Calhoun County, Michigan Genealogy

United States

Michigan Genealogy

Calhoun County

Guide to Calhoun County, Michigan ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Calhoun County, Michigan
Map
Location of Michigan in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	N/A, 1829
County Seat	Marshall
Courthouse
Address	Calhoun County Courthouse 315 W Green St. Marshall, MI 49068 Phone: (269) 781-0730 Fax: (269) 781-0720 Calhoun County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for John C. Calhoun. The County has Marshall as its seat and the County was created 1829. The County is located in the south central area of the state.

Calhoun County, Michigan Record Dates

Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth	Marriage	Death	Census	Land	Probate
1867	1848	1867	1820	1833	1835

County Courthouse

County Clerk has birth, marriage, death and court records from 1867,
burial records from 1952, naturalization records from 1918,
military discharge records from 1919 and election records from 1972.
Probate Court has probate records.

History

Parent County

1829--St. Joseph County was created 1829 from unorganized territory.

County seat

Marshall

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Michigan county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Michigan County Boundary Maps" (1790-1897) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places/Localities

Neighboring Counties

Barry  • Branch  • Eaton  • Hillsdale  • Jackson  • Kalamazoo  • St. Joseph

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
USGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
MIGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
MIInterment
MIGravestones
EPodunk
Billion Graves
See Michigan Cemeteries for more information.

Census

State Census

• 1894 - Michigan State Census, 1894 at FamilySearch — index

Church

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Michigan denominations, view the Michigan Church Records wiki page.

LDS Ward and Branch Records

• Battle Creek

Emigration and Immigration

• 1929 - 1966 Michigan, Crew Lists for various ports, 1929-1966 at FamilySearch — index and images

Land

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Michigan Land and Property for additional information about early Michigan land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Calhoun County, Michigan Genealogy. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Michigan Local Histories.

Maps

• Family Maps of Calhoun County, Michigan Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)

Military

Civil War

Civil War service men from Calhoun County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Calhoun County.

- 12th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, Companies D and H

Newspapers

Finding More Michigan Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Calhoun County, Michigan Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• The Saginaw News
• Do a Calhoun County, Michigan Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Obituaries

• 1820-2006 - Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate

In most counties in Michigan, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate packets, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Michigan, Calhoun and search for Probate records in the list.

Note: Not every county in Michigan will have Probate Records in the FamilySearch Catalog.

Online Probate Records

• 1784 – 1980 Michigan Wills and Probate Records 1784-1980 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1797 – 1973 Michigan Probate Records 1797-1973 at FamilySearch — images

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased as shown below:

Birth Records and Death Records from the Michigan Department of Community Health (from 1867) or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred.

Marriage Records (from 1867) and Divorce Records (from 1897) from the County Clerk.

• How to order Michigan Vital Records

Births

• 1867-1917 - Michigan, County Births, 1867-1917 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1867-1902 - Michigan Birth Registrations, 1867-1902-- Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch. Records include such information as name of child, birthdate and place, if still-born, illegitimate or twin, gender, race and record number.

Marriages

• 1585-1945 - Michigan, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1822-1995 Michigan Marriages (FamilySearch Historical Records) This index covers events from 1822 through 1995.
• 1868-1925 - Michigan Marriage Registrations, 1868-1925 -- Free name indexes at FamilySearch.  Records include such information as names of bride and groom, date of license, ages, race, residences, birthplaces, occupations and names of the fathers of the bride and groom.

Deaths

• 1867-1897 - Michigan Death Registrations, 1867-1897 --  Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch.   Records include such information as name of deceased, date and place of death, gender, color, marital status, age in years, months and days, disease or apparent cause of death, birthplace, names and occupations of parents, and the date the record was made.

Societies and Libraries

Calhoun County Genealogical Society
PO Box 879
Marshall 49068-0777
E-mail:MichiganCalhounGene@yahoo.com
Website

Athens Area Historical
PO Box 22
Athens 49011

Battle Creek Historical Society Of
165 N. Washington
Battle Creek 49017

Homer Historical Society
505 Grandview
Homer, MI 49245
Telephone: 517-568-3116
Website

• List of Michigan Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center.

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

• Battle Creek Michigan Family History Center 1312 Capitol Ave SW, Battle Creek, MI 49015 United States

Websites

• Calhoun County Genealogical Society
• Michigan Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Michigan Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• FamilySearch Catalog
• The Calhoun County MIGenWeb Project, an member of The MIGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
• Calhoun County MI Genealogy (Michigan Genealogy)