Montmorency County, Michigan Genealogy

Guide to Montmorency 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 a well known Chippewa (also known as Ojibwa) Chief, whose name meant Big Cloud. The County has Atlanta as its seat and the County was created 1881. The County is located in the north-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
County Clerk has birth, marriage, and death records from 1881, divorce and court records from 1940 and military records from 1920.

Parent County
1840--Montmorency County was created 1 April 1840 from Mackinac County. Formerly Cheonoquet County until name changed to Montmoerency 8 March 1843. It was attached to Mackinac, Cheboygan, and Alpena Counties prior to organization 21 May 1881. County seat: Atlanta

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
1942 County Courthouse burned, destroying the Prosecuting Attorney’s records. Surviving records were moved to the Community Hall. 1943 Community Hall holding records that survived the 1942 fire burned, destroying all county documents, except birth, death, and marriage statistics.

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:

Some of the populated places still in Montmorency County, MI, are the towns of Hillman, Atlanta, Lewiston, Vienna, and the area of Canada Creek. None of them have more than a blinking light for traffic signals so that gives an idea of how rural the county is. Since the lumbering era, many other smaller area have become little more than crossroads known by the locals by the names of the towns they used to be during that times. Submitted by Ella Purkiss Accredited Genealogist and resident of Montmorency County

Neighboring Counties
Alcona •  Alpena  •  Cheboygan  •  Crawford  •  Oscoda  •  Otsego  •  Presque Isle

Census
 State Census
 * 1894 - at FamilySearch — index

Church

 * 1819-1991 - at FamilySearch — index

Emigration and Immigration

 * 1929 - 1966 at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)

Civil War

 * 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.

Societies and Libraries
Lewiston Historical Society PO Box 461 4384 Michelson Avenue Lewiston MI 49756 Telephone: 989-786-2451

Montmorency County Historical Society McKenzie One-Room School M-33 N (Montmorency County Fair Grounds) Atlanta, MI 49709 Telephone: 989-742-4218 Mailing Address: PO Box 252 Hillman, MI 49746 Website


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

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

 * Montmorency 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.
 * Montmorency County MI Genealogy (Michigan Genealogy)
 * Montmorency County MI Genealogy (Michigan Genealogy)