Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Ionia County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.
Business Records
- Annual reports of manufacturers · RG 2010-201900 to 1965
- Applications for insurance · RG 68-251879 to 1890
- Articles of association · RG 66-731837 to 1923
- Articles of association, nonprofit (churches) · RG 2010-201843 to 1867
Cemetery Records
- Burial permits · RG 2013-41927 to 1937
- Burial permits (Belding) · RG 2013-51937 to 1947
- Danby Cemetery record (Danby) · RG 80-141890 to 1950
- Ionia County files · RG 83-531965 to 1981
Census Records
Church Records
- First Baptist Church of Smyrna trustees’ minutes · RG 66- 731871 to 1908
- First Presbyterian Church of Pewamo records · RG 2010-201864 to 1896
- Minutes of the Baptist Church of Otisco · RG 54-101848 to 1913
- Minutes of the Trustees of the Orleans and Belding Circuit Free Methodist Church · RG 54-101873 to 1920
Court Records
- Chancery calendar · RG 2010-201849 to 1859
- Chancery common order book · RG 2010-201891 to 1906
- Chancery decrees · RG 2010-201857 to 1862
- Chancery dockets · RG 2010-201857 to 1943
- Chancery index · RG 2010-20circa 1845 to 1880
- Chancery record · RG 79-511848 to 1894
- Chancery rule book · RG 2010-201894 to 1907
- Chancery special motion book · RG 2010-201839
- Circuit Court blotter · RG 66-731873 to 1876
- Circuit Court calendar · RG 2010-201845 to 1877
- Circuit Court case files (unorganized) · RG 2010-201879 to 1948
- Circuit Court commissioner’s docket · RG 2010-201923 to 1944
- Circuit Court docket · RG 2010-201837 to 1845
- Circuit Court grand jury record · RG 77-1021926
- Circuit Court journals · RG 2010-201846 to 1945
- Civil transcript docket · RG 2010-201878 to 1964
- Common rule book · RG 2010-201857 to 1866
- Common rule book of Circuit Court · RG 66-731839 to 1886
- County Court calendar · RG 2010-201847 to 1882
- County Court register of actions · RG 2010-201847 to 1858
- Criminal and civil orders · RG 2010-201916 to 1941
- Criminal calendars · RG 2010-201874 to 1946
- Criminal case files · RG 2010-201879 to 1948
- Criminal docket · RG 2010-201827 to 1897
- Criminal docket (Ionia) · RG 2013-1081888 to 1893
- Divorce decrees · RG 2010-201897 to 1932
- Divorce index · RG 2010-201916 to 1990
- Justice docket (North Plains Township) · RG 2013-1081860 to 1873
- Justice of the Peace register · RG 2008-211909 to 1964
- Law calendars · RG 2010-201874 to 1942
- Law case files · RG 2010-201858 to 1860
- Prosecuting attorney docket · RG 2013-1081891 to 1892
- Selected civil case files · RG 2021-121988 to 1989
- Selected criminal case files · RG 2021-121961 to 1989
- Supreme Court cases, appeals (published cases) · RG 2010-201883
- Transcripts of civil judgments · RG 2010-201841 to 1879
Land Records
- Abstracts of title · RG 80-691833 to 1939
- Deed indexes · RG 80-691835 to 1950
- Discharge of mortgage indexes · RG 80-691893 to 1937
- Mortgage index · RG 80-691835 to 1913
- Mortgage records · RG 80-691842 to 1923
- Mortgage tax affidavits · RG 80-691911 to 1918
- Mortgages of goods and chattels · RG 80-691869 to 1953
- Pending lawsuit indexes · RG 80-691857 to 1875
- Power of attorney · RG 80-691843 to 1878
- Record of tax abstracts · RG 80-691838 to 1876
- Record of township board (Danby Township) · RG 57-151858 to 1916
- Registers of abstracts · RG 80-691907 to 1942
- Registers of levies · RG 80-691860 to 1954
- Sheriff’s deeds of mortgage sale indexes · RG 80-691850 to 1915
- Unpaid mortgages book (non-residents) · RG 80-691879 to 1891
- Unpaid mortgages book (residents) · RG 80-691879 to 1891
Military Records
- Agents for burials of soldiers list · RG 66-731906 to 1914
- American Legion publication · RG 78-661942
- Burial of indigent soldiers report · RG 66-731886 to 1930
- Civil War discharge record · RG 2010-201871
- Emergency farm labor and POW camp records · RG 66-731944 to 1945
- Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) descriptive book (Post 211) · RG 2010-201883 to 1930
- Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) post records · RG 63-191876 to 1945
- Record of soldiers’ graves, East Plains Catholic Cemetery · RG 2010- 201910
- Record of soldiers and sailors in the Great War · RG 66-73circa 1930
- Register of veterans, World War II · RG 2010-201939 to 1945
- Selective service lists · RG 78-661917 to 1918
- Soldiers’ Relief Board minutes · RG 66-731899
- Veterans’ record of burial · RG 2010-201929 to 1950
- Veterans transfer card register · RG 2008-211944 to 1946
