Geneology

Our genealogy materials can be freely accessed, but unlike public libraries, those works do not circulate outside the department.

Our obituary collection has grown to 10,000 names.

A microfilm machine is available as well as a microfilm reader/copier.

We are continually expanding our collection to include research materials which we feel are of prime interest to our genealogy patrons.

The following is only a small portion of our holdings:

CENSUS INDICES-

· Michigan 1710-1830 Under the French, British and American

·· 1860 and 1880 Kent County, Michigan

·· 1870 Michigan

·· 1884 and 1894 State Census for Kent County

·· State Census of Michigan, June 1, 1894,

·· United States Soldiers of the Civil War, Vol.3

·· Canada West (Ontario) 1848 and 1850 Census With an Every Name Index.

·CENSUS ON MICROFILM-

· 1790 United States, 1840 Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Service

·· 1810, 1830, 1850, 1870 Fleming and selected counties of Kentucky

·· 1820 Clermont and selected counties of Ohio

·· 1830 Erie and Essex counties of New York

·· 1840 Dutchess County New York

·· 1850-1920 Kent County Michigan, excluding 1890

· This is supplemented by the 1890 Michigan Special Schedules of Federal Census Enumerating Union Veteran and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Many other Michigan counties are also available covering various periods of time

A wide array of genealogical information can be gleaned from these historical books we have, such as:

· A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May 1692 on the Basis of Farmer’s Register

·· Doomsday Book, England’s Heritage, Then & Now

· The Pilgrim Fathers and The Mayflower Ship, 1620, (printed in Plymouth, England)

· The Original Lists of Persons of Quality 1600-1700- Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold For a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others Who Went From Great Britain to the American Plantations 1600-1700

·· Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia, Augusta County Court Records 1745-1770.

·One of our ongoing projects is the Surname File which at this time has well over 183 names listed on family files. Also available is Volume I of the Michigan Surname Index. Our store of genealogies include:

· The Bicknells, 1635-1880 and the Family Re-Union at Weymouth, Massachusetts, Addresses, Poems and Speeches

·· Genealogies of the Bray-Swart & Allied Families

·· Sophie de Marsac Campau, A Sketch of Her Life and Character

·· Cook Family Records

·· The Cox Family in America

·· Project Overflight, (Cox family)

·· Davis Family History

·· The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal Being a Complete Table of All the Descendants Now Living of Edward II, King of England

·· Emmorey Family Tree

·· The Youth of Paul V. Emmorey

·· Louisa Gordon Family Letters 1844-1875

·· Hawley/Haley Genealogy

·· Haynes Family History

·· Heiss Genealogy

· The Hotchkiss Family, First Six Generations

·· The Long Road Back, An Account of a Martin Family and Some Allied Lines

· Early Pioneer Families in the Cedar Springs Area

·· The Pioneer Pemberton’s Journey Into the Wilderness

·· Robinson Family

·· Legends and Tales of Rix Robinson

·· The van den Berghs In America

·· Walls Family History

·· The Story of Mary Washington

·· The History of the Cyrus P. Watson Family

·· The Hieronimus Weller Family in America, A Genealogy of the Family of Johann Hieronimus Weller and Anna Juliana Kunz/Cuntz

·· Descendants of Peter Winter 1748-1814, Waldecker Mercenary and Blacksmith.

·We maintain a good selection of Michigan and Kent County histories, as well as many of this states township histories. Naming only a few, we have:

· Our Michigan Pioneer Collection is almost complete, with 37 of the 42 volumes as well as indexes for volumes 1 thru 30

·· Memorial of the Grand River Valley

·· Early Michigan Settlements

·· Peoples of Three Fires, The Ottawa, Pottawatomie and Ojibway of Michigan

·· History of Ionia and Montcalm Counties Michigan 1881

·· Historical Compendium of Ottawa County Michigan

·· 100 Years in Leelanau , A History of Leelanau County

· History of Kent County Michigan, Illustrated 1881

·· History of Grand Rapids and Kent County

·· Cedar Springs Story

·· Pioneer Parade, A History of Ensley Township, Newaygo County

·· Solon Township, Out of the Wilderness

·· The Sand Lake Story, plus books covering many other parts of the United States.

Military records include: Service Records of Area (Cedar Springs) Men and Women who Served in the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy. Collecting these records has been an ongoing project and they are now contained in 5 large notebooks. Another notebook is filled with news clippings on those from the area who were serving or had served during WWI, WW II, Viet Nam and the Korean conflict.

Other excellent military research material we have are: Index to Michigan Soldier’s Obituaries, Civil, Spanish and World War I; Soldiers of the Great War Memorial Edition, 3 vols.; DAR Patriot Index to the Spouses of the DAR Patriots; History of Company K During the Spanish American War With Cuba in 1898; United States and Canadian Loyalists; Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Alphabetical Index; The History of Newaygo County Michigan Civil War Veterans and Twenty-four Hundred Tennessee Pensioners, Revolution, War of 1812, and much more!

We carry a wide array of newsletters and periodicals, running the gamut from several of Kent County’s Historical Societies to those covering many other parts of the United States.

We received a copy of “Michigan Log Marks” an Illustrated Booklet Depicting the Nature and Magnitude of One Phase of Michigan’s Gigantic Lumbering industry, Functions of log marks and Methods of Use Together.” This booklet was written in 1942 and has many log marks in it.

Michigan’s early history and development, as well as that of neighboring states, was influenced materially by the industry that utilized the timber resources of the state. The log marks are indexed for easy research.