St. Clair County, Michigan Genealogy

United States

Michigan

St. Clair County

Guide to St. Clair 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: Port Huron Organized: May 8, 1821 Parent County(s): Macomb Neighboring Counties Lapeer  • Macomb  • Sanilac See County Maps Courthouse Location Map Adoption This page is available for adoption

County Information

Description

The County was named for Arthur St. Clair, an American Revolutionary War General and Governor of the Northwest Territory. The County is located in the east area of the state.

County Courthouse

St. Clair County Courthouse
201 McMorran Blvd.
Port Huron, MI 48060-4006
Phone: 810-985-2200
St. Clair County Website

County Clerk has birth records from 1867, marriage records from 1834, death records from 1868, divorce and court records from 1849.

St. Clair 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	1834	1868	1849	1821	1828	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

1820--St. Clair County was created 28 March 1820 from Macomb County. It was attached to Macomb County prior to organization 8 May 1821. County seat: Port Huron 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
Algonac Marine City Marysville	Memphis Port Huron Richmond	St. Clair Yale
Villages
Capac	Emmett
Unincorporated communities
Abbottsford Adair Allenton Anchorville Atkins Avoca Avalon Beach Bedore Belle River Berville Blaine Broadbridge Station Brockway Casco Cherry Beach Clays Landing Columbus Copeland Corner Fair Haven	Fargo Forster Gardendale Grande Pointe Goodells Hawthorne Jeddo Keewahdin Kimball Lakeport Lambs Lesterville Maple Leaf Martindale Beach Miller Muirs Muttonville North Lakeport North Street	Perch Point Peters Pointe aux Tremble Rattle Run Riley Center Riverside Roberts Landing Ruby Sans Souci Smiths Creek Snyderville South Park Sparlingville Starville Tappan Thornton Wadhams Wales Center West Tappan
Census-designated places
Pearl Beach
Townships
Berlin Brockway Burtchville Casco China Clay Clyde Columbus	Cottrellville East China Emmett Fort Gratiot Grant Greenwood Ira Kenockee	Kimball Lynn Mussey Port Huron Riley St. Clair Wales

Resources

Biographies

• St. Clair County Biographies hosted by MiGenWeb Project.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of St. Clair County, Michigan online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online	Find A Grave MIGenWeb 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	1,114	—
1840	4,606	313.5%
1850	10,420	126.2%
1860	26,604	155.3%
1870	36,661	37.8%
1880	46,197	26.0%
1890	52,105	12.8%
1900	55,228	6.0%
1910	52,341	−5.2%
1920	58,009	10.8%
1930	67,563	16.5%
1940	76,222	12.8%
1950	91,599	20.2%
1960	107,201	17.0%
1970	120,175	12.1%
1980	138,802	15.5%
1990	145,607	4.9%
2000	164,235	12.8%
2010	163,040	−0.7%
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
  

Directories

• 1863-1922 Michigan State Gazetteers and Business Directories at Hathi Trust, images – includes business directories for towns across the state
  

Emigration and Immigration

• 1929-1966 - Michigan, Crew Lists for various ports, 1929-1966 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
  

Genealogies

• Pioneers of St.Clair County - Compiled genealogy of some early settlers of St. Clair and their descendants

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 St. Clair County courthouse and where records are currently housed.

Local Histories

Local histories are available for St. Clair 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.

Maps and Gazetteers

Click a neighboring county
for more resources

• Maps of Michigan (1790-1897)
• 1863-1922 Michigan State Gazetteers and Business Directories at Hathi Trust, images – includes business directories for towns across the state
  
• Standard Atlas of St. Clair County, Michigan
• FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Military Records

Civil War
Civil War service men from St. Clair 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 St. Clair County.

• 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

Newspapers

• Digital Michigan Newspapers at Central Michigan University

Obituaries

• 1820-2006 - Michigan Obituaries, 1820-2006 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• St. Clair County Obituaries. MiGenWeb Project

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 Probate 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 - 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
• 1838-1898 - St. Clair County Marriages and Deaths - Includes all the County plus data on Ontario Canada names.
• 1868-1925 - Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection
• St. Clair County Marriages. MiGenWeb Project

Death

• 1838-1898 - St. Clair County Marriages and Deaths - Includes all the County plus data on Ontario Canada names.
• 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
• 1897-1952 - Michigan Death Certificates, 1897-1952 at Michiganology

Research Facilities

Archives

Listed below are archives in St. Clair County. For state-wide archival repositories, see Michigan Archives and Libraries.

Family History Centers

Family History Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local Family History Centers or Affiliate Libraries

• 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.
  

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

• Blue Water Michigan Family History Center

Libraries

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

Societies

Listed below are societies in St. Clair County. For state-wide genealogical societies, see Michigan Societies.
St. Clair County Family History Group, Inc.
PO Box 611483
Port Huron, Michigan 48061-1483
Website

Rootstalkers The
PO Box 161
Anchorville 48004

Algonac Clay Historical Society
1240 St. Clair River Drive /PO Box 228
Algonac, MI 48001
Phone: 810-794-9015
Website

Capac Historical Society Museum Mission
401 East Kempf
Capac, MI 48014
Phone: 810-395-2859
E-mail:capacmuseum@hotmail.com
Website

Websites

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

• St. Clair County, MI-Roots Michigan Roots is a member of the PA-Roots family of websites.
• St. Clair County, MI History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
• St Clair 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.