Lenawee County, Michigan Genealogy

United States

Michigan

Lenawee County

Guide to Lenawee 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: Adrian Organized: December 31, 1826. Parent County(s): Monroe Neighboring Counties Fulton (OH)  • Hillsdale  • Jackson  • Lucas (OH)  • Monroe  • Washtenaw See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for a Native American word meaning "male", from the Delaware "leno or lenno" or the Shawnee "lenawai". The County is located in the southeast area of the state.

County Courthouse

Lenawee County Courthouse
425 N Main Street
Adrian, MI 49221
Phone: 517-264-4606
Lenawee County Website

County Clerk has birth, marriage and death records from 1867, divorce and court records from 1870.

Lenawee 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
1867	1867	1867	1870	1827	1827	1820
Statewide registration started in 1867 for births and deaths. General compliance by 1915.

Record Loss

1852 A fire on March 4, 1852 destroyed the courthouse and most of the files. For suggestions about research in places that suffered historic record losses, see: Burned Counties. By Michael John Neill at 24-7 Family History Circle. When the Records are Gone. By Arlene Eakle at Arlene Eakle's Tennessee Blog. Burned Counties Research in the FamilySearch Research Wiki.

Boundary Changes

1822--Lenawee County was created 10 September 1822 from Monroe County. It was attached to Monroe County prior to organization 31 December 1826. County seat: Adrian 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
Adrian Hudson	Morenci	Tecumseh
Villages
Addison Blissfield Britton	Cement City Clayton Clinton	Deerfield Onsted
Unincorporated communities
Birdsall Cadmus East Ogden Evans Lake	Geneva Gorman Ridgeville Springville	Tipton Weston Sand Creek
Census-designated places
Jasper	Manitou Beach-Devils Lake
Townships
Adrian Charter Blissfield Cambridge Clinton Deerfield Dover Fairfield Franklin	Hudson Macon Madison_Charter Medina Ogden Palmyra Raisin Ridgeway	Riga Rollin Rome Seneca Tecumseh Woodstock

Resources

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Lenawee County, Michigan online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave USGenWeb MIGenWeb Archives Tombstone Project MIInterment 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

 

Census Records

Historical populations
Census	Pop.	%±
1830	1,491	—
1840	17,889	1099.8%
1850	26,372	47.4%
1860	38,112	44.5%
1870	45,595	19.6%
1880	48,343	6.0%
1890	48,448	0.2%
1900	48,406	−0.1%
1910	47,907	−1.0%
1920	47,767	−0.3%
1930	49,849	4.4%
1940	53,110	6.5%
1950	64,629	21.7%
1960	77,789	20.4%
1970	81,609	4.9%
1980	89,948	10.2%
1990	91,476	1.7%
2000	98,890	8.1%
2010	99,892	1.0%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

State Census

• 1850-1880 - Michigan Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 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 Collection

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 Collection

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 Lenawee County courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Lenawee 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.

• One Hundred Years-A Country Town:The Village of Tecumseh, Michigan 1824-1924, is an excellent source for early history of Tecumseh, Lenawee County, Michigan. The book can be found in FamilySearch Catalog or WorldCat by Clara Waldron. Published by Thomas A Riordan, 1968.

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
Civil War service men from Lenawee County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies and regiments that had many men from Lenawee County.

- 12th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, Company F

- 17th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, Company A

- Engineer Regiment of the West, Missouri Volunteers (Union), Company E

Online Indexes and Records

• 1876-1945 - Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1876-1945 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 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 Collection

World War I

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

Naturalization and Citizenship

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

Obituaries

• 1820-2006 Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

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 Collection

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 Collection
• 1867-1902 - Michigan Births, 1867-1902 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection

Marriage

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

Death

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

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Lenawee 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

• Adrian Michigan Family History Center

Libraries

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

• Adrian District Library
  143 E. Maumee St.
  Adrian, MI 49221
  517-265-2265
  Website

Societies

Listed below are societies in Lenawee County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Michigan Societies.

• Bean Creek Valley Historical Society
  205 So. Market Church
  Hudson, MI 49247
  
• Blissfield Area Historical Society
  105 N. Lane Street
  Blissfield, MI 49228
  Phone: 517-486-4816
  
• Onsted Community Historical Society
  1145 Sand Lake
  Onsted, MI 49265
  Phone: 517-467-5300
  Facebook
  
• Lenawee County Historical Society
  110 E. Church St.
  Adrian, MI 49221
  Phone: 517-265-6071
  Website Facebook

Websites

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

• Lenawee County, MI-Roots Michigan Roots is a member of the PA-Roots family of websites.
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
• Lenawee 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.