Gratiot County, Michigan Genealogy

Guide to Gratiot 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 Charles Gratiot. The County has Ithaca as its seat and the County was created 1855. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth, death, divorce and court records from 1867 and marriage records from 1855. Probate Court has probate records. Register of Deeds has land records.

Parent County
1831--Gratiot County was created 2 March 1831 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Saginaw and Clinton Counties prior to organization 3 February 1855.

County seat
Ithaca

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
Clinton •  Ionia  •  Isabella  •  Midland  •  Montcalm  •  Saginaw  •  Shiawassee

Cemeteries

 * City of Alma

Census
 State Census
 * 1894 - at FamilySearch — index

Church

 * 1819-1991 - at FamilySearch — index

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1929 - 1966 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
 * Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)

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

World War I

 * 1917-1919 - at FamilySearch — index

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1837-1993 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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.

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.

Societies and Libraries
Gratiot County Historical and Genealogical Society 228 W Center St. PO Box 73 Ithaca 48847 Telephone: 989-466-5730 E-mail:[mailto:carol@gchgs.org carol@gchgs.org] Website

Elsie Historical Society c/o Doris Gregor Box 125 Elsie, MI 48831 Website


 * List of Michigan Archives, Libraries, Publications, Historical &amp; Genealogical Societies
 * Gratiot County Historical and Genealogical Society has resources for copies of original records from newspapers, funerals homes, phographs, and county birth, marriage and death records.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * Gratiot 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.
 * Gratiot County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)
 * Gratiot County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)