Census records of Kent County, Michigan

The censuses are original copies of pre-printed forms that were filed with the Kent County clerk. They have been bound into red books. Each volume describes what type of schedule and what location the volume covers.

This collection does not have every schedule for every location in Kent County. For example, it does not include the 1884 population census for Cascade, Courtland, Gaines, Grand Rapids, Gratton and Lowell Townships.

The information that was recorded varied by year, but population schedules included a resident’s name, age, race, profession, and place of birth at minimum. Some censuses later included additional fields, such as relationships to other members of the household, parents’ birthplaces, and education level.

The mortality schedules list deaths that occurred in the previous 12 months, usually between June 1 of the previous year and May 31 of the year they were taken. The 1850 and 1860 mortality schedules pre-date when death registration was required in Michigan, so they can act as a substitute for death records.

The agricultural and industrial schedules provide details of farms, lumbering, and other manufacturing operations. The agricultural censuses generally recorded the landowner, acreage, and the type/value of livestock and produce. Industrial censuses provide the name of the company, raw materials and machinery used, number of employees and wages, and the products produced. Finally, social schedules are divided by city or township and provide general statistics about real estate values, taxes, schools, libraries, newspapers, churches, crime, and wages.