Listed record inventories
Selected holdings and indexes for Van Buren 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
Cemetery Records
- Van Buren County files · RG 83-531967 to 1976
Census Records
- Federal census · RG 2008-241850, from 1870, and from 1880
- State census · RG 80-1001845
Church Records
- Church record (Boards of Trustees) · RG 2008-241843 to 1979
Court Records
- Chancery case files · RG 68-28*1848 to 1880
- Chancery common orders · RG 59-12*1848 to 1870
- Circuit Court case files · RG 67-53*1871 to 1929
- Civil docket · RG 59-12*1847 to 1848 and from 1855 to 1870
- Civil docket of Circuit Court Commissioner · RG 59-12*1889 to 1915
- Criminal docket (Hartford) · RG 69-40*1938 to 1941
- Justice dockets (Pine Grove Township) · RG 71-83*1871 to 1949
- Proceedings in dower · RG 68-28*1847 to 1878
- Record of guardianship · RG 68-28*1845 to 1867
Land Records
- Chattel mortgages (Antwerp Township) · RG 2021-341841 to 1875
- Chattel mortgages (Pine Grove Township) · RG 71-83*1853 to 1893
- Chattel mortgages (Porter Township) · RG 2021-341902 to 1931
- List of non-resident lands returned to the township for taxes unpaid · RG 68-28*1837 to 1840
- Record of mortgages · RG 69-441879 to 1916
- Record of sale of real estate · RG 69-441845 to 1903
- Rural Property Inventory · RG 72-761936 to 1942
- Statement of lands upon which taxes were unpaid · RG 69-12*1838
- Treasurer’s record of tax sales for · RG 59-12*1837, from 1837
Military Records
Naturalization Records
- Applications to take oath of allegiance · RG 2005-241962
- Certificate stubs · RG 2005-241908 to 1926
- Declarations of Intention · RG 2005-241904 to 1963
- Declaration of Intention & Oath of allegiance · RG 2005-241887 to 1903
- Naturalization journal · RG 2005-241904 to 1906
- Notice of application for admission to citizenship · RG 2005-241922 to 1926
- Petition and record · RG 2005-241907 to 1967
- Petitions granted and denied · RG 2005-241930 to 1967
- Repatriations · RG 2005-241941 to 1963
Occupational Records
- Dentists · RG 2008-241907 to 1979
- Hearing aid license · RG 2008-241968 to 1976
- Medical registration · RG 2008-241900 to 1979
- Nurses registered · RG 2008-241911 to 1965
- Optometrists · RG 2008-241919 to 1958
- Veterinary surgeons · RG 2008-241900 to 1973
Organization Records
Political Records
- Oaths and bonds (Waverly Township) · RG 69-41*1842 to 1892 and from 1917 to 1959
- Record of official oath of townships officers (Porter Township) · RG 2021-341845 to 1891
Poor Home / Relief Records
- Minutes of Superintendent of the Poor · RG 68-28*1912 to 1939
- Register of inmates of infirmary · RG 89-5171929 to 1953
- Register of inmates of poorhouse · RG 89-5171885 to 1933
Probate Records
- Annual and final account · RG 69-44*1877 to 1905
- Bonds and letters of administrators · RG 69-441856 to 1868 and from 1895 to 1920
- Bonds and letters of guardianship · RG 69-441866 to 1909
- Case files · RG 2022-101839 to 1960
- Estate index · RG 2022-81925 to 1972
- General index · RG 2022-81848 to 1948
- Guardians’ account · RG 69-44*1905 to 1911
- Index to files · RG 69-44not dated
- Index to probate court cases · RG 68-28*not dated
- Journal of probate court · RG 68-28*1846 to 1847
- Orders allowing hearings on claims · RG 69-44*1866 to 1904
- Orders appointing administrators · RG 69-44*1864 to 1921
- Orders appointing administrators and Guardians · RG 69- 44*1865 to 1875
- Orders appointing administrators and guardians for deceased persons who died intestate · RG 69-441875 to 1901
- Orders appointing appraisers and commissioners · RG 69- 44*1890 to 1913
- Orders calling for accounting of guardians of funds · RG 69- 44*1879 to 1896
- Orders for hearing final account · RG 69-44*1890 to 1909
- Orders, miscellaneous · RG 69-44*1879 to 1912
- Petition for assignment of dower · RG 69-441896 to 1906
- Probate calendars · RG 2018-261858 to 1960
- Probate case files · RG 68-281848 to 1912
- Probate journal · RG 69-441848 to 1915
- Proceedings for assignment of dower · RG 69-441864 to 1902
- Proceedings of probate court relating to clearance of estates of individuals deceased intestate · RG 69-12*1837 to 1845
- Record of executors’ accounts · RG 68-2*1845 to 1858
- Record of letters testamentary · RG 68-28*1845 to 1854
- Record of petition to probate & discharge · RG 69-441871 to 1889
- Record of wills · RG 69-441865 to 1904
- Tickler of bonds and accounts · RG 69-44*1900 to 1924
- Warrant and report of commissioners on claims · RG 69- 44*1877 to 1885
- Wills (assorted) · RG 2018-1381855 to 1918
Tax Records
- Assessment rolls · RG 69-121838 to 1840
- Assessment rolls (Antwerp Township) · RG 2021-341869 to 1881
- Assessment rolls (Arlington Township) · RG 2021-341961
- Assessment rolls (Hamilton Township) · RG 2024-1211871 to 1935
- Assessment rolls (Hartford) · RG 69-40*1890 to 1933
- Assessment rolls (Hartford Township) · RG 72-41*1855 to 1899
- Assessment rolls (Lawton) · RG 2023-631918
- Assessment rolls (Waverly Township) · RG 69-41*1907
- Record of school tax · RG 59-12*1843 to 1844
Vital Records
- Examples of marriage certificates · RG 68-28* +1845 to 1900
- Record of marriage (Hartford) · RG 69-40*1906 to 1938
- Register of births (Hartford) · RG 69-40* #1906 to 1965
- Register of births (Waverly Township) · RG 69-41* #1906 to 1943
- Register of deaths (Hartford) · RG 69-40* #1944 to 1966
- Register of deaths (Waverly Township) · RG 69-41* + This collection is a small sampling only # Birth records are closed for 100 years1901 to 1952
Voter Records
- Election register (Porter Township) · RG 2021-341882 to 1920
- Register of electors (Antwerp Township) · RG 2021-341859 to 1918
- Register of electors (Hartford) · RG 69-40*1878 to 1946
- Register of electors (Pine Grove Township) · RG 71-83*1859 to 1946
- Statements in · RG 68-28*county canvassers, from 1837 to 1898
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
- Van Buren 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, Van Buren" 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.