Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Hillsdale County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Cemetery Records
- Hillsdale County files · RG 83-531967 to 1976
Census Records
- State census · RG 80-921884 and from 1894
Court Records
- Assignment docket · RG 85-101887 to 1891
- Chancery calendars · RG 85-101847 to 1930
- Chancery case files · RG 85-101840 to 1910
- Chancery order books · RG 85-101872 to 1937
- Chancery orders · RG 2024-671895 to 1918
- Chancery record books · RG 85-101847 to 1935
- Chancery rule books · RG 85-101847 to 1897
- Circuit Court calendars · RG 2024-671909 to 1953
- Circuit Court commission record · RG 85-101897 to 1935
- Circuit Court journals · RG 85-10*1839 to 1933
- Common rule books · RG 85-101858 to 1931
- County court records · RG 85-101847 to 1851
- Criminal calendars · RG 85-101885 to 1932
- Criminal case files · RG 85-101835 to 1903
- Divorce decrees · RG 85-101891 to 1939
- Divorce proceedings · RG 2024-671943 to 1978
- Divorce record · RG 85-10circa 1898 to 1942
- Execution docket · RG 85-101840 to 1954
- Foreclosure and divorce decrees · RG 85-101872 to 1899
- Index to criminal calendars · RG 2024-67undated
- Judgment records · RG 85-101839 to 1939
- Justice of the Peace docket · RG 2024-671891 to 1941
- Law calendars · RG 85-101840 to 1930
- Law case files · RG 85-101835 to 1914
- Motion docket · RG 85-101898 to 1915
- Record of alimony paid · RG 2024-671913 to 1924
- Record of notaries public · RG 2024-671868 to 1891
- Record of sentences · RG 85-10circa 1903 to 1930
- Register of court files loaned · RG 85-101899 to 1922
- Rule to plead · RG 85-101902 to 1932
- Special motion books · RG 85-101839 to 1896
- Transcripts · RG 85-101887 to 1917
- Witness records · RG 85-101861 to 1894
Land Records
- First purchaser record (Woodbridge Township) · RG 94- 4631825 to 1836
- Rural Property Inventory · RG 72-761936 to 1942
Military Records
Naturalization Records
- Certificates of naturalization · RG 85-91907 to 1929
- Circuit Court journals · RG 85-10*1839 to 1933
- Declarations of Intention · RG 85-91846 to 1930
- Petition and record · RG 85-91904 to 1930
Probate Records
- Appraisers’ warrants and inventory · RG 69-811857 to 1921
- Calendars · RG 2019-91857 to 1986
- Case files · RG 2019-91835 to 1987
- Index · RG 2019-91850 to 2004
- Liber No.55 · RG 2019-91889 to 1895
- Orders assigning estate · RG 2019-91903 to 1931
- Petitions for administrators and probate of wills · RG 2019- 91883 to 1902
- Probate journal · RG 2019-91849 to 1884
- Probate order book · RG 2019-91868 to 1878
- Probate record · RG 2019-91845 to 1934
- Record of assignments · RG 2019-91934 to 1952
- Record of probate orders · RG 2019- 91878 to 1919 and from 1923 to 1925
- Record of wills · RG 69-811865 to 1952
School Records
- School census (Woodbridge Township) · RG 94-4631909 to 1910 and from 1922 to 1923
- Teacher’s daily register (Reading) · RG 2016-931896
Tax Records
- Assessment rolls · RG 2019-1301849 to 1911
- Assessment rolls (Woodbridge Township) · RG 94-4631842 to 1847
- Tax assessment rolls (Reading) · RG 2016-931919 to 1946
- Tax rolls · RG 2024-381900 to 1930
- City & village assessments · RG 2025-411877 to 1960
Voter Records
See the repository's descriptions and search options
Repository access note: Selected holdings described by the Archives of Michigan. Preserve the record-group (RG) reference when requesting records. Some collections are held at partner repositories; consult the guide before traveling. Asterisks and other qualifiers refer to access or location notes in that guide. Some records have privacy restrictions or require proof of death. A date span may contain gaps and does not establish that images are online.
Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.
Where to find the records
- Hillsdale County official website
Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the county clerk, the register of deeds and the probate court, and any online record search the county offers.
- The county clerk
Births, deaths and marriages registered in the county, and court records.
- The register of deeds
Deeds, mortgages and other land records.
- The probate court
Wills, estates and guardianships.
- The Archives of Michigan
In Lansing: state and county records, and Michigan death certificates from 1897 to 1952 online at Michiganology.
- Archives of Michiganfree
The state archives in Lansing, with county and state records, military records and Michigan death records.
- FamilySearch Catalogfree
Search by place for "Michigan, Hillsdale" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.
Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.
Boundaries and parent counties
Formed from: Land not yet in any county
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1829, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.
Research tip
Michigan began registering births and deaths in 1867, much earlier than most states, with county clerks keeping the registers and sending copies to the state. Ask the county clerk for the early registers.