Michigan Colonial Records

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Online Records

Many records from the colonial era in New England were kept at the town or county level. Search the catalog at the town or county level to locate those records.

• 1695-1799- Parish registers. Catholic Church. St.-Ann (St. Ignace, Michigan)- images only.
• 1704-1800- Registre du fort Pontchartrain de Détroit. Catholic Church. Ste. Anne (Detroit, Michigan)- images only.

History

In 1668, the Canadian French founded Sault Sainte Marie which became the first permanent settlement in Michigan. French Canadians built several subsequent forts in Michigan until the area was ceded to Great Britain in 1763. In 1787, the Northwest Territory was created and covered most of Michigan. In 1800, Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory, until the Michigan Territory was created in 1805. Questions regarding the boundary of Michigan were not fully resolved between Great Britain and the United States until after the War of 1812.

Resources

• Detroit River Connections: Historical and Biographical Sketches of the Eastern Great Lakes Border Region by Judy Jacobson, Baltimore: Clearfield Co., 1994.
• Genealogy of the French Families of the Detroit River Region, 1701-1936 by Christian Denisen, 2 Vols, Detroit: Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, 1987.
• History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Containing a Full Account of its Early Settlement, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1883.
• Michigan Genealogy: Sources and Resources by Carol McGinnis, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987.
• The Story of Sault Sainte Marie and Chippewa County by Stanley D. Newton, Sault Ste. Marie: Sault News Printing Company, 1923.
• Letters from New France, the Upper Country, 1686-1783 by Joseph L. Peyser, Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1992.
• Michigan Censuses, 1710-1830, under the French, British and Americans by Donna Valley Russell, Detroit: Detroit Society for Genealogical Research, 1982.
• Guide to the Manuscripts in the Burton Historical Collection by Bernice Cox Sprenger, Detroit: Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public Library, 1985.
• Guide to Manuscripts in the Michigan Historical Collections of the University of Michigan by Robert M. Warner, Ann Arbor: n. p., 1963, film 0874197.
• Tracing Your Ancestors in Michigan by Ethel W. Williams, Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1969, FamilySearch Digital Library.

Civil Records

• Records from the U.S. Land office at Detroit contain land grants and claims in the Detroit area, 1707-1825. The French land grants begin in 1707; British grants begin in 1781. These records are in the Bureau of Land Management record group (RG 49.13) at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

Ecclesiastical Records

• 18th Century parish and city maps and Sacramental registers from 1704 at the Archdiocese of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan.
• The Catholic Church in Detroit, 1701-1888 by George Pare, Detroit: Gabriel Richard Press, 1951.
• L'Assomption de la Pointe-de-Montreal, Detroit. Registre de la Paroisse, 1761-99 by Eglise catholique, L'Assomption de la Pointe-de-Montreal Sandwich Township, Upper Canada, Otawa: National Archives of Canada, 1967, film 1026603 ff.
• Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Parish Registers
• Sainte Anne, Detroit. Registre de la Paroisse, 1704-1800, (Ottawa: National Archives of Canada, 1967, film 1026602 ff.). Registers of Fort Ponchartrain, now Detroit, Michigan.

Copies of original records are held at the National Archives of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario.