Michigan Church Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Michigan 

What is in the Collection?
This collection consists of an index to selected marriages from various churches throughout Michigan. Many of the records are from Lenawee, Manistee, Saginaw, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties. In addition to marriages the collection contains some baptisms, confirmations, membership lists, funerals and member lists. The records may be in English, German, Danish and Swedish.

The information found varies by record type. You may find any of the following:


 * Names of the primary individuals such as the bride and groom
 * Event dates and places
 * Birth, marriage and death dates and places
 * Residences
 * Names of other family members and their residences
 * Names of sponsors and witnesses and their residences
 * Biographical details
 * Other remarks

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * Your ancestor’s name.
 * Other identifying information such as residence, birth date, age, names of other family members and family relationships

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

When searching, keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

For Help Reading These Records
These records are in English, German, Danish and Swedish. For help with reading the records, see the following resources:
 * German Language and Languages
 * German Word List
 * Denmark Language and Languages
 * Danish Word List
 * Sweden Language and Languages
 * Swedish Genealogical Word List

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date.
 * Use locations to find family in census, church, and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Continue to search the index and records to identify other relatives.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring locality.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: