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Several stops can lead to the same repository. Maps show selected verified locations, not every guide stop or every community represented in the records. Use each stop’s access instructions, including for online and out-of-county collections. Check access before traveling.
Outside county; remote/reference route, do not place a local marker.
Repository informationArchives closed for construction; no visit marker.
Repository informationConfirm local-history assistance before visit.
Repository informationLibrary genealogy collection and temporary society help location. Stop 8 is not the closed museum archives; confirm Wednesday help availability.
Repository information 1 · Repository information 2County outlines: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 cartographic boundaries . Selected major roads: 2024 TIGER/Line primary and secondary roads . Public repository addresses checked against the sources above, with approximate Census geocoder positions. Rentschler Farm uses the linked published landmark coordinate; the Port Huron library position uses OpenStreetMap, linked in its key. Historical boundaries, township lines and current traffic conditions are not shown. Prepared November 1, 2026.
Raisinville school census, 1872–1895, and school-inspector minutes, 1889–1910: RG 69-48. La Salle districts 2 and 5 census, 1909, and district 2 registers, 1905–1906 and 1911–1919: RG 70-31.
Selected districts and cataloged spans, not complete county coverage. School censuses and attendance registers serve different purposes.
Rural Property Inventories: Bedford, Monroe and Summerfield, 1936–1939 (RG 84-27); Dundee, 1936–1942 (RG 72-76). Raisinville voter registration, 1859–1918 (RG 69-48); La Salle poll books, 1898–1941 (RG 70-31).
Not every parcel or eligible voter necessarily appears. A series span does not certify an unbroken run.
The county’s Collections Division links free digitized Monroe County newspapers through Central Michigan University and the Genealogical Society of Monroe County. These offer a route to community events, school notices and obituaries.
Do not treat the museum’s normal public hours as archives availability. A newspaper search with no result may reflect missing issues or OCR rather than an absent event.
Named indexes include Farnham Funeral Home, 1921–2006; Karcher/Cioroch, 1969–1981; Reeb records concerning Bedford residents, 1983–1997; LeClair monument orders, 1982–1993; and Lambertville cemetery-lot transfers, March 1880–June 1901.
Index entries are pointers, not full records. A lot purchaser is not necessarily the person buried there, and a monument order date is not a death date.
Whiteford chattel mortgages, 1848–1880, are indexed from a handwritten ledger. Lambertville Methodist sources include baptisms, 1876–1947, and Epworth League minutes, 1919–1927. The school yearbook collection begins in 1936.
Chattel mortgages concern personal property. Ledger pagination uses repeating letters. School coverage is selective; verify the exact school and year.
The downloadable index is headed May 1, 1812 to February 24, 1842 and identifies names, account-book pages and sometimes date intervals. The book spans merchant, banking, postage, tavern and legal activity. Introductory family entries include events after the account-book date span.
A name in a business index is a lead, not sufficient identification of your ancestor or proof of continuous residence. The library overview does not promise that original account pages are available remotely.
The library indexes oral histories conducted in 1956–1962 by surname and topic. School, farm and house, business, church, transportation and government categories give page references to the compilation.
1956–1962 describes interview dates, not all events recalled. The online topic index is not the complete testimony; verify remembered names and dates against contemporary sources.
The Betty Gay collection contains family research, correspondence and charts in more than 35 binders. Society holdings include Monroe Evening News birth and marriage extracts for January 1926–December 1950. Its Missing Deeds page supplies four 1874 deed pages, Libers 82 and 84, recovered from microfilm after pages were removed from the bound books.
The closure notice supersedes older open-hours text still shown on society pages. Family compilations require source checking; the recovered deeds are a small selection, not a complete land index.
Give the repository the locality, year, collection and specific question. Ask about the relevant volume or folder, gaps, access restrictions and copying costs. Save the citation and record what you searched, including searches with no result.
Use these dated holdings to choose a next search. This is a selection of cataloged collections, not a complete inventory of Monroe County records.
A range is a lead, not a guarantee. Bars show the dates stated by the cited catalog or inventory. They do not establish uninterrupted coverage, complete reporting or online image access. Unmarked years mean not represented in this selection, not that records were destroyed. Indexes and abstracts still need to be followed to the underlying record.
Listed years: 1872–1895.
Request the township, district, year and RG number. Email archives@michigan.gov one to two weeks before a Lansing visit to arrange retrieval; some collections are offsite.
Keep in mind: Selected districts and cataloged spans, not complete county coverage. School censuses and attendance registers serve different purposes.
Listed years: 1909.
Request the township, district, year and RG number. Email archives@michigan.gov one to two weeks before a Lansing visit to arrange retrieval; some collections are offsite.
Keep in mind: Selected districts and cataloged spans, not complete county coverage. School censuses and attendance registers serve different purposes.
Listed years: 1905–1906, 1911–1919.
Request the township, district, year and RG number. Email archives@michigan.gov one to two weeks before a Lansing visit to arrange retrieval; some collections are offsite.
Keep in mind: Selected districts and cataloged spans, not complete county coverage. School censuses and attendance registers serve different purposes.
Listed years: 1859–1918.
Supply the historic township and legal land description, or voter and year. Ask for series arrangement and retrieval before visiting Lansing.
Keep in mind: Not every parcel or eligible voter necessarily appears. A series span does not certify an unbroken run.
Listed years: 1921–2006.
Search the relevant linked index, retain its reference, then request a scan through Ask A Librarian or 734-847-6747. Bedford Branch is at 8575 Jackman Road, Temperance.
Keep in mind: Index entries are pointers, not full records. A lot purchaser is not necessarily the person buried there, and a monument order date is not a death date.
Listed years: 1848–1880.
Follow the named index on the collection page and ask staff for the underlying ledger or yearbook. Record the church, volume and reference.
Keep in mind: Chattel mortgages concern personal property. Ledger pagination uses repeating letters. School coverage is selective; verify the exact school and year.
Listed years: 1876–1947.
Follow the named index on the collection page and ask staff for the underlying ledger or yearbook. Record the church, volume and reference.
Keep in mind: Chattel mortgages concern personal property. Ledger pagination uses repeating letters. School coverage is selective; verify the exact school and year.
Listed years: 1812–1842.
Search spelling variants in the PDF and retain each page and date reference. Ask Ellis staff whether the underlying account entry can be consulted or copied. The genealogy collection is upstairs at 3700 South Custer Road, Monroe; call 734-241-5277 or use Ask A Librarian.
Keep in mind: A name in a business index is a lead, not sufficient identification of your ancestor or proof of continuous residence. The library overview does not promise that original account pages are available remotely.
Listed years: 1926–1950.
Museum archives closed; the society anticipates reopening sometime in 2028. Contact gsmcmi@gsmcmi.org about access to these extracts. Wednesday 10 a.m. help at Ellis Library does not guarantee the closed archives material is available there.
Keep in mind: The closure notice supersedes older open-hours text still shown on society pages. Family compilations require source checking; the recovered deeds are a small selection, not a complete land index.
Confirm the historical jurisdiction as well as the date. A record may be held outside today’s county, and an inventory’s ending year does not mean recordkeeping stopped.
Check historical jurisdiction → · Find collections for my years →
Suggest a correction, an overlooked collection or an updated access detail. An official link or source helps us check it before making a change. Please leave out private family documents and sensitive personal information.
Suggest a correction or collectionWatch the Short. Open the protocol. Follow the evidence.