Naturalization Records
- Certificate stubs · RG 85-321907 to 1959
- Court orders · RG 85-321941 to 1959
- Declarations, oaths, and petitions · RG 85-321835 to 1920
- Declarations of intention · RG 85-321869 to 1953
- Petition and record · RG 85-321895 to 1959
Occupational Records
- Agricultural questionnaire · RG 66-731945
- Dentist registers · RG 2008-211907 to 1973
- Justice of the peace registers · RG 66-731892 to 1915
- Notary public lists · RG 66-731857 to 1913
- Optometrist registers · RG 2008-211910 to 1981
- Osteopath, drugless healer, and chiropractor registers · RG 2008-211902 to 1968
- Physician registers · RG 2008-211900 to 1971
- Statements of medical practitioners · RG 66-731883 to 1899
- Veterinary surgeon registers · RG 2008-211900 to 1906
Organization Records
Political Records
- Oaths of office · RG 2010-201928 to 1978
Poor Home / Relief Records
- Admission forms to county poor home · RG 83-261906 to 1967
- Cash receipts journal · RG 76-1331920 to 1948
- Children’s aid record · RG 66-731883 to 1905
- Inmate record · RG 76-1331876 to 1943
- Minutes of the Superintendent of the Poor · RG 66-731919 to 1930
Prison Records
- Jail record · RG 2013-1081897 to 1908
Probate Records
- Appraisers’ warrants and inventories · RG 78-671858 to 1918
- Assignment of dower petitions · RG 78-671864 to 1906
- Calendars · RG 2021-231947 to 1966
- Case files · RG 78-671837 to 1869
- Correspondence · RG 78-671911 to 1936
- Final account orders · RG 78-671871 to 1908
- Index · RG 78-671851 to 1871
- Index to deceased estates · RG 2021-231859 to 1949
- Index to executors, administrators, and guardians · RG 78- 671839 to 1937
- Journals · RG 78-671837 to 1895
- Licenses to mortgage real estate · RG 78-671877 to 1924
- Licenses to sell real estate at private sale · RG 78-671896 to 1969
- Licenses to sell real estate at public sale · RG 78-671858 to 1916
- Orders admitting dependent and neglected children to state public school · RG 78-671885 to 1904
- Orders determining heirs · RG 78-671917 to 1954
- Partition petitions · RG 78-671867 to 1905
- Petitions to probate estates · RG 78-671857 to 1865
- Record of wills · RG 78-671866 to 1917
- Register of veterans, World War II · RG 2010-201939 to 1945
- Taxable inheritance abstracts · RG 78-671899 to 1966
- Widows’ pension orders · RG 78-671887 to 1903
Recreation Records
- Gun permits and license numbers · RG 2010-201932 to 2006
- Hunting license record · RG 66-731899 to 1904
- Motor vehicle register · RG 66-731910
- Record of estrays · RG 2010-201900 to 1911
School Records
- Attendance & scholarship (Portland and Orange Townships) · RG 2014-42*1905 to 1956
- Attendance record (Danby Township) · RG 73-64*1866 to 1918
- Directories of school districts, officers, and teachers · RG 71-1531923 to 1962
- Examination register · RG 54-10*1881 to 1914
- Minutes of annual school meeting (Orange and Sebewa Townships) · RG 63-41870 to 1912
- Register of Free Methodist Sunday School of Orleans · RG 54-101898 to 1912
- Reports of school inspectors · RG 54-101882 to 1886
- School census · RG 2015-149*1905 to 1925
- School examiner reports · RG 66-731905 to 1936
- Teacher classification record (Danby Township) · RG 73-641893 to 1905
- Teachers’ contracts (Danby Township) · RG 73-641881 to 1892
- Teacher directories · RG 63-41911 to 1921
- Teacher reports · RG 54-101894 to 1895
- Teachers’ institute fee reports · RG 66-731917 to 1919
Tax Records
- Assessment rolls · RG 68-251840 to 1900
- Tax title accounts · RG 2010-201899 to 1979
Vital Records
- Birth record index · RG 79-511874 to 1891
- Death record index · RG 79-511885 to 1925
- Marriage affidavits · RG 2013-1081893 to 1910
- Record of marriages (fragment) · RG 2010-201875 to 1885
- Register of deaths (Belding) · RG 2013-51894 to 1921
- Return of births (Belding) · RG 2013-51894
Voter Records
- Register of electors (Danby Township) · RG 57-151859 to 1879
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
- Find Ionia County's official website
We haven't checked this county's website yet, so this opens a web search. Look for an address ending in .gov, then find the county clerk, the register of deeds and the probate court.
- 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, Ionia" 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: Michilimackinac County (now Mackinac)
Check the parent county for earlier records: Mackinac County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1831, 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.