Van Buren County, Michigan Genealogy

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

Description
The County was named for Martin Van Buren before he became president. He was US Secretary of State and later Vice President under President Andrew Jackson. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
Van Buren County Courthouse 212 E Paw Paw St. Paw Paw, MI 49079-1492 Phone: 616-657-8218 Van Buren County Website County Clerk has birth and death records from 1867, marriage records from 1836, divorce and court records from 1837. Probate Court has probate records. Register of Deeds has land records.

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:

History Timeline
Additional Information

The county is named after President Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) who was serving as United States Secretary of War at the time of the county's formation.

Census Records
State Census


 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch - FamilySearch Historical Records|How to Use this Collection]]
 * 1894 Michigan Department of State. Census of the State of Michigan, 1894. Vol 3. Lansing, MI: R. Smith & co., state printers, 1896. (Civil War veterans only) Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * 1819-1991 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records

 * 1844-1897 Van Buren County, Michigan, Circuit Court Index, 1844-1897. By Van Buren County, Michigan. Van Buren County, Michigan : Van Buren County, Michigan, 1844-1897. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
 * 1848-1939 (*); Circuit Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images

Directories

 * 1863-1922 Michigan State Gazetteers and Business Directories at Hathi Trust Digital Library — images
 * 1869 Van Buren County Gazetteer and Business Directory at Michigan County Histories
 * Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Van Buren County, Michigan, (with a Complete Road Map of the County). By Wilmer Atkinson Company. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Wilmer Atkinson Company, 1916. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1929-1966 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Land and Property Records
Online Land Indexes and Records
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Local Histories

 * The Michigan County Histories and Atlases Digitization Project is comprised of 428 digitized titles (many composed of multiple volumes) published before 1923.
 * A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests, Volume 1. Oran W. Rowland, Lewis Publishing Company, 1912 also at Michigan County Histories
 * A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its People, and Its Principal Interests, Volume 2. Oran W. Rowland, Lewis Publishing Company, 1912. also at Michigan County Histories
 * History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With ... biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers. Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885., Johnson, Crisfield., D.W. Ensign & Co. Philadelphia: D. W. Ensign & Co., 1880.
 * Portrait and biographical record of Kalamazoo, Allegan and Van Buren counties, Michigan, containing biographical sketches of ... citizens ... governors of the state, and ... presidents of the United States. Chapman Brothers. Chicago: Chapman brothers, 1892

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)
 * 1860 - Map of the counties of Cass, Van Buren, and Berrien Michigan
 * 1863-1922 Michigan State Gazetteers and Business Directories at Hathi Trust, images – includes business directories for towns across the state
 * 1873 - Atlas of Van Buren County, Michigan / from actual surveys by and under the directions of D. J. Lake; assisted by B. N. Griffing...[et al.]. Lake, D. J., Griffing, B. N., Titus, C. O., Bourquin, F. (Frederick), b. 1808., Worley & Bracher. Philadelphia: C.O. Titus, 1873.
 * 1895 - Illustrated atlas of Van Buren County, Michigan / compiled from official records and local inspections by the Kace Publishing Company, 1895, Wangersheim, S. Racine, Wis.
 * 1912 - Standard Atlas of Van Buren County, Michigan : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county, map of the state, United States and world, patrons directory, reference business directory and departments devoted to general information ... / compiled and published by Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1912
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
Civil War Civil War service men from Van Buren 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 Van Buren County.


 * - 12th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, Company H
 * - 70th Regiment, New York Infantry, Company C


 * 1861-1865 Record of Service of the Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War 1861-1865 at Michiganology — images, multiple volumes organized alphabetically by surname
 * 1876-1945 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1894 Michigan Department of State. Census of the State of Michigan, 1894. Vol 3. Lansing, MI: R. Smith & co., state printers, 1896. (Civil War veterans only) Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library
 * at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

World War I
 * 1917-1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Naturalization and Citizenship

 * 1837-1993 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Newspapers

 * Digital Michigan Newspapers at Central Michigan University

Obituaries

 * Southwest Michigan Obituary Index from the earliest date to 2000.
 * 1820-2006 at FamilySearch  - How to Use this Collection

Probate Records
Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1784-1980 Michigan, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1784-1980 at Ancestry.com ($) — index & images
 * 1797-1973 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; images
 * 1837-1845 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1839-1960 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1845-1866 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1846-1912 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1848-1874 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1848-1915 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1852-1895 (*); County Treasurer at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1859-1904 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1860-1920 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1864-1906 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1865-1904 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * 1879-1916 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — images
 * 1887-1907 (*); Probate Court at FamilySearch Catalog — index & images
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Birth

 * 1867-1917 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1867-1902 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Marriage

 * 1585-1945 Michigan, United States Marriages at Findmypast $
 * 1820-1937 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1820-1940 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1868-1925 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Death

 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch -How to Use this Collection
 * 1867-1897 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
 * 1867-1952 Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1952 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1897-1952 Michigan Death Records at Michiganology - index and images, organized by county and then last name.

Divorce

 * 1897-1952 Michigan, Divorce Records, 1897-1952 at Ancestry ($) — index and images

FamilySearch Centers

 * South Haven Michigan FamilySearch Center
 * St Joseph Michigan FamilySearch Center


 * Hartford Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Van Buren District Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Van Buren District Library 200 N Phelps St Decatur, MI 49045 Phone: 269-423-4771 Email: [mailto:info@vbdl.org info@vbdl.org] Website

Societies
Van Buren County Historical Society 58471 Red Arrow Hwy PO Box 452 Hartford, MI 49057 Phone: 269-621-2188 Facebook Facebook Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society 12 Church St PO Box 243 Decatur, MI 49057 Phone: 269-588-5103 Email:[mailto:VBRGS@VBRGS.ORG VBRGS@VBRGS.ORG] Website Facebook

Websites

 * Van Buren County, MI-Roots Michigan Roots is a member of the PA-Roots family of websites.
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Van Buren County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.