Crawford County, Michigan Genealogy

Guide to Crawford 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 William Crawford. The County has Grayling as its seat and the County was created 1840. The County is located in the north central area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth and probate from 1879 marriage, death and divorce records from 1878, court records from 1881 and land records from 1863.

Parent County
1840--Crawford County was created 1 April 1840 from Mackinac County. It was formerly Shawano County, until the name was changed to Crawford County 8 March 1843. It was attached to Mackinac, Cheboygan, Iosco, Antrim and Kalkaska Counties prior to organization 22 March 1879. County seat: Grayling

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
Antrim •  Kalkaska  •  Missaukee  •  Montmorency  •  Ogemaw  •  Oscoda  •  Otsego  •  Roscommon

Cemeteries
Elmwood Cemetery, Grayling

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
Civil War service men from Crawford 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 Crawford County.

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.
 * Pre-1897 (not complete) - Michigan State Department of Community Health Genealogical Death Indexing System
 * State death records - Seeking Michigan

Societies and Libraries
Crawford County Historical Society, Inc. 97 E. Michigan Ave PO Box 218 Grayling, MI 49738 Telephone: 989-348-4461 E-mail:[mailto:cchs49738@yahoo.com cchs49738@yahoo.com] Website

Lovells Township Historical Society 8405 Twin Bridge Rd. Lovells Township, Crawford County, MI Website


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

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

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