Welcome to Cass County

Welcome to this website which is a part of MIGenWeb and USGenWeb^®, a network of websites that provide free online genealogical information. This county site is currently available for adoption.

We are a friendly group of volunteers, and we love to hear from researchers who find our data useful. We need to find someone to take charge of this county website, so if you have the time, please consider applying. If you are not too handy with HTML and FTP, we can work with you. Apply here.

Cass County History

Cass County was established in 1829, and named in honor of Lewis Cass, who was the territorial governor at the time it was created. Because it was mostly prairie, Cass County was settled at first mostly by farmers, many from Ohio and Indiana.

The county seat is Cassopolis, which was platted in 1831 as the future county seat.

Cassopolis and Vandalia were stations on the Underground Railroad. Slaves fleeing from the south through Illinois and Indiana came to Cass County where Quakers and others gave them shelter. Some traveled on to Canada to the east while others stayed here and built their own rural communities.

The photo to the left is the Cass County Courthouse.