Kalamazoo County Circuit Court Records

My recent trip to Kalamazoo was fun, productive and tiring. With so much to do I had very little down time, but that's the way it usually is when I go home. Genealogically speaking, I was able to cross a number of things off my list. One big thing was to look at the court records relating to the Christmas morning murder of my grandma's sister (Christmas Morning Murderer Gets Off Easy). I'll describe what I found later because I still haven't had time to read everything over and process it. For now I'll share a few tips for finding old circuit court records in Kalamazoo based on my recent experience.

The circuit court records I was looking for were criminal cases or chancery cases (divorces and other cases in which a judge had to determine what was fair in a dispute between two parties). If you want to examine records for either of these types of cases the first thing you will need to do is to find the docket and case number. Depending on the year in which the case was filed you will need to look in the clerk's office at the court house on Kalamazoo avenue or in the index at the WMU Archives. Here are the lessons I learned while tracking down records.

Always look in the index yourself. While at the court house I asked to examine the chancery index book to search for a few divorce cases. The clerk brought out one book, but not ones covering other years I was interested in. Instead, she asked me for the specific names I was looking for and came back to inform me she couldn't find them. I thought that was strange, but didn't press the issue as I was out of time. The following day at the WMU Archives, I was searching the chancery index on microfilm looking for any cases involving my people. I wanted to jump out of my chair when found two of the divorce cases the court clerk said she couldn't find. Though the microfilmed chancery records at WMU only go into 1934, and therefore I couldn't immediately satisfy my curiosity, the index goes through at least May 1941. The names I was looking for were clearly written so I can only conclude that the court clerk was in a hurry and overlooked them. As we genealogists are more used to searching for certain names (and can pick one out even when we aren't looking for it) always ask to look in the index yourself, rather than relying on someone who has nothing invested in the project.

Circuit court records are not always on site. Old records (prior to 1980) still in possession of the Kalamazoo county circuit court are located “six hours north” of Kalamazoo. So, if you want to look at them you need to plan ahead. Armed with the docket and case number from the index you can request that the records be retrieved from wherever in the upper peninsula they are stored. I guess in the case of a nuclear holocaust they will be safe. You should request the documents about a week in advance and keep in mind that deliveries are received on Tuesdays. Even at the WMU archives, old court records that have not been microfilmed are located off site so you should ask that records be pulled in advance of your visit.

Not all chancery cases were microfilmed by the LDS. A year ago I found out the hard way that the LDS church did not microfilm all chancery cases. You can imagine my surprise when I scrolled through the microfilmed records at the WMU Archives only to discover that the case number I was seeking was notably absent. It seems that the LDS selected divorce cases or those in which the names of the parties involved were different for microfilming. I had two cases in which a mother sued her kids (it turns out they were mooching or stealing from her). The records were available, but had to be retrieved from storage. Unfortunately, I was at the end of my visit. I waited in suspense for my mother to return to the Archives to peruse the documents and call me to tell me what the cases were about.

Be prepared to take a lot of notes or bring a lot of cash. The court house does not allow cameras. I don't know if mobile scanners are permitted. This is unfortunate as copy charges at the court house are pretty steep at $1 per page. After quickly flipping through the files I requested I carefully flagged items for copying and handed the stack of records to one of the clerks. Much to my dismay she informed me that copying of the court stenographer's record was all or nothing. I could not cherry pick pages for copying. As I was pressed for time, had found many things I wanted to examine more closely and I had already waited a whole year to see the records and could not come to the courthouse whenever I had a spare moment, I pulled some more money from my wallet.  I would also recommend that you count the number of pages you wish to have copied so you know exactly how much it should cost.  And be sure to inform the clerk that you do NOT want certified copies because that costs more.

Now that I'm back home I hope to find the time, eventually, to thoroughly read over everything. I hope to find some useful information in the pages of the stenographer's record that I had not initially intended to copy. At least now I can pore over it at my leisure.

