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Purpose of the Society
The mission of the Society is to aid and assist members in genealogical studies, to encourage the collection and preservation of family and public records, and to promote the exchange of genealogical information.

Indexes to Family History Capers
Capers Subject Index

Capers Name Index

Sample issue.

Publications In the Society's Holdings
Library Catalog


 * Contains over 2600 records searchable by location or category, or both | View categories
 * Records are sortable on any column. Searches may be saved as a PDF file.
 * Extensive holdings for Washtenaw County, Michigan, including township-specific records, except Lyndon
 * Holdings for most U.S. states other than Michigan are small or moderate in size
 * No holdings for Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wyoming
 * Significant holdings for Canada, British Isles, continental Europe

Publications for Sale

 * Publications for Sale by the Society

Lookup Services
How to Submit Research Requests

Library Information
 * Research is usually limited to the materials available in the GSWC library.
 * Non-members may submit queries with a reference to Washtenaw County for publication in Family History Capers at no charge.
 * All queries are indexed for future reference.


 * The library is presently in a storage facility and closed to the public.
 * Meanwhile, the Research Committee has access to it to answer queries.
 * The Society is seeking a new home for its library.

How to Do Research in Washtenaw County
Finding Your Washtenaw County Ancestors


 * Archives and Libraries - local and regional repositories Society members visit
 * Atlases and Maps - see also "Washtenaw County Cities, Villages, and Townships"
 * Bible Registry and Surname Index - over 10,000 names
 * Cemeteries Listed Alphabetically by Location
 * Census Records
 * Church Records
 * City and County Directories
 * Courthouse Records
 * Families of Western Washtenaw County - Chelsea District Library's Family History Index, formerly known as the Obituary File
 * Genealogical and Historical Societies
 * Land Records
 * Local History
 * Military Records
 * Newspapers and Obituaries
 * Queries and Lookups
 * Research Assistance and Where to Write
 * Vital Records
 * Washtenaw County Bibliography and Publications
 * Selected Bibliography for Washtenaw County by Location and Topic
 * Selected Bibliography for Washtenaw County Research by Title
 * Selected Bibliography for Washtenaw County Research by Topic
 * Washtenaw County Cities, Villages, and Townships
 * Washtenaw County Web Pages

Cost of membership and how to join:
Cost of membership and how to join

Membership brochure. (PDF)

Unlimited Online Access To:

 * Family History Capers archive
 * News-Pages archive
 * Washtenaw County cemetery transcriptions


 * Indexed Cemetery Records (view limited to search-only for non-members) (members may view transcriptions)
 * Bethlehem Cemetery, Ann Arbor
 * St. John's Lutheran Cemetery in Bridgewater Township
 * Mt. Hope or St. John's Cemetery in Freedom Township
 * Zion Lutheran or Rogers Corners Cemetery in Freedom Township


 * 1856 and 1864 Plat Map Index
 * 1894 Census Index
 * Christman's Index
 * Mann's Ypsilanti Index
 * Shackman's Index
 * Stephenson's Index
 * Migrations To-From Canada

Family History Capers
Periodical published quarterly since 1979. Contains Bible records, church records, municipal records, articles from historical publications, queries, interviews with GSWC members and In Memoriam. The last quarterly edition (number 4) includes subject and name indexes for the volume. Distributed electronically and, in limited instances, in print.

News-Pages
GSWC News-Pages are produced and distributed quarterly, with Family History Capers. News-Pages contain information about upcoming membership meetings, Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings, write-ups of the lectures and classes, news from the Board, opportunities and announcements of interest to genealogist, and volunteer recruitment.

Free Lookups:
Members may submit a query about any ancestor in any locality at no charge.

General Membership Meetings
Dates. Sept. 24, 2023, Oct. 22, 2023, Dec. 3, 2023, Jan. 28, 2024, Feb. 25, 2024, Mar. 24, 2024, Apr. 28, 2024. On May 19, 2024, a special program will be held to celebrate the Society's 50th anniversary.

Time. 1:30pm - short business meeting, announcements, recognition of newcomers, and breakthroughs; 2:00 - speaker; 3:00 - break; 3:15 - class.

Location. Auditorium at Trinity Health St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor, 5305 Elliott Drive, Ypsilanti, MI. January, February, March 2024 Zoom only. Directional signs will be posted.

Zoom links. There is a different invitation to register and "join meeting" link for each meeting. Links may not be shared.

Registration required for attendance via Zoom. Members will be sent an invitation to register about a week before the meeting. A link to join the meeting will be sent to the member after registration.

Instructions for guests attending via Zoom. Please send an email message to [mailto:info@washtenawgenealogy.org info@washtenawgenealogy.org] at least three days before the meeting to request an invitation to register. After registration, a link to the meeting will be sent.

Description: Two programs are offered each meeting on a wide variety of topics, including ethnic research, immigration, migration, localities, military records, repositories, DNA research, Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, online resources, research skills and methods, organizing, writing.

Listings. Home page | Meetings & Events | Lecture and Classes in 2022-2023.

Board Meetings

 * The Board of Directors meets on the second Tuesday of the month from 2:00pm to 4:00pm via Zoom in September, October, November, January, February, March, May, and July.
 * Call for Reports messages are emailed to Officers, Directors, Committee Chairs, and those who perform specific tasks for the Society six days before the Board meeting.
 * Action items are emailed to attendees by one week after the Board meeting.
 * Members of the Board are all volunteers.

Special Interest Group Meetings

 * DNA
 * German
 * Ireland and UK

Current Projects
Find-a-Grave

Cemetery reading

Past Projects
Past projects

Timetoast link

1976 Washtenaw County Historical Commission oral history project. Five members of the Society assisted in the oral history project of the Washtenaw County Historical Commission. The objective was to interview as many older, long-time citizens of the county as possible and to record their reminiscences on tape.

1978 Surname index cards project. In the June 1978 newsletter, members were reminded to "take a little time this summer to make out some of your surname index cards. . . . Put your information on the 4" x 6" cards for the Society file. It will be transferred to 3" x 5" library cards which will be maintained in the combined file of all of the societies at the State Library."

1978 Washtenaw cemetery directory published. Harold Jones and his committee compiled individual lists of cemeteries arranged alphabetically. Locations were marked on portions of a county map accompanying each area. Where transcriptions had been made of gravestone markings, this fact and where they might be found were noted.

1982 Keffer transcription project. Two taped speeches and the subsequent question periods from Marion C. Keffer's 1977 presentation on Canadian migration were transcribed and typed by GSWC members. The resulting book, called Migrations To-From Canada, was offered for sale for $4.00, plus mailing, in July 1982. The manuscript was scanned and converted to an electronic editable form and re-indexed in December 2001. 92 pages.

1983 Ancestor Surname Index. The indexing of ancestor charts submitted by our members was started in 1983. As of September 1986, charts from over 125 members had been completed and about six thousand surname index cards had been created. Charts submitted for indexing were standard 4- or 5-generation charts, preferably 8 1/2" by 11" with holes on the left for a 3-ring binder. It was preferable, also, to follow standard numbering and naming procedures.

1984 Index of the 1894 census for Washtenaw County. In January 1981 four members of the Society who were also DARs, and the DAR genealogy chair, copied 44,500 names from the 1894 Michigan census in Washtenaw County to index cards, one to a card, and alphabetized them. The index was a project of the Sarah Caswell Angell Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. All names found were listed alphabetically. Includes a separate supplement. Unbound photocopy, 225 pages. GSWC, 1984.

1984 Michigan Death Record Project. GSWC helped with a portion of this project, working with a section from Washtenaw County, Michigan. The goal of this project was to preserve and make Michigan Death Records more accessible. Deaths between 1 January 1868 and 31 December 1897 were to be indexed and eventually made available in printed form. The indexing work involved filling out a special form with information gleaned from Xeroxed copies of actual death records on file in Lansing.

1990 Chapman’s county history reprint. In September 1990 GSWC announced the reprinting of Charles C. Chapman's 1881 History of Washtenaw County, Michigan. This monumental compendium of court and state lore was compiled by members of the Pioneer Society of Washtenaw County. These "were men of ability," the history says, "who earnestly desired a true and faithful record of their county to be made." Advance sales plus a few extra were printed. 1452 pages. Over 17,000 names and localities; two volumes; index; brown buckram, gold title

1997 19th C. plat maps book published. Washtenaw County Michigan Plat Maps 1856 and 1864, edited by Mary Liskow and Nancy Krohn (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County, Michigan, 1997). This book is a reproduction in atlas form of township maps from Bechler & Wenig 1856 and Samuel Geil 1864 wall maps. Every-name indexes of land owners and businesses compiled by GSWC are included. Cemetery, church, school and post-office locations are identified.

