Michigan Genealogical Council
Michigan Research Tools

There are many genealogy-related web sites. As much as possible, we are excluding commercial genealogy sites or massive genealogy site indexes. The genealogy sites which are listed here can help you obtain primary documentation to support your family research.

If you are interested in commercial genealogy sites, please use one of the general-purpose search engines to locate them.

If you know of a free web resource that will aid those doing Michigan research, or discover a broken or obsolete link, please send an e-mail to: research@mimgc.org.

Libraries and Archives

For libraries and archives, the sites contain such basic information as address and phone numbers and hours of operation and the type of material available at the library or archive.

• Allen County Public Library Fort Wayne, Indiana. Second largest genealogical collection in the U.S.
• Archives of Michigan in Lansing, Michigan.
• Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library, Detroit, Michigan.
• Family Search Labs Pilot Project from the Church of Latter Day Saints.
• Library of Michigan in Lansing, Michigan.
• Library of Michigan ANSWER Online Catalog.
• Michigan County Histories and Atlases. Collection of scanned books from the University of Michigan.
• Michigan Electronic Library MEL, hosted by the Library of Michigan.
• Michigan Genealogist Newsletter View on Library of Michigan web site or subscribe.
• Michigan State University Archives Genealogy Guide to collections that relate to families, individuals, and churches located in the MSU Archives.
• Michigan Vital Records How to obtain Michigan vital records
• National Archives and Records Administration Washington, DC and other locations in the U.S.

GenWeb Project Sites

In the case of GenWeb sites, there is additional information to help you research. You may find information about cemeteries, churches, local governments, and advice and help on how to research in each county.

• US GenWeb Project
• Michigan GenWeb Project
• Canada GenWeb Project
• World GenWeb Project

Cemetery Records

• Battle Creek Memorial Park. Searchable database of burials.
• Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Graves Database is a continuing project to locate, identify, and mark the final resting place of those who fought in the Civil War.
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Searchable database National Cemetery Gravesite Locator.
• Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit. This ongoing project includes early burial information, searchable by name. Some early cemetery brochures and a list of notables buried are available for downloading.

Newspapers

• Public Libraries of Saginaw Obituary Index. This index, searchable by name, lists the names of the newspaper and page number of articles about your Saginaw area ancestor. These are primarily death notices and obituaries.
• Western Michigan Newspapers Index. Created by the Western Michigan Genealogical Society. Use of the index is free, there is a charge if you wish to order a transcription of an article or death notice.

Death Records

• Branch County Clerk Index of records from 1867 to present. There is a link to order a death certificate.
• Clinton County Clerk Index of deaths from 1934.
• Emmet County Clerk Index of death records from 1867.
• Genessee County Death Index (1867-1930) from the Flint Genealogical Society and the County Clerk Office.
• Genessee County Clerk Index of deaths from 1930 and marriages from 1963.
• Grand Traverse County Clerk death records from 1867.
• Grand Traverse County Traverse Area District Library records from 1866.
• Macomb County Clerk Index of deaths from December, 1944 to present.
• SeekingMichgan.org The first major project is the digitization of roughly one million death records covering the years 1897 through 1920.  These records – never before available electronically – are indexed for easy searching by name, death date, location and age, and hold tremendous research opportunities for genealogists, historians and students.   Seeking Michigan comes from the Library of Michigan and the Archives of Michigan, through a grant from the Talbert and Leota Abrams Foundation.
• Washtenaw County Clerk Index of deaths from 1959 to present. There is also a link to order documents.
• Wyandotte Death Records. City Clerk office, Wyandotte, Wayne County, Michigan.

Other Finding Aids

• Jewish Historical Society of Michigan Yearbook Project This project collects yearbooks of primarily Detroit Schools, and is searchable by name. This listing is not limited to only Jewish students or Detroit Schools. They will be happy to accept your donation of an old yearbook or two.
• Kalamazoo County Genealogy Records contains vital records, cemetery transcriptions, family trees, city directories, schools, veterans, newspapers and probate information for Kalamazoo County.   This is a must visit site if you have Kalamazoo County ancestors.
• Michigan Biographical Index This is an ongoing project by James N. Jackson, creating a cumulative full-name index merging many Michigan publications and manuscripts.
• Ontario Township Finder compiled by Joanne Harvey in 1990. This aid will help you locate the county a township is located in. The list is in alphabetical order by township.