Husband, Schmusband: Divorce Records

Some of the more interesting records I have come across in my genealogy research are divorce records. By “interesting,” I mean juicy. Of the ten or so divorce records I have examined, all but one of them included some pretty “interesting” reading. There was the wife who “did not perform her marital duties,” nudge, nudge, wink, wink. There were many accusations that husbands and wives were carrying on with other people, if you know what I mean. I quote from one such case in which the husband stated that his wife "disregarding the solemnity of the marriage relations. . . indulged in violent sallies of passion."  There were even a few in which the husbands were accused of occasionally being physically abusive.

I should note that the records I have perused encompass the first 25 years or so of the 20^th century. Divorce was becoming more common, but it was still difficult to obtain a divorce in those days and some states had stricter laws than others. Grounds for divorce at the time were limited and included cruelty and abandonment. No-fault divorce was only introduced in 1970, first appearing in California. Therefore, it is important to remember that some claims may have been exaggerated to increase the odds of obtaining the divorce.

My family, not to be left out of a current trend, jumped on the bandwagon. Divorce seems to have been a way of life for one group of sisters in my tree. Between the three of them they married a total of twelve times and divorced eight times (another husband died and one deserted). One of these records even cleared up the mystery of why I could not find one of these women in the 1900 census. While the divorce complaint itself contained nothing to tell me why the marriage broke up (she just moved out), it did include the name my relative married under. It was time to create a new spouse in my family tree and hunt her down in the census (success at last).

The winner for most husbands in the shortest period of time goes to Ada Wallace who married five times in total. She seems to have gone through husbands like a snake sheds its skin. She married for the first time when she was just fourteen to a man 29 years her senior, Charles Hoard. Five children and 15 years later she apparently left her husband. Unfortunately, only the final divorce decrees exist for this time period in Branch county, Michigan so I don't know the details. Next she married George Alger to whom she remained married for 4.5 years. Their divorce records indicated that her husband, George, periodically went away for days at a time. When he did, Ada sometimes went out dancing (all night) with Charley Carr. Barely a month after the ink had dried on her divorce papers Ada married husband #3, who surprisingly, (to me, at least) was not Charles Carr, but Henry Miner. Within six months he was also history. A year and a half later she married husband #4 and again the marriage lasted about six months before the court approved her fourth divorce. Again, Ada had been seeing Charley Carr, who even spent the night (when her husband was gone) according to the landlady. A year later she finally married Charles Carr, and to her credit, remained married to him for thirty-four years until his death. I can't help but wonder why she married husband #3 (who was not mentioned in the divorce records with George Alger) or even husband #4 if she was frequently going dancing with Charley. Was she trying to make him jealous? Or at ten years her junior did she think he was just too young to marry? I'll probably never know.

One question that might come to mind after finding so many divorces is why some of these women married so often. It is easy to snicker, but it is useful to remember that although times were changing, women still didn't have many options. These probably included moving in with a relative and/or getting a job, becoming a domestic servant or getting remarried.

So, now that I have piqued your interest, where can you find divorce records for counties in southwest Michigan?

Records can be found at:

WMU Archives: chancery records (which include divorces) for Kalamazoo and many neighboring counties which may include: Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, St. Joseph, and Van Buren . To make sure they have the records covering the county and time period of interest I recommend contacting them to ask before planning a visit.

Van Buren District Library: Allegan, Cass and Van Buren (on microfilm)

Kalamazoo county court house (201 W. Kalamazoo Ave, Kalamazoo, MI): chancery records starting about 1934 (earlier records are at the WMU archives).  For a practical guide to viewing records here (what's onsite, copy costs, etc.) be sure to read my post about doing research at the court house.

Your first step will be to consult the index (usually on microfilm). Be sure to select the roll with the year range in which you believe the divorce occurred. While indexes may be organized differently, the ones I have seen (Kalamazoo county) are organized as follows. For each initial letter of a surname there are many pages broken down into names beginning with the same two or three letters (e.g. Gary, Gardner, Garson, etc.). I advise starting in the appropriate section, but don't despair if you don't find the record you are looking for. I have frequently seen names entered in the wrong section so you may want to peruse all pages for that initial if you aren't already woozy from staring at microfilm for too long. If all else fails check a different year range or a different county.

