Van Buren County, Michigan Genealogy

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

Directories

 * 1863-1922 Michigan State Gazetteers and Business Directories at Hathi Trust, images – includes business directories for towns across the state
 * 1869 - Van Buren County gazetteer and business directory containing historical and descriptive sketches ... and a list of post and money order offices in the State of Michigan. Decatur, Mich.: Hill & Leavens, 1869.
 * 1916 - FamilySearch Digital Library Directory of Van Buren County Michigan. Published by Wilmer Atkinson Company, 1916. With Road Map of the County.

Emigration and Immigration

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

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:Cities and Towns- 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


 * 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 Wills and Probate Records 1784-1980 at Ancestry $
 * 1797-1973 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

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.

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
 * 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.com ($) — index and images

Family History Centers

 * South Haven Michigan Family History Center

Libraries
Van Buren District Library 200 North Phelps Street Decatur, MI 49045 Phone: 269 423-4771 Website

Societies

 * Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society PO Box 243 Decatur 49047 269.588.5103 ext. 5 Email:[mailto:VBRGS@VBRGS.ORG VBRGS@VBRGS.ORG] Website Facebook


 * Van Buren County Historical Society PO Box 452 58471 Red Arrow Highway Hartford, MI 49057 Phone: 269-621-2188 Website

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.