Ancestry Magazine

The Great Lakes region of the United States is usually referred to as the Midwest, although geographically its stat es are more central and eastern than they are part of the west. The six states discussed in this article—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin—together formed the first possession of the new United States of America, the Northwest Territory.

But before the United States took possession, the area was actively explored by the French as early as 1634. Names from the history books highlight early discoveries in this region, including Marquette and Jolliet, and LaSalle. The early explorers were often missionaries as well, and early alliances were formed with native American tribes. Trading became common at small outposts that sometimes turned into permanent settlements. The most actively traded commodity was fur, and the most active traders in this area were the French traveling from modern-day Quebec.

Conflict between the British, who were settling in the eastern Ohio area, and the French ultimately led to the French and Indian Wars, which ended in 1763 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. By treaty, Britain was granted Canada and the Old Northwest, which included most of the territory under discussion here, with the exception of the western portion of Minnesota. Following the end of the American Revolution, the Old Northwest area became U.S. territory, and was formed into the Northwest Territory in 1787. The township system for surveying was established in 1785, making this area the first to fall under the designation “Federal-land states” (there are exceptions in Ohio as noted here). Many of the records mentioned here can be found at the Family History Library. And don’t forget the tremendous records available at the National Archives Great Lakes Region located in Chicago, Illinois. It has indexes for federal court records, including naturalization, World War I and World War II draft cards, among other treasures related to these states.

Illin ois
Illinois was discovered in 1763 by French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette. A settlement was founded in Cahokia in 1699, and in 1717 the Illinois area became part of French Louisiana. Illinois became part of Indiana Territory in 1800. The Illinois Territory was created in 1809 and just nine years later, in 1818, Illinois became the twenty-first state.

Registration of births and deaths began statewide in 1916. The Illinois State Archives has vital records indexes and some certificates for counties as early as 1843; these records would also be available from the county clerks. Marriage licenses were not required until 1877, but records are available at some counties as early as 1790. The State of Illinois offers a multitude of very useful searchable databases on its website including:

• A statewide marriage index for the years 1763—1900.

• Two statewide death indexes—an incomplete index for the years before 1916 and one for the period 1916-1950.

• Eight of the nine volumes of Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois containing Illinois’ Civil War veterans.

• The ninth volume of the aforementioned series contains some Spanish-American War veterans.

If you’re looking for land records on an Illinois ancestor, you have several options. If the person was an early French settler, there may be a private land claim filed by the settler or his descendants. These records are available at the National Archives—at either Washington D.C. or the Regional Archives in Chicago. If the ancestor might have purchased land from the government, the patent files are searchable in two places: Bureau of Land Management and Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales. Other land transactions are handled by the court recorder of deeds. The Illinois State Archives has territorial and state censuses for the period 1810—1865, some of which are indexed.

Illinois State Historical Library
Old State Capitol
Springfield, IL 62701-1507
217-524-7216
Fax 217-785-6250
www.state.il.us/hpa/lib

Illinois State Archives
Norton Building
Capitol Complex
Springfield, IL 62756
217-782-4682
Fax 217-524-3930
www.ilsos.net/departments/archives/archives.html

Illinois Department of Public Health
535 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, IL 62761
217-782-6553
Fax 217-523-2648
www.idph.state.il.us/vital/vitalhome.htm

The Newberry Library
60 W. Walton St.
Chicago, IL 60610-7324
312-943-9090
www.newberry.org

Indiana
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was the first explorer to set foot in Indiana, in 1679. After exploring the entire length of the Mississippi River, La Salle claimed the whole Mississippi basin for the French and named it Louisiana, for King Louis XIV. In the early 1700s, the French built several forts, but the only settlement that survived was at Vincennes. Indiana Territory was formed in 1800 and included the western part of the Northwest Territory encompassing present-day Wisconsin, Illinois, most of Indiana, the eastern part of Minnesota, and the western half of Michigan. Michigan became a territory in 1805 and Illinois became its own territory in 1809. Indiana became the nineteenth state in 1816.

Birth records are available from the Indiana State Board of Health beginning in October 1907, but not all births were registered until 1917. The death records begin in about 1900. To locate records before statewide registration, contact the health office of each county. Marriage records were not kept on the state level until 1958, so records before that time would be available at the county clerk’s office. A searchable database of Indiana marriages through 1850 is available online. Also check the WPA-created indexes for birth, marriage, and death at Ancestry.com. The WPA began to index vital records, county-by-county, for the entire state, but the agency was abolished before the project was completed. Only sixty-eight of the ninety-two counties had their birth and death records (1882—1920) and marriages (generally 1850—1920) collected. The completed county indexes are available in print at the Indiana State Library and Allen County Public Library, among others.

Probate records can be found with the county clerk or the clerk of the circuit court, except Marion and St. Joseph’s counties have their own probate courts.

