Ottawa County, Michigan Genealogy

United States

Michigan

Ottawa County

Guide to Ottawa 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: Grand Haven Organized: December 29, 1837 Parent County(s): Mackinac Neighboring Counties Allegan  • Kent  • Muskegon See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for an Ottawa Nation. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

County Courthouse

Ottawa County Courthouse
414 Washington Ave.
Grand Haven, MI 49417-1473
Phone: 616-846-8310
Ottawa County Website

County Clerk has birth and death records from 1867, marriage and court records from 1847 and divorce records from 1863.

Ottawa 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	1847	1867	1947	1834	1844	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--Ottawa County was created 2 March 1831 from Mackinac County and unorganized territory. It was attached to Kent County prior to organization 29 December 1837. County seat: Grand Haven 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
Coopersville Ferrysburg	Grand Haven Holland	Hudsonville Zeeland
Villages
Spring Lake
Unincorporated communities
Agnew Bauer Big Spring Blendon Borculo Conger Conklin Crisp Crockery Lake Dennison Drenthe Eastmanville Finnasey	Forest Grove Gooding Grand Valley Harlem Station Harrisburg Herrington Jamestown Lamont Lisbon Macatawa Marne	North Blendon Nunica Ottawa Center Pearline Port Sheldon Reno Robinson Tallmadge Vriesland West Olive Wright
Census-designated places
Allendale	Beechwood	Jenison
Townships
Allendale Blendon Chester Crockery Georgetown Grand Haven	Holland Jamestown Olive Park Polkton Port Sheldon	Robinson Spring Lake Tallmadge Wright Zeeland

Resources

Biographies

• History of Ottawa County, Michigan: with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Published: Chicago, H. R. Page, 1882
• Portrait and biographical record of Muskegon and Ottawa Counties Michigan containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co. 1893

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Ottawa 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.	%±
1840	208	—
1850	5,587	2586.1%
1860	13,215	136.5%
1870	26,651	101.7%
1880	33,126	24.3%
1890	35,358	6.7%
1900	39,667	12.2%
1910	45,301	14.2%
1920	47,660	5.2%
1930	54,858	15.1%
1940	59,660	8.8%
1950	73,751	23.6%
1960	98,719	33.9%
1970	128,181	29.8%
1980	157,174	22.6%
1990	187,768	19.5%
2000	238,314	26.9%
2010	263,801	10.7%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Federal Censuses for Ottawa, Michigan can be found at FamilySearch Record Search. Free searchable name indexes and images are available for most census years.

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
• Ottawa County Michigan Church Directory: A listing of some of the different churches in Ottawa.

First Presbyterian Church

• The seventy-fifth anniversary of the Organization of the First Presbyterian Church of Spring Lake, Michigan, Rev. A. Meengs, Minister / 1928 at babel.hathitrust.org. Free online

List of Churches and Church Parishes

• FamilySearch Places
  

Directories

• 1892-1893 - Historical and business compendium of Ottawa County, Michigan, Vol I, Grand Haven, Mich. : Potts & Conger
• 1892-1893 - Historical and business compendium of Ottawa County, Michigan, Vol II, Grand Haven, Mich. : Potts & Conger

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 Ottawa County courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Ottawa 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.

• History of Ottawa County, Michigan: with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers. Published: Chicago, H. R. Page, 1882

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Ottawa & Kent, Michigan. Published: Chicago, H. Belden & Co., 1876. Includes county histories and patrons directories. archives.org
• Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)
• Standard Atlas of Ottawa County, Michigan : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county ..., Chicago : Geo. A. Ogle & Co., 1897
• Standard Atlas of Ottawa County, Michigan : including a plat book of the villages, cities and townships of the county...patrons directory, reference business directory and departments / compiled and published by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. 1912. Also archives.org
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Civil War
Civil War service men from Ottawa 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 Ottawa County.

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

• 1867-1902 - Index to Birth Records in Ottawa County 1867-1902 (MIGenWeb)
• 1867-1902 - Michigan Births, 1867-1902 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• 1867-1917 - Michigan, County Births, 1867-1917 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
• Index to Marriage Records in Ottawa County (MIGenWeb)

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
• Index to Death Records in Ottawa County (MIGenWeb)

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in Ottawa 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

Libraries

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

Museums

• Coopersville Area Historical Society and Museum
  363 Main Street
  Coopersville, MI 49404
  Phone: 616-997-7240
  Website

Societies

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

• Coopersville Area Historical Society and Museum
  363 Main Street
  Coopersville, MI 49404
  Phone: 616-997-7240
  Website
• Grand Haven Genealogical Society
  c/o Loutit Library
  407 Columbus
  Grand Haven, MI 49417
• Zeeland Genealogy Study Group
  14 Church Street
  Howard Miller Community Center
  Zeeland, MI 49464
  Website
• Holland Genealogical Society
  c/o Herrick Public Library
  300 River Avenue
  Holland, MI 49423
  Facebook

Websites

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

• Ottawa 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.
• Ottawa County, wikipedia
• Michigan Family History Network
• Ottawa 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.