Isabella County, Michigan Genealogy

United States

Michigan

Isabella County

Guide to Isabella County, Michigan ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Michigan Online Genealogy Records

County Facts County seat: Mount Pleasant Organized: February 11, 1859. Parent County(s): Mackinac Neighboring Counties Clare  • Gladwin  • Gratiot  • Mecosta  • Midland  • Montcalm  • Osceola See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for Queen Isabella I of Castile. The County is located in the central area of the state.

County Courthouse

Isabella County Courthouse
200 N Main St.
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858
Phone: 989-772-0911
Isabella County Website

County Clerk has birth, marriage, death, divorce and court records from 1880.

Isabella County, Michigan Record Dates

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records
Birth*	Marriage	Death*	Court	Land	Probate	Census
1880	1880	1880	1880	1838	1859	1820
Statewide registration started in 1867 for births and deaths. General compliance by 1915.

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Boundary Changes

1831--Isabella County was created 2 March 1831 from Mackinac County and unorganized territory. It was attached to Saginaw, Ionia, and Midland Counties prior to organization 11 February 1859. County seat: Mount Pleasant Interactive Map of Michigan County Formation History (1790-1897) - animated maps illustrating Michigan county boundary changes Michigan Historical Boundary Changes - list of all boundary changes by county provided by Newberry Library County Evolution In Michigan, 1790-1897 by Richard W. Welch for the development of the counties in the state

Populated Places

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Cities
Clare	Mount Pleasant
Villages
Rosebush	Shepherd	Lake Isabella
Unincorporated communities
Blanchard	Sherman City
Census-designated places
Beal City	Loomis	Weidman
Townships
Broomfield Chippewa Coe Coldwater Deerfield Denver	Fremont Gilmore Isabella Lincoln Nottawa Rolland	Sherman Union Charter Vernon Wise

History Timeline

The county is located close to the geographic center of the lower peninsula of Michigan. While primarily rural in nature, Isabella County is also noted for it's oil and gas production and the manufacturing of machinery for industry, food service and wood products. Mt. Pleasant is the home of Central Michigan University and the Clarke Historical Library, the second largest genealogy and historical library in the state. Central Michigan University was opened in 1893 as the Central Normal School and Business Institute. The school was operated by the city of Mt. Pleasant until 1895 when it was taken over by the State of Michigan and became Central Michigan Normal School. CMU became a four year institution in 1918 and a university in 1959. The county also encompasses the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation, home of the Soaring Eagle Casino. City, Town and Village Names

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Isabella County, Michigan online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave USGenWeb Tombstone Project Billion Graves
Tombstone Transcriptions in Print (Often more complete)	Family History Library WorldCat
List of Cemeteries in the County	Findagrave.com FamilySearch Places
See Michigan Cemeteries for more information

 

• Riverside Cemetery Listings - from the City of Mt. Pleasant; database of over 9,000 burials listed in pdf.

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	1,443	—
1870	4,113	185.0%
1880	12,159	195.6%
1890	18,784	54.5%
1900	22,784	21.3%
1910	23,029	1.1%
1920	22,610	−1.8%
1930	21,126	−6.6%
1940	25,982	23.0%
1950	28,964	11.5%
1960	35,348	22.0%
1970	44,594	26.2%
1980	54,110	21.3%
1990	54,624	0.9%
2000	63,351	16.0%
2010	70,311	11.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1850-1880 - Michigan Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article
• 1894 Michigan Department of State. Census of the State of Michigan, 1894. Vol 3. Lansing, MI: R. Smith & co., state printers, 1896. (Civil War veterans only) Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library

Church Records

Church records and the information they provide vary significantly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age, date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. For general information about Michigan denominations, view the Michigan Church Records wiki page.

• 1819-1991 - Michigan, Church Records, 1819-1991 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Emigration and Immigration

• 1929-1966 Michigan, Crew Lists for various ports, 1929-1966 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Land and Property Records

Land and property records can place an ancestor in a particular location, provide economic information, and reveal family relationships. Land records include: deeds, abstracts and indexes, mortgages, leases, grants and land patents.

See Michigan Land and Property for additional information about early Michigan land grants. After land was transferred to private ownership, subsequent transactions were usually recorded at the Isabella County courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Isabella County. County histories may include biographies, church, school and government history, and military information. For more information about local histories, see the wiki page section Michigan Local Histories.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Civil War

• 1876-1945 - Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1876-1945 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article
• 1894 Michigan Department of State. Census of the State of Michigan, 1894. Vol 3. Lansing, MI: R. Smith & co., state printers, 1896. (Civil War veterans only) Digital version at FamilySearch Digital Library
• Michigan, Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

World War I

• 1917-1919 - Michigan, Census of World War I Veterans with Card Index, 1917-1919 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Naturalization and Citizenship

• 1837-1993 - Michigan, Eastern and Western Districts, Naturalization Records, 1837-1993 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Article

Obituaries

• 1820-2006 Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Probate Records

In most counties in Michigan, probate records have been kept by the county judge. They include wills, fee books, claim registers, legacy records, inheritance records, probate packets, and dockets. The records are available at the county courthouse.

Online Indexes and Records

• 1784-1980 Michigan Wills and Probate Records 1784-1980 at Ancestry($)
• 1797-1973 Michigan Probate Records 1797-1973 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Social Security Records

• 1935-2014 United States Social Security Death Index at FamilySearch - How to use this collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
• 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.

Tax Records

Michigan tax records complement land records and can be used to supplement the years between censuses. Because only persons who owned taxable property were listed, many residents were not included in tax lists. There may also be gaps of several years in the tax records of some counties. For more information see the Wiki page, Michigan Taxation.

Vital Records

• Birth Records and Death Records from 1867 can be obtained from the Michigan Department of Community Health or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred.
• Marriage Records from 1867 and Divorce Records from 1897 can be obtained from the County Clerk.
  

Birth

• 1867-1917 - Michigan, County Births, 1867-1917 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article
• 1867-1902 - Michigan Births, 1867-1902 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Marriage

• 1585-1945 - Michigan, United States Marriages at FindMyPast $
• 1820-1937 - Michigan, County Marriages Index, 1820-1937 at FamilySearch - How To Use This Article
• 1820-1940 - Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1940 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article
• 1868-1925 - Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Death

• 1850-1880 - Michigan Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article
• 1867-1897 - Michigan Deaths, 1867-1897 at FamilySearch - How to Use This Article

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Isabella County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Michigan Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a family history center.

• Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator

Local Centers and Libraries

• Mount Pleasant Michigan Family History Center

Libraries

Listed below are libraries in Isabella County. For state-wide library facilities, see Michigan Archives and Libraries.

Societies

Listed below are societies in Isabella County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Michigan Societies.
Isabella County Historical Society
P.O. Box 107
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804-0107
Facebook

Genealogical Society of Isabella County
PO Box 117
Century House, 522 N Fancher
Mt. Pleasant, MI 48804-0117
E-mail:isagenesoc@yahoo.com
E-mail:info@isabellagenealogy.org
Website 2nd Website

Shepherd Area Genealogical Society
514 Maple Street / PO Box 505
Shepherd MI 48883
Website Facebook

Websites

The usage of "Mormon" and "LDS" on this page is approved according to current policy.

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
• Isabella County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)
• FamilySearch Catalog – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.

This website requires a paid subscription for full access.