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Four online research helps: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/ Easily search many county histories simultaneously, many of which contain genealogical information difficult to find elsewhere. (Hard copies of these old books are rarely well indexed.) Books published 1866-1926 but information can get you back to the late 1700s if you're lucky. From the site: "The Michigan County Histories collection is projected to provide access to 192 histories dating from 1866 to 1926. [NOTE: Browsing the collection 13 Apr 2007 showed 363 items.] The collection provides all members of the community with keyword searching and page-by-page access to digitized reproductions of Michigan county atlases and histories as a resource for historical and genealogical research. Initial collection content comprises titles selected from Frances Loomis's Michigan Biography Index (Detroit: Detroit Public Library, 1946), Bentley Historical Library holdings, and the Research Publications microfilm publication County and Regional Histories of the Old Northwest. Additional content selected from titles listed in Michigan Atlases and Plat Books by William Miles (Lansing: State Library Services, 1975) may be added as funds permit. The collection is a collaborative effort of Michigan's Council of Library Directors." http://www.mifamilyhistory.org/dibeanindex/ Jack and Marianne Dibean have long been collecting Michigan marriage information (mostly from the 1800s). Here the indexed marriages are searchable one county at a time, so this work is most useful if you already have some idea of where in Michigan your relatives or ancestors lived. Note: this is an index and for best research results should eventually be confirmed by consulting the original record. http://data.wmgs.org/ Give thanks if your relatives spent time in or near Grand Rapids. The Western Michigan Genealogical Society has 15 online databases with more than a million records. They include area obituaries, Kent County marriages, Kent County school records, and much more. An impressive example for other local genealogy societies. http://www.rootsweb.com/~mivanbur/SWMIObitIndex/SWMIObit.htm The Southwest Michigan Obituary Index includes more than 76,000 obituaries from the lower left-hand corner of the peninsula from earliest settlement to 2000. Order the originals @ $3 a pop. --Hh219 18:56, 13 April 2007 (MDT) |
