Oakland County, Michigan Vital Records, 1800-1917

One of the oldest counties in Michigan, Oakland County is located just north of Detroit near the border with Ontario. This database is a collection of vital records for county residents between 1800 and 1917. Taken from Our Pioneers: Families of Early Oakland County, Michigan it provides information regarding over 215,500 persons. It reveals the resident's name, birth date, names of parents, children, and spouse, location of marriage, marriage date, occupation, and death date. For those persons seeking ancestors from southeastern Michigan, this index can be a source of valuable information.

Note: Oakland County, Michigan contains a township called Oakland. It is noted in the database as Oakland, MI, while the county itself is written as Oakland co., MI.

The forward to the original text does not say how the information was collected, although it seems to have been submitted by members of various families.

One sample entry is:

Allen, John, Farmer, Milford Township. Mr. Allen was born in England in 1844, and in 1858 settled in Oakland county, Michigan. After serving in the recent war, he married Celestia J. Orton, of Ortonville who was born to John and Barbara (Samuels) Orton in New York. They are the parents of five children: John L. Jr., Elizabeth, Sarah Jane, Anna, and Lewis W. He lives on Thread River Stock Farm, established in 1859 by his father, Robert W. Allen with his mother Amelia (Hardy), born in Connecticut 1821 and his sister Anne. His father passed away in 1878. Mr. Allen has served six years as school assessor and has held other local offices.

There are about five thousand such entries included in the book, from which the vital statistics of about 40,000 people are abstracted. Some entries are a page long and very involved. Others are little more than an advertisement for a business. In some cases, two members of the same family supplied information about a common ancestor or relative; information which did not necessarily match. All researchers are cautioned to consult with primary documentation when confronted with conflicting information.