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Alcona to Wexford County,
Michigan Marriage Records

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Alcona  to Crawford County Oakland to Wexford County
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 Statewide Marriages

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Michigan Genealogy Resources:

MI State Vital Statistics Office

Vital Records State
3423 North Martin Luther King Blvd.
P.O. Box 30195
Lansing, MI 48909

Information:

(517) 335-8656
Information

What If You Can't Find Your Family's Michigan Marriage Records?

One of the best ways to trace back family records is to look for marriage records.  Marriage records are as good, if not better than, census records for helping people to trace their family history backward and to fill in the missing branches on their family tree.  This is mainly because marriage records contain a variety of useful information, from the date of the marriage, to the location of the ceremony.  It will also tell you the name of the biological parents of the bride and groom, including the maiden name of the mother of both the groom and bride, which is ideal for someone trying to trace back their family history.

There are, however, times when it's impossible to find specific information, and that's when you can become stumped on what to do next.  For example, say you were able to find information about your great uncle and his family through an ancestry website, but you can't go back any further.  What can you do then?

Tracking Back Using Marriage Records

If you're having a hard time locating more information, and you are stumped, the first thing you should do is look at the evidence again.  When you're tracing back ancestors, it can be very easy to get confused or mixed up, and that may have been what happened.  Take a copy of all of the Michigan marriage records that you have found so far and lay them out side by side on your computer screen or desk.  Create a new log of birth and death dates for each person you've uncovered in your research and just how each of the people correlates to the others.

When you have one specific person in the family tree whose information is causing you problems, you can research a bit more about them.  Go over each of the marriage records that you have already found and try to glean as much information as you can out of them.  Is it the mother of the groom that you're stumped with? Look at the date of the wedding and then look at the mother's maiden name.  You can logically conclude that she was around a certain age at the wedding, so you can guess what year she was born.  Research that date with her name on your preferred website and you may find her.  Also, be sure to check under both the maiden name and the married name.

If you still experience trouble with one specific person, look, instead, for someone related to them.  For instance, if you're trying to find out information about the groom's mother but you can't find anything, do some more research on the groom's father.  You may be able to find the groom's father's marriage records which will not only give you more information on him, but which will also give you information on the mother, and her family, as well.  That should get you past your hump.  It's natural to get stumped once in awhile when you're dealing with ancestors and their records, but don't let it stop you from researching.  Implement these ideas, and your genealogical research will pick up again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan Marriage Records:

In 1867, Act 194 passed, requiring every person authorized to perform Michigan marriages to keep formalized marriage records. Information included was:

  • date
  • names of the parties involved
  • their ages
  • race
  • residence
  • birth places
  • occupations
  • number of times previously married
  • place of marriage
  • the couple's parents' names
  • the name of the presiding official
  • and the names and residences of the witnesses

These marriage records were then turned over to the county clerk, which recorded them in the county books, and sent them on to the Secretary of State. (As you can see, some counties were slower than others to comply with Act 194.) In 1921 the Department of Community Health took over the keeping of marriage records from the Secretary of State.

Alcona County Marriage Records

Alcona County Clerk
106 Fifth Street, PO Box 308
Harrisville, MI 48740-0308
Phone: 989-724-6807
Fax: 989-724-5838

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1869 - 1880 and 1889 to present. Information is available for the missing years.
    • Totally indexed by groom's name.
    • Partially indexed by bride's name.
  • Divorce decrees from 1869 to present.

Alger County

Alger County Clerk
101 Court Street
Munising, MI 49862
Phone: 906-387-2076
Fax: 906-387-2156

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1887 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1887 to present.

Allegan County

Allegan County Clerk
113 Chestnut Street
Allegan, MI 49010
Phone: 269-673-0450
Fax: 269-673-0298

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1836 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1900 to present.

Alpena County

Alpena County Clerk
720 West Chisholm Street, Ste. #2
Alpena, MI 49707
Phone: 989-354-9520
Fax: 989-356-6559

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1871 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1871 to present.

Other Records

Antrim County

Antrim County Clerk
203 E. Cayuga, P.O. Box 520
Bellaire, MI 49615
Phone: 231-533-6353
Fax: 231-533-6935

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1866 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1866 to present.

Arenac County

Arenac County Clerk
120 North Grove Street
Standish, MI 48658
Phone: 989-846-4626

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1883 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1883 to present.

Baraga County

Baraga County Clerk
16 North Third Street
L'Anse, MI 49946
Phone: 906-524-6183
Fax: 906-524-6186

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1875 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1875 to present.

Barry County

Barry County Clerk
220 West State Street
Hastings, MI 49058
Phone: 269-945-1285
Fax: 269-945-0209

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1839 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1976 to present.

Bay County

Bay County Clerk
515 Center Avenue
Bay City, MI 48708
Phone: 989-895-4280
Fax: 989-895-4284

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1867 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1869 to present.

Benzie County

Benzie County Clerk
448 Court Place, P.O. Box 377
Beulah, MI 49617
Phone: 231-882-9671
Fax: 231-882-5941

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1869 to present.
  • Divorce decrees can be found in Circuit Court Journals.

Berrien County

Berrien County Clerk
701 Main Street - Administration Center
St. Joseph, MI 49085
Phone: 616-983-7111 ext. 8233
Fax: 616-982-8667

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1831 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1867 to present can be found in Circuit Court Journals.
    • Berrien County Courthouse
      811 Port Street
      St. Joseph, MI 49085
      Phone: (616) 983-7111, Ext. 8368
      Fax: (616) 982-8642

Other Records:

Branch County

Branch County Clerk
Courthouse, 31 Division Street
Coldwater, MI 49036
Phone: 517-279-4306
Fax: 517-278-5627

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1833 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1867 to present.

Calhoun County

Calhoun County Clerk
315 West Green Street
Marshall, MI 49068
Phone: 616-781-0730
Fax: (616) 781-0721

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1867 to present.
  • Divorce decrees are filed with Circuit Court Office.

Cass County

Cass County Clerk
120 North Broadway, PO Box 355
Cassopolis, MI 49031-1398
Phone: 616-445-8621
Fax: 616-445-4406

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from (?) to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1832 to present.

Charlevoix County Marriage Records

Charlevoix County Clerk
203 Antrim Street
Charlevoix, MI 49720
Phone: 231-547-7200
Fax: 231-547-7217

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1868 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1868 to present.

Cheboygan County

Cheboygan County Clerk
870 South Main Street
P.O. Box 70
Cheboygan, MI 49721
Phone: 231-627-8808
Fax: 231-627-8453

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1867 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1867 to present.

Chippewa County

Chippewa County Clerk
319 Court Street
Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
Phone: 906-635-6300
Fax: 906-635-6851

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1827 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from early 1900's to present are at this address.

Clare County

Clare County Clerk
225 West Main Street
P.O. Box 438
Harrison, MI 48625
Phone: 989-539-7131
Fax: 989-539-6616

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1871 to present.
  • Divorce decrees from 1871 to present.

Clinton County

Clinton County Clerk
100 East State Street, Suite 2600
P.O. Box 69
St. Johns, MI 48879-0069
Phone: 989-224-5140
Fax: 989-224-5102

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1839 to present.

Crawford County

Crawford County Clerk
200 West Michigan Avenue
Grayling, MI 49738
Phone: 989-344-3200
Fax: 989-344-3223

Holdings include:

  • Marriage records from 1873 to present.
  • Divorce decrees may be found at 46th Circuit Trial Court

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