Emmet County, Michigan Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Robert Emmet. The County has Petoskey as its seat and the County was created April 1, 1840. The County is located in the north central area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth, marriage and death records from 1867, divorce records from 1875, court and naturalization records from 1800’s and some military records.

Parent County
1840--Emmet County was created 1 April 1840 from Mackinac County. It was formerly named Tonedagana County, until the name changed to Emmet County 8 March 1843. It was attached to Mackinac County prior to ogranization 29 January 1853. County seat: Petoskey


 * The History of Emmet County begins with the Ottawa Indians, includes the French and British, then was named after an Irish patriot.

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.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Neighboring Counties
Charlevoix •  Cheboygan  •  Mackinac

Census
 State Census
 * 1894 - at FamilySearch — index

Church

 * 1819-1991 - at FamilySearch — index

Directories
Emmet County, Michigan Online Historical Directories - identifies historical city, county, business and other directories available online on both free and pay-to-access websites.

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1929 - 1966 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)

Civil War
Civil War service men from Emmet 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 Emmet County.

Online Records
 * at FamilySearch — index
 * 1876-1945 - at FamilySearch — index

World War I

 * 1917-1919 - at FamilySearch — index

Obituaries

 * 1820-2006 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate
Online Probate Records


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

Vital Records

 * How to order Michigan Vital Records

Birth

 * 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.

Marriage

 * 1585-1945 - Michigan, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1820-1937 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1820-1940 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 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.
 * Marriage records can be searched for online by either the bride or groom for as far back as the year 1857.

Death

 * 1850-1880 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 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.
 * Death records can be searched for online for deaths occurring from 1857.

Societies and Libraries
Emmet County Genealogical Society 423 Beech St. Petoskey 49770 Website

Harbor Springs Area Historical Society 432 E. Bay St. Harbor Springs, MI 49740 Telephone: 1-616-526-9771 E-mail:[mailto:info@harborspringshistory.org info@harborspringshistory.org] Website

Little Traverse Historical Society 100 Depot Court Petoskey, MI 49770 Telephone: 231-347-262 Website


 * List of Michigan Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers
 * Petoskey Michigan Family History Center 707 Alcan, Petoskey, MI 49770 United States

Websites

 * Emmet County, MI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Michigan Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Michigan Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Emmet County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)
 * Emmet County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)