Van Buren County, MichiganEdit This Page

From FamilySearch Wiki

United States Michigan Van Buren County

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

	Michigan Online Records

Van Buren County, Michigan
Map
Location of Michigan in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	October 29, 1829
County Seat	Paw Paw
Courthouse
Address	Van Buren County Courthouse 212 E Paw Paw St. Paw Paw, MI 49079-1492 Phone: (616) 657-8218 Van Buren County Website

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. ^[1]

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.^[2]

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 ^[3]

Boundary Changes

Record Loss

Places/Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Allegan
• Berrien
• Cass
• Kalamazoo
• St. Joseph
  

Resources

Cemeteries

Church

Court

Land

Local Histories

Maps

• Family Maps of Van Buren County, Michigan (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.

Military

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

Newspapers

Obituaries

Southwest Michigan Obituary Index from the earliest date to 2000.

Probate

Taxation

Vital Records

• Michigan Birth Registrations, 1867-1902 -- Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch Record Search. Records include such information as name of child, birthdate and place, if still-born, illegitimate or twin, gender, race and record number.
• Michigan Marriage Registrations, 1868-1925 -- Free name indexes at FamilySearch Record Search.  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.
• Michigan Death Registrations, 1867-1897-- Free name indexes and images at FamilySearch Record Search.   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

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

Family History Centers

• Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
• South Haven Michigan Family History Center

Web Sites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog

References

1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Van Buren County, Michigan page 351, At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002.
2. ↑ "Martin Van Buren," Wikipedia.
3. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).

• This page was last modified on 19 April 2013, at 23:11.
• This page has been accessed 1,789 times.