Arenac County Death Records
Beginning 5 April 1867, the State of Michigan required cities and townships to take an annual assessment of deaths but many early deaths prior to 1920 were unrecorded or not filed with the proper authorities. Some may exist only in church and undertaker records. Arenac County was formed from Bay County in 1883, so early deaths, obituaries or cemetery records may be found in Bay County entities.
After 1900, death certificates may list the place of burial. Unfortunately, many times only a city of burial is listed and that may or may not be sufficient to determine the cemetery. Church records may or may not also be useful in determining the place of burial. Records for the cemeteries that are maintained by the townships can be frustratingly incomplete. As a consequence, if no headstone is present in the cemetery, it may be impossible to confirm a burial location.
Michigan law states that death records be open to the public, and death records more than 100 years old are deemed to be public records. Certificates are initially filed in the county where the death occurred, which may differ from where the deceased resided. MI Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics holds death certificates from 1867 to the present, Arenac County from 1883. For online purchase, the site will send you to VitalChek. Ordering from the county office may be less expensive.
Obituaries on MIGenWeb/Arenac
The Arenac County contributor submissions obituaries index is organized by the name of the deceased. Dates of birth and death are stated if available or discernable. “Source” column links display the person’s obituary, death notice or funeral notice. Some are derivative transcriptions. If the same person is listed twice it’s because there is more than one death record available for them. Follow the “source” link to see the image or document. Here is a PDF of the table, without the links.
Death related non-obit articles may appear in the Arenac Co newspapers section of this site. From unspecified years before 1890 to the present day, most Arenac County resident obituaries are likely to have been published in the Arenac County Independent (ACI). ACI newspapers prior to 1971 have not been microfilmed. Publisher’s copies of early papers may not be available for public viewing without an appointment.
“The Lost Onconto” article from The Brooklyn [NY] Union, 12 December 1855, mentions one man–Chareles Brown, a ship cook–was buried on the island.
Funeral cards on MIGenWeb/Arenac
Our Arenac County funeral cards table lists name, date of death and who contributed the funeral card. Clicking on the deceased’s name will open an image of the funeral card. The funeral cards table is expandable from 10 to 100 entries, searchable and sortable. Follow the “card image” link for a photo of the funeral card.
Tombstone transcriptions on MIGenWeb/Arenac
The Arenac Co MI Cemeteries page on our site provides links to each cemetery in the county, listed by township. The individual cemetery pages are linked to a burials & inscription index table.
Online resources
Deaths & burials
- Arenac Co Death [records] Wiki @ FamilySearch.org
- Arenac Co Death Record Indexes @ ArenacHistory.org — includes death & undertaker records, obituaries
- Arenac Co MI Death Records @ MIGenWeb.org
- Early Death Records of Arenac Co @ FreePages.Rootsweb.com — this is a wide chart; scroll right for full information
- Index to Scrapbook on Misc Arenac Co Obits & Funeral Cards (1928-1961) @ ArenacHistory.org
- Death Certificates, 1897-1952 @ Michiganology.org (Library of Michigan) — from 1897 on; work in progress, updated periodically.
- Death Records @ Michigan.gov — from 1897 on
- Free MI Obituaries and Obituary Index Links @ TheAncestorHunt.com
- Genealogical Death Indexing System (GenDIS) @ VitalStats.Michigan.gov
- MI Civil War Centennial Observance Commission, Committee on Civil War Grave Registration, Burial Records @ FamilySearch.org
- MI Death Certificates, 1921-1952 @ FamilySearch.org
- MI US Death Records, 1897-1929 @ Ancestry.com
- MI Death Index, 1971-1996 @ FamilySearch.org & MI US Death Index, 1971-1996 @ Ancestry.com
- MI Deaths, 1867-1897 @ FamilySearch.org
- MI Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995 @ FamilySearch.org
- MI US Deaths and Burials Index, 1867-1995 @ Ancestry.com
- MI US Death Records, 1867-1952 @ Ancestry.com
- MI Vital Records: Death @ FamilySearch.org
- US Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 @ Ancestry.com
- US Social Security Death Index [SSDI] @ FamilySearch.org — from 1962 on
- US Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 @ FamilySearch.org
Obituaries/Funeral cards
- Arenac Co Death Record Indexes @ ArenacHistory.org — follow “Obituary” link
- Arenac Co MI Obituaries @ MIGenWeb.org
- Arenac Co MI Obituaries and Death Notices @ GenealogyTrails.com
- MI Obituaries, 1820-2006 @ FamilySearch.org
- MI Obituaries A-L (has link to surnames M-Z) @ ObitCity.com — transcriptions
- Obituaries @ Legacy.com
- Obituary Index @ Obits.SaginawLibrary.org
- US GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011 @ FamilySearch.org
- US Obituary Collection, 1930-Current @ Ancestry.com
Transcriptions
- Arenac Co Tombstone Transcription Project @ MIGenWeb.org
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