Montcalm County Vital Records
First Divorce Records 1851-1881 (Book 1)
Other early Divorce Records (Book 2)
Judy Hardy has compiled a listing of early Montcalm County
divorce records. This index currently includes Book 2. Dates range from 1880 to 1890. The index is
by last name and includes both given names, the date filed, disposition of the divorce (granted, not finalized), the page and file # where the record is to be found, and the book #. These records can be found at the
County Clerk's office.
Other early Divorce Records (1889-1915)
Early Montcalm County Marriage Records
Click on the link above, or use the scrolling index below
Thanks goes out again to Judy Hardy. She has compiled a listing of
early Montcalm
County marriage records. The index includes Books 1, A, B, and C. Dates range from 1851 to 1904 and
includes bride, groom, date, and page # and book where the record can be found in the marriage
records at the County Clerk's office. The 4 books combined include over 10,000
records! That is an
incredible accomplishment - we all owe Judy a tremendous debt of gratitude.
A word of warning:
Due to the tremendous amount of records, I have split the file into separate bride and groom
indexes. This should help speed up the download times, but if you have a slow connection, these
indexes may take a few minutes to fully load as they are approximately 300kb each.
Montcalm County Marriage Indexes
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Just click on the page you want to see
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Montcalm County Clerk (contact info)
Montcalm County Clerk
211 W. Main Street
Stanton, Michigan 48888
(989) 831-7339
The County Clerk holds birth and
death records from 1867, marriage records from 1851, divorce and
civil court records from 1865.
The Probate Court holds all probate
records.
The Register of Deeds holds all
land records.
State Archives of Michigan
State Archives of Michigan
Bureau of History/Department of State
717 W. Allegan
Lansing, Michigan 48919
(517) 373-1408
BIRTH
In 1867 (PA 194) the Michigan legislature passed a law requiring
a state-wide system for the important information relating to
births and other vital data. This law required the township
supervisors to collect facts pertaining to all births that
occurred in their jurisdiction, noting date, name of individual,
gender, race, place of birth, and the names, birthplaces,
occupations and residences of the parents. In 1925 the authority
for maintaining these statistics was transferred from the
Secretary of State to the Department of Public Health, where
control remains today. In 1978, by authority of PA 368, the
legislature restricted access to all birth registers and indexes.
Consequently none of the birth records listed can be examined by
researchers. Birth certificates must be obtained from the
Michigan Department of Public Health.
MARRIAGE
In 1867 the state legislature passed Act 194 requiring
every justice of the peace, minister of the gospel, and all other
persons authorized to solemnize marriages in Michigan to make
note of each marriage performed by them and to deliver to the
clerk of the county in which such marriage took place documentary
evidence that the ceremony had been performed. Information to be
recorded was date , names of parties, ages, race, residence,
birth places, occupations, number of times previously married,
pace of marriage, the couple's parents' names, the name of the
presiding official, plus the names and residences of the
witnesses. These facts were to be recorded by the county clerk
and then forwarded to the Secretary of State. In 1921, by virtue
of Act 170, the duties of the Secretary of State with respect to
marriage records were transferred to the Department of Public
Health. The are no listed registers specific to Montcalm
County in the Archives.
DIVORCE
The Michigan Legislature, under authority of Act 9 of 1897,
required all circuit court clerks to notify the Secretary of
State of all petitions for divorce filed in their respective
counties. These reports were to include the names and ages of the
parties involved, names and ages of any children in the family,
date and place of petition for divorce and county where the
marriage took place. In 1923 (PA 27) the law was changed,
directing the circuit court clerks to submit their reports to the
Department or Public Health.
DEATH
The Act of 1897 (PA 194) required township supervisors to collect
date on the deaths occurring within their jurisdiction. The
statue mandated that the name of the deceased, date and place of
death, gender, race, marital status, age, nativity, cause of
death, plus names and occupations of parents be submitted to the
county clerks who then forwarded the information to the Secretary
of State. In 1925, (PA 343) these duties were transferred to the
Department of Public Health.
The Stanton Weekly Clipper index (DOC) includes all mentions of death contained in that paper for the time frame of March 1880 through December of 1884. (transcribed by Judy Hardy)
Michigan Department of Community Health
Michigan Department of Community Health
Office of the State Registrar
3423 North Logan Street
P. O. Box 30195
Lansing, Michigan 48909
Michigan Vital Records on the Web
Order
your vital records from this web site. The Department of Public Health is required by Act 368 of 1978,
to collect the statutory fee before a search may be made for any
record. Checks and money orders are to be made payable to the
STATE OF MICHIGAN. The fee schedule is listed on the site. FEES PAID TO SEARCH THE FILES ARE NOT REFUNDABLE.
When a record is not found, the applicant will
receive notification that the record requested is not on file in
the office.
Montcalm County Courthouse
You can research records maintained by the
county. They have set hours and they don't allow research during
other times. So, save yourself a trip and stick to the hours
listed here. Thanks to Judy Hardy for this recently verified
information.
Monday through Friday from 8:30
am to 11:30 am and 1pm to 4:30 pm.
Social Security Death Index
Find the date of birth, date of death and last known address by
zip code of individuals that filed for social security death
benefits and died between 1935-1995. You can then order their Social
Security Application for a nominal fee. The application usually
includes the place of birth and parents names.
Return
to the Montcalm County Home Page
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