As is the case with Illinois, private land claims for lands owned by individuals before the United States took possession are available at the National Archives, if the land owner or descendants filed the claim. Some early land records have been published. Public land sales can be searched in two places: at the Bureau of Land Management’s website and on the Indiana State Archives’ website. Other land records are available through the county recorder. Other searchable databases of interest are the Indiana World War II database at <http://199.8.200.90:591/wwii.html>, and the Indianapolis Newspapers Database for 1848—1888 at <http://199.8.200.90:591/newsindex.html.>

State or territorial censuses exist, partially or in fragments, for 1807, 1810, 1820, 1853, 1856, 1857, and 1877. Many of the records discussed above are available from the Family History Library.

Indiana State Library
140 N. Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-232-3675
www.statelib.lib.in.us/

Indiana State Archives
6440 E. 30th St.
Indianapolis, IN 46219
317-591-5222
www.in.gov/icpr/archives/

Vital Records Department
Indiana State Department of Health
2 North Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-233-2700
www.in.gov/isdh/bdcertifs/birth_and_death_certificates.htm

Allen County Public Library
200 East Berry Street
Fort Wayne, IN 46802
260-421-1200
www.acpl.lib.in.us/

Michigan
Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac landed at the site of present-day Detroit in July 1701 to settle the area in the name of King Louis XIV of France. The initial fort that was built was named Fort Ponchartrain du Detroit, which eventually was shortened to Detroit. Following the French and Indian War, the forts at Detroit and Michilimackinac—in upper lower Michigan—were under British control until 1796 when Jay’s Treaty was signed.

In 1805 Michigan was made a territory that later, in 1818, included present-day Wisconsin. During the War of 1812, Detroit fell again into British hands and wasn’t liberated until 1813. Michigan became the twenty-sixth state in 1837.

Registration of births and deaths began on the state and county level in 1867, but full compliance was not achieved until about 1915. Because of this nearly fifty-year period when records were not always sent to the state, it is recommended that researchers write first to the clerk in the county of birth or death, if known. This may save time and money if the search is unsuccessful at the state level. Death records can be searched online at the Genealogical Death Index System for the period 1867—1897 (as of this writing). Marriage records have been kept by most counties since their formation and can be found by writing to the county clerk.

Probate records have been kept by Wayne County since 1797 and other counties since about 1817. These records are available from the clerk of the probate court. The Library of Michigan has many of the records discussed above on microfilm. The state library also has an online index to naturalizations, which doesn’t include Wayne County as of this writing.

There are several options for finding land records for a Michigan ancestor. If the person was an early French Canadian settler, there may be a private land claim filed by the settler or his descendants. These records are available at the National Archives—at either Washington D.C. or the Regional Archives in Chicago. Records of public land bought through the General Land Office are available from the Bureau of Land Management and can be searched online. Records for land that was bought and sold between individuals would be available from the county registrar of deeds.

A number of territorial and state censuses were taken between the years 1810 and 1904, but they are difficult to locate and censuses for many counties no longer survive. The 1870 Federal Census for Michigan has been completely indexed, with images linked to index entries on the Library of Michigan website.

Library of Michigan
702 West Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-1580
Fax 517-373-4480
www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19270—,00.html

State Archives of Michigan
702 West Kalamazoo Street
Lansing, MI 48909
517-373-1414
www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-17445_19273_19313—,00.html

Michigan Department of Community Health
Vital Records Requests
P.O. Box 30721
Lansing, MI 48909
www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-4645—,00.html

Burton Historical Collec tion
Detroit Public Library
5201 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202
313-833-1480
www.detroit.lib.mi.us/burton/

Minnesota
As with Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, the first settlers in Minnesota were French Canadian fur trappers and missionaries. The land west of the Mississippi River became U.S. soil with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Because of boundary disputes, British fur companies were in Minnesota until 1818 when the Minnesota boundary was fixed at the 49th parallel. American fur traders first entered the Minnesota area in 1815. Wisconsin Territory was formed in 1836, of which Minnesota was a part. In 1849, Minnesota became a territory, and it achieved statehood in 1858, as the 32nd state.

The Minnesota Department of Health has birth records from 1900 and death records from 1908. Death records can be searched online at the Minnesota Historical Society for the period 1908—1996. If you find the person you’re looking for, you can order a copy of the death certificate from a printable form on the website. For records before 1900, contact the county vital statistics officer. Marriage records are located with the counties and can usually be found close to the time the county was created. Probate records can be found at the probate clerk’s office.

Public land sales in Minnesota were first handled at the general land office in Wisconsin, beginning in 1848, but were moved to Stillwater, Minnesota, in 1849. These records can be searched at the Bureau of Land Management’s website. For local land transactions, the county registrar of deeds should be contacted.

Minnesotans were enumerated in both the Wisconsin and Iowa Territorial censuses in 1836, 1838, and 1840. Minnesota Territorial censuses exist for 1849, 1850, 1855, and 1857, and state censuses were taken in 1865, 1875, 1885, and 1905. Ancestry.com has an index for the 1849 Minnesota territorial census, as well as an index to tax lists for 1835—1839. The Family History Library catalog should be checked for other Minnesota records.

