Closed Adoption Agencies

DHS has a list of closed adoption agencies that indicates where records might be found: http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,4562,7-124-60126_7116_7125-15585–,00.html. Most of them were not state run.

Pre-Civil War Military Rosters

Pre-Civil War military rosters can be found in Michigan’s Early Military Forces (on shelves behind the reference desk).

Howell Sanatorium Records

Patient index cards from 1927-1961 are in RG 80-133 and in a database (Howell.mdb) found here: U:\MHC_Public\Archives\Databases\Mental Health.

Records themselves (1907-1961) are in RG 91-466 and arranged by case number.

Researchers must be able to provide a death record to access the records.

Michigan College/University Yearbooks

The Library of Michigan has a fairly large collection of U of M and MSU yearbooks. Collection is more sporadic for other Michigan schools.

Genealogy 101: Census Records

• All available federal population schedules (1790-1940) are on Ancestry.
• Each year has different questions, so always advise people to check as many years as they can.
• You usually get better results by giving less info.
• 1900-1930 schedules give immigration/naturalization info (year of immigration, Pa=papers filed, Al=Alien, Na=Naturalized)
• Starting in 1850, all members of a household are listed by name. Prior to that, only the head of household was listed.
• Records got considerably more detailed after 1900.
• 1890 federal census was destroyed in a fire. State censuses can sometimes fill gaps.
• 1884 MI census asks number of years living in the state. 1894 MI census asks number of years living in the US.

GED Records

GED records are kept for 60 years at LARA’s Office of Lifelong Learning. Transcript request forms can be found here: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdcd/Transcript_Request_2012_WDA_401520_7.pdf.

Photos of MHM Field Sites from Museum Collections

Per Julie, the following collections related to field sites came to the Archives from the Museum:

2005-46 Fayette Town site:  Elliot Collection 20/18/6-7

2005-47 Jackson Iron Company 20/18/7

2005-50 on Fort Wilkins State Park 20/5/3

2005-51 on Iron Industry Museum 20/5/3

2005-54 on Fayette Town site 20//5/4

2005-55 on Copper Harbor Mich.

Corporation Annual Reports, 1991-2001

Boxes of microfilm are at the Deere Building and in Versatile. Use the following steps to find a box number.

1. Check the indexes that can be found on the Foundation Server under Foundation Base–>Users–>Shared–>Corporations Indexes. This will give you a reel and frame number.
2. Use the Versatile report (in the same Foundation server folder) to get a box number to request from the Deere Building.

Physicians and surgeons registrations

Licensed Professions Guide No. 21 (http://seekingmichigan.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/21-Licensed-Professions-logo.pdf)

Also, LM has a “Official List of Physicians and Surgeons Who Have Received Certificates of Registration Under Public Act 237, Laws of 1899, Michigan.” Published in 1901, it is in MichDocs Official, call number R 712 .A2 M5 1901.

1960s-1970s Orphanages in the Detroit Area

From an e-mail from Patricia Ibbotson dated 11/5/2012:

By 1960 – 1976 orphanages were being phased out. Two that were probably still in business were the St. Francis Home for Boys, a Catholic organization, located at 17500 W. Eight Mile in Southfield and the St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Home, another Catholic organization run by the Daughters of Charity, in Farmington Hills.

You can find photos of both in my Arcadia book Detroit’s Hospitals, Healers and Helpers.

A good source of information would be Catholic Social Services. They would know of any other Catholic orphanages in existence in that time period.

I don’t know of any Protestant or non-denominational orphanages that were open at that time.