Once you have identified the record, be sure to take note of the item number or any other information in the index. The last thing you want to do is hunt for the entry again. While you are already there, be sure to note any other court cases pertaining to your family. You never know what you might uncover. Armed with this information you can select the appropriate roll of microfilm and scroll through the records until you find the correct case number. If you are lucky the file will include both the initial complaint as well as a cross bill (so you can read both sides of the story). While a divorce is probably never fun it can make for interesting reading and above all, teach you more about your relative's life and character.

If you would like to know more about divorce around the turn of the century, including acceptable grounds, you may want to read The Rise of Divorce in Michigan.

WMU Archives & Regional History Collections

I wish I could tell you more about the resources available at the Western Michigan University Archives in Kalamazoo. Unfortunately, the truth is that living out-of-state, I have not been able to spend as much time there as I would like. Toddlers only nap for so long and a couple of hours doesn't even scratch the surface of their holdings.

The Archives is currently located in East Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the Western Michigan University campus. Their holdings total over 17,000 linear feet, some of which is located off site. They hope to move to a larger facility in the future.

The Archives holds several different types of records. To learn more about their collections you can search their online catalog (be sure to select the WMU Archives as the location in the drop down menu).

The large manuscript collection can be searched through the online catalog and encompasses letters, photos, business records and much more. Due to the large number of records and the variety of records within a particular collection you should not expect a detailed description of every document within a given collection. After conducting a search you can click on a particular collection to learn more. Here you will find a brief description of the contents of the collection as well as names of individuals, businesses or general subjects mentioned therein. So far, I have not found information directly pertaining to “my” people in the manuscript collection, but perhaps you will be more fortunate than I.

If you cannot find much in the manuscript collection to aid you in your research, if you have ancestors from almost anywhere in south west Michigan you should certainly find something in the governmental records housed here. Records from the counties of Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, St. Joseph, and Van Buren can be found here. It is also worth mentioning that the records available vary by county. Many of these records, which include tax records and court records, are on microfilm and are available in the LDS catalog. For more specific information on the government holdings (at least for some of these counties) you can refer to the Archives of Michigan circular, but note that while this lists most counties in Michigan, only records with a single asterisk are located at the WMU Archives. You will also notice that though WMU has records from the twelve counties listed above, some counties are not included on this list. I have not found an online source that specifically lists which governmental records are available at the WMU Archives. I would suggest identifying the records microfilmed by the LDS (search by county name at FamilySearch) and then calling the Archives to verify they possess them before planning a visit.

One thing that I discovered the hard way is that the LDS did not microfilm every court case. I was searching for a chancery case in which a mother sued two of her children (more on this in another blog). I found the docket and case number in the index. I then began scrolling through the microfilm only to find that the case I was looking for was absent. A staff member informed me that at least for chancery cases, the LDS only microfilmed divorce records and cases in which the people had different surnames. It seems to me that suits within a family might be some of the more interesting cases (i.e. dishing up family dirt). While the archives did possess the records they were located off site so I was unable to obtain them before driving back to Tennessee. Luckily for me, my mother still lives in Kalamazoo and could go back later to page through the documents and flag them for copying.

In addition to the manuscript collection and government records, the WMU Archives has an extensive collection of books, city directories, many local newspapers on microfilm, a large photo collection, the Ross Coller card file (see my blog post) and many maps, including plat map books for surrounding counties.  They also recently made several Civil War era diaries and letters available on their website.  See here for more information.  For more general information on their holdings I refer you to the “Collections” page on the WMU Archives website. While the exact holdings are not listed on their website, they do have binders on site that list which records/newspapers they have in their collection. An email or a phone call can quickly inform you if they have what you are looking for. You should also ask if the resources you wish to examine are on site, as retrieving them may take a couple of days if they aren't held in East Hall.