Minnesota Historical Society
345 Kellogg Blvd. West
St. Paul, MN 55102-1906
651-296-6126
www.mnhs.org

Minnesota State Archives
345 Kellogg Blvd. West
St. Paul, MN 55102-1906
651-297-4502
Fax 651-296-9961
www.mnhs.org/preserve/records/index.html

Minnesota Department of Health
Attention: Office of the State Registrar
P.O. Box 9441
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9441
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/chs/osr/index.html

Immigration History Research Center
University of Minnesota
College of Liberal Arts
311 Andersen Library
222-21st Avenue S.
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0439
612-625-4800
Fax 612-626-0018
www1.umn.edu/ihrc

Ohio
Of the six states covered in this article, Ohio’s history is the most complex and varies from the standard formula of French explorers and fur trappers to English domination. The western portion of Ohio was used extensively by French fur trappers, but the eastern portion was settled by British adventurers in the early 1700s. This mixed-use land caused considerable conflict between the French and British and resulted in the French and Indian War. The entire area was given to the British following the war, but because of Native American unrest, settlement was discouraged. The end of the Revolutionary War began the tumultuous claim for Ohio lands between states that claimed the area as their western boundaries and the new federal government. Ohio Territory was formed in 1799. In 1800, the western part of Ohio Territory became part of the newly created Indiana Territory. Ohio became the first state created from the Northwest Territory, in 1803, making it the seventeenth state in the Union. There isn’t room in this brief discussion of Ohio to explain the various divisions of land, but for a quick overview visit the Evolution of Ohio website.

Beginning in 1867, counties were required to maintain birth and death records. Some counties have earlier records. Statewide registration began in 1908. A searchable online database of deaths (1913—1937) is available here. Marriage records are available from the local probate courts, and some can be found at the Ohio Historical Society, which is the official state library and archives. Marriages from 1949 will be found at the Ohio Department of Health.

Land records for Ohio can be found in a multitude of places; this is where knowing the history of the specific regions of Ohio is critical. Records for Western Reserve lands can be found at the state level in Connecticut; bounty land warrants from Virginia are located at the Virginia State Library; many early land records can be found at the Ohio Land Office; but, local records would be held by the county recorder. Quadrennial censuses were enumerated on the township level for the period 1803—1911, but not all areas survive. The Ohio Historical Society has some Civil War records searchable on its website.

State Library of Ohio
274 E. First Avenue
Columbus, OH 43201
614-644-7061
http://winslo.state.oh.us

Ohio Historical Society
1982 Velma Avenue
Columbus, OH 43211
614-297-2300
www.ohiohistory.org

Ohio Department of Health
Revenue Room
246 North High Street
P.O. Box 15098
Columbus, OH 43215-0098

Western Reserve Historical Society
10825 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106
216-721-5722
www.wrhs.org

Public Library of Cincinnati/Hamilton County
800 Vine Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202-2071
513-369-6900
www.cincinnatilib rary.org

Wisconsin
The first explorer to see Wisconsin was Jean Nicolet, a native of France, in 1634. He was searching for the Northwest Passage to China. Other explorers visited the area over the next century, and in 1648 the first trading post was set up at La Baye. Despite the ending of the American Revolution, the British retained control of Wisconsin until the War of 1812. The area’s territorial government changed four more times before it became a state. It became part of Indiana Territory in 1800; Illinois Territory in 1809; Michigan Territory in 1818; and finally Wisconsin Territory in 1836, which included the area west of the Mississippi River to the Missouri River. When Iowa Territory was formed in 1838, a great deal of the western part of the territory was taken away. Wisconsin became the thirtieth state in 1847.

Statewide registration of births and deaths began in 1907. These records are available at the Wisconsin Historical Society. The society offers a search service for birth and death records from 1850 to 1907 on its website. It will also search marriage records from 1836 to 1907 and Civil War service records, all for a fee. Some of these records are also searchable at Ancestry.com.

County courthouses have the remainder of local records of interest to genealogists, including deeds, wills, and taxpayer lists. Some of Wisconsin’s early residents may be found in the private land claims available at the National Archives—at either Washington D.C. or the Regional Archives in Chicago. General Land Office records for public land sales can be searched on the Bureau of Land Management’s website.

There are many opportunities to find early Wisconsin residents in territorial and state censuses, from 1820 to 1905. The Wisconsin Historical Society’s website has a searchable Wisconsin Name Index, which was created from obituaries, personal sketches, and biographies. Additionally, you can search the Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861—1865.

Wisconsin Historical Society
816 State Street
Madison, WI 53706
608-264-6400
www.wisconsinhistory.org

Wisconsin Vital Records
P.O. Box 309
Madison, WI 53701-0309
www.dhfs.state.wi.us/VitalRecords/

Conclusion
The states that made up the Northwest Territory have a fascinating and diverse history. Because of the space limitation here, researchers interested in a particular state’s records and history should fully explore the resources available for that state. Because of the diversity of the area, specific immigrant group records should also be consulted. And don’t overlook the wealth of information available at the National Archives concerning the territories. For more information on this topic, consult the author’s article “Go West, Young Man! Discovering Your Frontier Ancestors”.

Elizabeth Kelley Kerstens, CGRS, CGL, is the managing editor of Genealogical Computing and a frequent contributor to Ancestry Magazine.