Bay County, Michigan Genealogy

Guide to Bay 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 Saginaw Bay. The County has Bay City as its seat and the County was created February 17, 1857. The County is located in the east area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth records from 1868, marriage records from 1857, death records from 1867, divorce records from 1883 and court records from 1965. Probate Court has probate records. Register of Deeds has land records.

Parent County
1857--Bay County was created 20 April 1857 from Saginaw, Midland, and Arenac Counties. County seat Bay City

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
Arenac •  Gladwin  •  Midland  •  Saginaw  •  Tuscola

Census
 State Census
 * 1894 - at FamilySearch — index

Church

 * 1819-1991 - at FamilySearch — index
 * Bay County is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1929 - 1966 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)

Civil War
Civil War service men from Bay 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 Bay 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
See also How to order Michigan Vital Records

Births

 * 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.

Marriages

 * 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.

Deaths

 * 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
Bay County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 1366 500 Center Avenue Bay City 48708 Telephone:989-893-9566 Website

Bay County Historical Society 321 Washington Ave Bay City 48708 Website Bay Mills - Brimley Historical Research Society P.O. Box 274 Brimley 49715 Website

Saginaw River Marine Historical Society Dept. W Box 2051 Bay City MI 48707-2051


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

Websites

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