Allegan County, Michigan Genealogy

United States Michigan  Allegan County

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

County Courthouse
Organized 7 Sep 1835 County Clerk has birth and death records from from 1867, marriage records from 1835, divorce, court and land records from 1836 and military discharge records. Probate Court has probate records from 1836.

Parent County
1831--Allegan County was created 2 March 1831 from Barry County. It was organized 7 September 1835. County seat: Allegan

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.

Records Loss
For a list of record loss in Michigan counties see: Michigan Counties with Burned Courthouses

Populated Places

 * Cities: Allegan . Douglas . Fennville . Holland . Otsego . Plainwell . Saugatuck . South Haven . Wayland
 * Villages: Hopkins . Martin
 * Townships: Allegan . Casco . Cheshire . Clyde . Dorr . Fillmore . Ganges . Gun Plain . Heath . Hopkins . Laketown . Lee . Leighton . Manlius . Martin . Monterey . Otsego . Overisel . Salem . Saugatuck . Trowbridge . Valley . Watson . Wayland
 * Communities: Bradley . Bravo . Burnips . Cheshire, Chicora . Dorr . Dunningville . East Saugatuck . Fillmore . Ganges . Glenn . Graafschap . Hamilton . Hilliards . Macatawa . Moline . Monterey . New Richmond . Overisel . Pearl . Pullman . Shelbyville . Watson

Neighboring Counties
Barry • Kalamazoo • Kent • Ottawa • Van Buren

City Directories
1898 South Haven Directory This directory includes Casco Township residents and lists the township section number, whether owned or rented, and number of acres.

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 Allegan 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 Allegan County.


 * - 17th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, Company E

Obituaries
Southwest Michigan Obituary Index from the earliest date to 2000.

Vital Records
See also How to order Michigan Vital Records


 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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 & Genealogical Societies

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers

Web Sites

 * Allegan County, MI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Michigan Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Michigan Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * The Allegan County MIGenWeb Project, an member of The MIGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.