1867 – 1871 D – H
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Births 1867 – 1871 I – Q
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Births 1867 – 1871 R – Z
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Death Index 1935 – 1945
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Death Index 1946
  • Van Buren County, Michigan Death Index 1947

Michigan Yearbooks

• Berrien County
  • Coloma High School Yearbooks, 1952-2021
• Tuscola County
  • Caro High School Yearbooks 1922-2006, incomplete
• Van Buren County
  • Paw Paw High School Yearbooks 1915,1939-2014