Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Sanilac 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
- Articles of association · RG 2015-11851 to 1928
- Church bylaws · RG 2015-11898 to 1909
- Record of religious corporations · RG 2015-11851 to 1892
Cemetery Records
- Sanilac County files · RG 83-531967 to 1976
Census Records
- Federal census · RG 81-431850
- Federal census, abstract · RG 95-1361880
- State census · RG 94-631864, from 1884, and from 1894
Court Records
- Criminal docket book · RG 2015-11928 to 1943
- Docket of appeals to Supreme Court · RG 2015-11926 to 1939
- Justice Court case files · RG 2014-81892 to 1960
- Justice docket · RG 2015-11849 to 1853
Land Records
- List of state tax lands sold · RG 67-941891 to 1892
- Rural Property Inventory · RG 72-761936 to 1942
- Rural Property Inventory (Worth Township) · RG 95-1361935 to 1942
- Statement of lands sold for unpaid taxes · RG 67-941850 to 1880
- Statement of lands which unpaid taxes · RG 71-1491858 to 1863 and from 1872
Military Records
Naturalization Records
- Certificate stubs · RG 94-2671900 to 1926 and from 1936 to 1960
- Declarations of Intention · RG 94-2671850 to 1964
- General index · RG 94-2671850 to 1964
- Journals · RG 94-2671889 to 1906
- Petitions · RG 94-2671907 to 1965
- Petitions granted · RG 94-2671929 to 1965
Occupational Records
- Medical registrations · RG 2015-11951 to 1974
- Physician registrations · RG 2015-11900 to 1911
- Record of dentists & medical practitioners · RG 2015-11900 to 1969
- Register of optometry · RG 2015-11910 to 1913
Probate Records
- Abstract of taxable inheritance · RG 68-291918 to 1927
- Calendars · RG 2019-431851 to 1970
- Case files · RG 2019-43circa 1851 to 1970
- Court register · RG 2019-431857 to 1879
- Estate files · RG 2023-301914 to 1972
- Index · RG 2019-431851 to 2008
- Journal · RG 2019-431875 to 1896
- Probate record · RG 2019-431850 to 1966
Tax Records
- Annual road assessment roll · RG 67-941918 to 1920
- Assessment rolls · RG 71-1491850 to 1876
- Assessment rolls · RG 67-941867 to 1875
- Record of mortgage tax collected · RG 68-291921 to 1939
- Tax rolls · RG 2003-391870 to 1920 and from 1925 to 1975
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
- Sanilac 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, Sanilac" 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: St. Clair County
Check the parent county for earlier records: St. Clair County
Later formed partly from Sanilac County: Huron County, Tuscola County
Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1822, 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.