Ottawa County, Michigan Genealogy

United States

Michigan

Ottawa County

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

Ottawa County, Michigan
Map
Location of Michigan in the U.S.
Facts
Founded	March 2, 1831
County Seat	Grand Haven
Courthouse
Address	Ottawa County Courthouse 414 Washington Ave. Grand Haven, MI 49417-1473 Phone: 616-846-8310 Ottawa County Website

County Information

Description

The County was named for an Ottawa Nation. The County has Grand Haven as its seat and the County was created 1837. The County is located in the southwest area of the state.

Ottawa County, Michigan Record Dates

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.

County Courthouse

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

History

Parent County

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

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Michigan county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Michigan County Boundary Maps" (1790-1897) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Record Loss

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

Places/Localities

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

Neighboring Counties

Allegan  • Kent  • Muskegon

Resources

Cemeteries

Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Tombstone Transcriptions in Print	List of Cemeteries in the county
Findagrave.com	Family History Library	Findagrave.com
USGenWeb	WorldCat	Billion Graves
MIGenWeb Archives
Tombstone Project
MIInterment
EPodunk
Billion Graves
See Michigan Cemeteries for more information.

Censuses

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.

Census

State Census

• 1894 - Michigan State Census, 1894 at FamilySearch — index

Church

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 — index
• 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

Court

• Ottawa County Courthouses (Found on left side of home page.)

Directories

• 1892-3 - Historical and business compendium of Ottawa County, Michigan, Vol I, Grand Haven, Mich. : Potts & Conger
• 1892-3 - 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 — index and images
  

Land

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 county courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for Ottawa County, Michigan Genealogy. 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 iIlustrations 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

Maps

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Family Maps of Ottawa County, Michigan Genealogy (land patent maps) at HistoryGeo.com ($). Free surname search.
• 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

Military

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 Records

• Michigan, Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records at FamilySearch — index
• 1876-1945 - Michigan, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1876-1945 at FamilySearch — index

World War I

• 1917-1919 - Michigan, Census of World War I Veterans with Card Index, 1917-1919 at FamilySearch — index

Newspapers

Finding More Michigan Newspapers

Additional newspapers abstracts can sometimes be found using search phrases such as Ottawa County, Michigan Genealogy newspapers in online catalogs like:

• WorldCat (For instructions see WorldCat Online Catalog).
• The Saginaw News
• Do a Ottawa County, Michigan Genealogy Place-name search for these and other records in the Family History Library Catalog (For instructions see FHL Catalog Place-name Search).

Obituaries

• 1820-2006 - Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006 at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate

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.

The FamilySearch Catalog lists films of probate records. To find the records for this county, use the Place Search for Michigan, Ottawa and search for Probate records in the list.

Note: Not every county in Michigan will have Probate Records in the FamilySearch Catalog.

Online Probate Records

• 1784 – 1980 Michigan Wills and Probate Records 1784-1980 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
• 1797 – 1973 Michigan Probate Records 1797-1973 at FamilySearch — images

Vital Records

Vital Records consist of births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths recorded on registers, certificates, and documents. A copy or an extract of most original records can be purchased as shown below:

Birth Records and Death Records from the Michigan Department of Community Health (from 1867) or the County Clerk's office of the county where the event occurred.

Marriage Records (from 1867) and Divorce Records (from 1897) from the County Clerk.

Birth Records

• 1867-1917 - Michigan, County Births, 1867-1917 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1867-1902 - Index to Birth Records in Ottawa County 1867-1902 (MIGenWeb)
• 1867-1902 - Michigan Birth Registrations, 1867-1902 at FamilySearch — index and images

Marriage Records

• 1585-1945 - Michigan, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
• 1820-1937 - Michigan, County Marriages Index, 1820-1937 at FamilySearch — index
• 1820-1940 - Michigan, County Marriages, 1820-1940 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1868-1925 - Michigan Marriage Registrations, 1868-1925 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Index to Marriage Records in Ottawa County (MIGenWeb)

Death Records

• 1850-1880 - Michigan Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1867-1897 - Michigan Death Registrations, 1867-1897 at FamilySearch — index and images
• Index to Death Records in Ottawa County (MIGenWeb)

Societies and Libraries

• 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

Family History Centers

Family History Centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes.

• For current information about a center near you, go to the Family History Center Map

• Introduction to Family History Centers

Websites

• Michigan Genealogy Network Community on Google+
• Michigan Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
• FamilySearch Catalog
• Ottawa County, wikipedia
• Michigan Family History Network
• Ottawa County MI Genealogy (ldsgenealogy.com)