Michigan Church Records: Difference between revisions

Before 1900 the largest religious groups in Michigan were the Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches. Information about early churches, ministers, and circuits is in published histories of some of the churches of Michigan.  

The availability of Michigan church records is described in the Summer 1973 issue of Family Trails (see the "[[Michigan Periodicals|Periodicals]]" section). Other inventories of the church archives of several denominations, such as the Protestant Episcopal and Evangelical, have been published and are at the Family History Library.  

The Michigan Historical Records Survey, WPA, completed a series of denominational record lists called Inventory of the Church Archives of Michigan. Check for these records in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:  

MICHIGAN - CHURCH RECORDS - INVENTORIES, REGISTERS, CATALOGS.  

The library also has copies of a few small collections of original Michigan church records. Some original manuscripts and published abstracts are also in the Bentley Historical Collection at the University of Michigan (see[[Michigan Archives and Libraries|Michigan Archives and Libraries]] for the address).  

Many denominations have gathered their records into central repositories. You can write to the following addresses to learn where their records are located:  

=== Baptist ===

'''Kalamazoo College'''<br>Upjohn Library<br>1200 Academy Street<br>Kalamazoo, MI 49006<br>Telephone: 616-337-7153<br>Fax: 616-337-7143<br>Web address:<br>http://www.davenport.edu/davenport/Kalamazoo/library.htm  

=== Lutheran ===

'''Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA Archives)<br>'''8765 West Higgins Road<br>Chicago, IL 60631-4198<br>Telephone: 312-380-2818<br>Fax: 312-380-2977<br>E-mail Address: [mailto:archives@elca.org archives@elca.org] <br>('''Note:''' Please include a mailing address when using the E-mail address.) <br>Internet: [http://www.elca.org/ http://www.elca.org]  

The records of Evangelical Lutheran churches in the United States that have been disbanded are located at the ELCA Archives in Chicago. If a church is still active, they will be able to help you locate their records.  

The ELCA Archives has records of many congregations and those on microfilm can be borrowed for a small fee. A list of church records in its collection is given in:  

ALC Archives. ''ALC Congregations on Microfilm''. Dubuque, Iowa: The Archives, [197-?]. (Family History Library fiche 6330690–93.) Arranged by state and city of congregation. Fiche 6330690 includes Michigan. The ALC Archives are now part of the ELCA Archives.  

=== Methodist ===

'''Shipman Library'''<br>Adrian College<br>110 South Madison Street<br>Adrian, MI 49221<br>Telephone: 517-265-5161<br>Fax: 517-264-3331 <br>Internet: http://www.adrian.edu/library/resources/archive.php  

=== Roman Catholic ===

[http://www.ancestry.ca/drouin/ Drouin Collection 1621-1967 of French Canadian records indexed at Ancestry.com]. This collection has over 15 million entries for French Canadian genealogical and vital records. Be sure to search for spelling variations of the ancestor's name. This index includes Quebec notarial, vital, and church records, Acadian Catholic records, Ontario French Catholic records, early French Catholic records in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin.  

'''Diocese of Marquette'''<br>444 South Fourth Street<br>P.O. Box 550<br>Marquette, MI 49855<br>Telephone: 906-225-1141<br>Fax: 906-225-0437 <br>Internet: http://www.dioceseofmarquette.org/  

'''Archdiocese of Detroit'''<br>1234 Washington Boulevard <br>Detroit, MI 48226<br>Telephone: 313-237-5800<br>Fax: 313-237-4642 <br>Internet: http://www.aodonline.org/AODOnline/AODOnline.htm  

'''Diocese of Saginaw'''<br>5800 Weiss Street<br>Saginaw, MI 48603-2799<br>Telephone: 517-799-7910<br>Fax: 517-797-6670 <br>Internet: http://www.saginaw.org/  

'''Diocese of Grand Rapids'''<br>660 Burton Street S.E.<br>Grand Rapids. MI 4950<br>Telephone: 616-243-0491<br>Fax: 616-243-4910 <br>Internet: http://www.dioceseofgrandrapids.org/  

'''Diocese of Lansing<br>'''300 West Ottawa<br>Lansing, MI 48933<br>Telephone: 517-342-2440<br>Fax: 517-343-2515 <br>Internet: http://www.dioceseoflansing.org/  

For information concerning Catholic records, see: