Van Buren County, Michigan Genealogy

United States Michigan  Van Buren County

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

County Courthouse
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.

History


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.

Parent County
1829--Van Buren County was created 29 October 1829 from unorganized territory. It was attached to Cass and Lenaww Counties prior to organization 3 April 1837. County seat: Paw Paw

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

Neighboring Counties
Allegan •  Berrien  •  Cass  •  Kalamazoo  •  St. Joseph County

Maps



 * Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)
 * Family Maps of (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

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

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

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
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 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

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

Public Libraries
The following public libraries in Van Buren county have collections of particular interest to genealogists.


 * Van Buren District Library Webster Memorial Library Building 200 N. Phelps Street Decatur, Michigan 49045 The Local History Collection houses books, periodicals, photographs, and records relating to Southwest Michigan and other localities. The room also houses the Southwest Michigan regional collection of the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society (VBRGS). Telephone: (269) 423-4771


 * Michigan eLibrary - Michigana: Sources in U.S. History Online

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers


 * South Haven Michigan Family History Center 05272 73 1/2 St, South Haven, MI 49090 United States

Web Sites

 * Van Buren County, MI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Michigan Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Michigan Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.