Kent County, Michigan Genealogy


 * This article is about a county in the state of Michigan. For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation).

Guide to Kent 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 James Kent. The County has Grand Rapids as its seat and the County was created March 2, 1831. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and death records from 1867, marriage records from 1845 and burial records from 1959. Clerk Circuit Court has divorce and court records from 1867. Probate Court has probate records; Register of Deeds has land records.

Parent County
1831--Kent County was created 2 March 1831 from Mackinac County and unorganized territory. It was organized 4 April 1836. County seat: Grand Rapids

The earliest permanent settler in Kent County was Rix Robinson. Born in Berkshire, Massachsetts in 1789, he came to Michigan to avoid the draft during the War of 1812. Working initially at Detroit, in 1820, the American Fur Company chose Robinson to be their central fur trader in west Michigan when Madeline La Framboise retired to Mackinac Island. He took over her trading post located where the Grand River meets the Thornapple River in what is now known as Ada, Kent, Michigan. In 1821 Robinson married an Ottawa woman, Pee-miss-a-quot-oquay. They had one son, John R. Robinson born March 5, 1826. She and Rix separated, and she died of consumption in 1848. By 1827, Robinson was successfully managing twenty trading posts along the shores of Lake Michigan. Robinson was elected township supervisor when Kent County was established in 1831.

By the time Michigan joined the union in 1837, Robinson, who was a wealthy man, had closed all his trading posts and was appointed to the State Board of Commissioners of Internal Improvements. He was a Michigan State Senator from 1847 to 1849, representing Kent Couny. During that time he presented a bill to give women the right to vote. It was defeated during the drafting of the state constitution of 1850, but in a step forward in the women's rights movement, a bill allowing married women the right to control property they owned prior to marriage did pass. He was a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1850 and a presidential elector. He was a strong contender for governor but declined the nomination because his second wife, Se-be-quay, a native American, would not have been accepted as a governor's wife. Rix Robinson died of consumption January 12, 1875. He is buried in Ada, Michigan.

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
Allegan •  Barry  •  Ionia  •  Montcalm  •  Muskegon  •  Newaygo  •  Ottawa

Census
 State Census
 * 1894 - at FamilySearch — index

Church

 * 1819-1991 - at FamilySearch — index

Ward and Branch Records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


 * Grand Rapids

Directories
Kent 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

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

Civil War
Civil War service men from Kent 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 Kent County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Engineers and Mechanics, Michigan - Companies A, B, C, D, F, and Company unassigned
 * - 1st Regiment, New York Veteran Cavalry, Company K

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.

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

Societies
Kent City Area Historical Society 16652 Fruit Ridge Kent City 49330

Algoma Township Historical Society 11731 Pine Island Dr Sparta 49345 Telephone Number:616-866-1583 Main Fax: 616-866-3832 Clerk's Office Fax: 616-866-4968 Website

Bowne Township Historical Society 11735 92nd St. Se Alto 49302 Website

Byron Center Historical Society 2506 Prescott PO Box 20 Byron Center MI 49315

Caledonia Township Historical Society 8573 84th St. Se Alto 49341

Cascade Historical Society 2800 Orange Street SE Grand Rapids MI 49506

Libraries
Grand Rapids Public Library Main Library 111 Library St NE Grand Rapids MI website
 * Digital Collections
 * Women's Defense Cards
 * Grand Rapids Herald

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers


 * Grand Rapids Michigan Family History Center 2780 Leonard NE, Grand Rapids, MI 48525 United States

Websites

 * Kent 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.
 * The Western Michigan* Genealogical Society, founded in 1954
 * Online Searchable Databases at the Western Michigan Genealogical Society.
 * Kent County School Census 1903-1925
 * Kent County MI Genealogy (Michigan Genealogy)
 * Kent County MI Genealogy (Michigan Genealogy)