Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Shiawassee 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
- Shiawassee County files · RG 83-531867 to 1976
Census Records
Court Records
- Justice Court complaints (Owosso) · RG 67-1041911 and from 1915
- Oath and bond book, jurors (Perry Township) · RG 75-171881 to 1939
Land Records
- Chattel mortgages (Owosso) · RG 67-1041883 to 1881
- Rural Property Inventory · RG 72-761936 to 1942
Military Records
Poor Home / Relief Records
- Classification cost ledger · RG 62-431939 to 1947
- Ledger of temporary relief · RG 62-431878 to 1932
- Record of legal residence within county · RG 62-431933 to 1939
Probate Records
- Case files · RG 2019-971838 to 1911
- Index cards · RG 2021-151957 to 1991
- Index to probate calendars · RG 2021-151860 to 1957
- Probate calendars · RG 2021-151838 to 1957
- Probate journal · RG 2021-151865 to 1869
- Probate record · RG 2021-151838 to 1845
- Widow’s pension · RG 2021-151913 to 1937
School Records
- Attendance and scholarship records, District #1, 5, 6, 8 (Sciota Township) · RG 97-2591894 to 1910 and from 1924 to 1962
- District #2 meeting minutes (Sciota Township) · RG 86-1241850 to 1871
Tax Records
- Affidavit of soldiers' and sailors' homestead tax exemption (Owosso) · RG 67-1041920 and from 1934 to 1937
- Assessment roll (Perry Township) · RG 75-171902
- Assessment roll for paving and sprinkling of streets (Owosso) · RG 67-1041897 to 1899
- Statement of lands returned · RG 60-201848 to 1858
- Statement of lands sold for unpaid taxes · RG 60-201843 to 1870
Voter Records
- Election Commission files · RG 2021-151894 to 1925
- Records of party enrollment (Owosso) · RG 67-1041906 to 1912
- Registers of electors (Perry Township) · RG 75-171892 to 1946
- Voter registrations (Owosso) · RG 67-1041859 to 1930
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 Shiawassee 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, Shiawassee" 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: Oakland County
Check the parent county for earlier records: Oakland County
Later formed partly from Shiawassee County: Genesee County, Ingham County, Livingston 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.