1997 Cemetery directory updated. This second edition of Washtenaw Cemeteries contains descriptions of all known cemeteries arranged by township with location maps. Sources of known tombstone transcriptions are noted. Appendices list funeral homes in the county and pertinent laws. Spiral bound, 48 pages, GSWC, 2d. ed., 1997.

1998 Assistance with MGC GENDIS project. In April 1998 members of GSWC completed transcribing handwritten records for the years starting 1884 for the Michigan Genealogical Council's (MGC) Death Records Indexing Project. The Genealogical Death Indexing System (GENDIS) used data from the Michigan Department of Community Health and volunteer transcribers from MGC member societies. The error rate was about 15%. Updates ended in March 2002. More robust data became available on FamilySearch.org in 2007.

2001 Index to Stephenson book published. Index to O.W. Stephenson's Ann Arbor: The First Hundred Years, Ellen Stamelos, GSWC, 2001. 84 pages. Stephenson's book was published in 1927 by the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce to honor the centennial of the founding of Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1824. Orlando Worth Stephenson, Ph.D., was an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Education. In 1937 he was Ann Arbor Police Commissioner.

2002 Index to Shackman book published. Index to Grace Shackman's Ann Arbor in the 19th Century, A Photographic History, Ellen Stamelos, GSWC, 2002. 24 pages. Shackman's book was published by Arcadia Publishing in 2001. Ann Arbor in the 19th Century: A Photographic History details the growth of the city -- in over 190 photographs -- when residents built houses and businesses, organized a government, and established churches, schools, a university, and newspapers.

2002 Index to Christman book published. Index to Adam Christman's Ann Arbor: The Changing Scene, Ellen Stamelos, GSWC, 2002. 42 pages. Christman's book was published in 1984 by the Ann Arbor Historical Foundation.

2004 Index to Mann book published.

Index to James Mann's Ypsilanti, A History in Pictures, Ellen Stamelos, GSWC, 2004. 20 pages. Mann's book was published by Arcadia Publishing in 2002. By 1900, Ypsilanti was nationally known for three things: the Michigan Central Gardens, the mineral wells, and underwear. Dr. Helen McAndrew was the first woman doctor in Ypsilanti, opening her practice in 1854. Ypsilanti is also the home of Eastern Michigan University, founded in 1848.

2012 GSWC volunteers at county clerk’s office.

In April 2012, GSWC began to staff the Vital Records Office with one volunteer every Thursday from 10 AM to 2 PM to help in-person researchers with marriage and death records. Training was provided for the volunteers by the regular staff. In an update in a post on Facebook it was reported that a volunteer was in the County Clerk's Office every Thursday from 10 AM to 4 PM. This program was discontinued about 2016.

2012 Capers Name Index online.

Visitors to the GSWC web site may view the name index by selecting Capers Name Index under the heading Washtenaw Research. Members who log in are able to go to the exact issue of interest by selecting the "eye" icon. As of June 2023 the name index contained 136,584 entries.

2012 Indexing completed for 1884 census of Washtenaw County.

GSWC volunteers completed indexing of the 1884 Washtenaw County State census, as reported on the GSWC Facebook page on November 5, 2012. The every name index covers surviving townships and villages in Manchester, Northfield, Pittsfield, Salem, Saline, Sharon, Scio, Superior, Sylvan, Webster, York, and Ypsilanti. The new index was made available to researchers in binders at the GSWC library.

2015 News-Pages digitized, uploaded.

In December 2015 Jan Tripp reported that she and several others were busy digitizing old GSWC News-Pages and putting them online. They now had a fairly complete archive beginning in 1974 to the present. Each issue is fully searchable, she said. Member who log in may view the news-pages archives on GSWC web site under the heading Washtenaw Research.

2019 Church records in repositories compiled.

A compilation of Washtenaw County church records which have been donated to area repositories was published in the Family History Capers Vol. 42, No. 3 (spring 2019). The work was completed by Marty Carr and Marcia McCrary. The compilation includes records that have been published in Capers. Not included were records yet in the possession of their respective churches. Also not included were locations of histories, anniversary publications, directories, pictures, or other miscellaneous lists.

2021 Capers Subject Index updated. "Select Capers Subject Index in the GSWC web site under the label Washtenaw Research to go to a page with instructions and a link to the Capers Combination Subject Index. The index, a PDF file, is a word-searchable table with columns for articles, author, volume, issue, page, category, and location. As published, It is sorted by category. Location means location within Capers. The separate Capers Name Index is kept current with each volume published. Access to issues of Capers requires login."