Planning a research trip to the valley Search at home first. Then come with a list.

Before you go

Tick them off as you go. Your ticks are kept only in this browser.

• Write down the question. One person, one event, one place: “When did she die, and where is she buried?” A clear question tells you which office to visit.
• List what you already know, and where it came from. Names, dates and places, each with its source. The hunter’s worksheet (PDF) has room for it.
• Search online first. Everything below is free. A death date found at home saves an hour at the microfilm reader.
• Make a plan for each stop. Which record, which years, which reel or book. Put the stop with the fewest open days first.
• Call or write ahead. Hours, holidays and rules change. Ask whether what you need is on site, whether you may photograph it, and what copies cost.
• Map the day. Use the museums and archives map and getting here; keep a meal and a walk in the plan.

Not sure which record answers your question? The record finder asks three questions and lists where to look.

Search online first

• FamilySearch: Cass County, MichiganThe free research wiki’s page for the county: which records exist, from what year, and where each is kept. It gives births and deaths from 1867 and probate from 1829, and warns that its own dates sometimes disagree, so confirm with the office.
• Michigan County Histories and AtlasesThe University of Michigan’s free, searchable scans of the old county histories and atlases, printed before 1923.
• Digital Michigan NewspapersCentral Michigan University’s Clarke Historical Library: Michigan newspapers, free to search. Its county-by-county portal also points to Michigan titles in Chronicling America.
• Chronicling AmericaThe Library of Congress’s free historic newspapers, from every state.
• Hoosier State ChroniclesThe Indiana State Library’s free digital historic newspapers, for families who crossed the state line.
• Internet ArchiveCounty histories, family genealogies and city directories, free to read and search.
• Michigan death records, 1897–1952The Archives of Michigan’s collection. Its page says it holds about 1.6 million death records made from 1921 to 1952, with an image of the certificate for 1921 to 1948 and an index only for 1949 to 1952.
• Cass District Library guides and indexesRead these before you go: inventories of the Local History Branch’s microfilm (newspapers, death, marriage and divorce records), plat maps, cemetery and rural-school guides, and obituary indexes for 1998 to 2025.
• Cass County recorded documentsThe Clerk/Register’s online index of recorded documents. It starts on 1 November 1988, so older deeds are read in the books at the office.

More, for Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and overseas, on where the records are; burial and obituary indexes county by county on find a grave or an obituary.

Who holds what

Addresses and holdings are taken from each institution’s own page, checked on 24 October 2026. Hours are not printed here because they change with the season and the holidays: open the official page, or call, before you set out.

A research day in Cassopolis

Best on a Monday to Thursday, when the Local History Branch keeps its hours. Everything on Broadway is a short walk apart.

1. BreakfastEat before nine; the reading rooms are quiet early. Places to eat.
2. 9:00The Local History Branch, first, because it keeps the fewest days. Start with your list of reels and plat maps; ask at the desk where to begin.
3. Late morningWalk down Broadway to the Clerk/Register’s office for a death or marriage record, or a deed.
4. LunchOn Broadway or nearby: see where to eat.
5. Early afternoonIf an estate file is on your list, drive out to the Probate Court on M‑62 while its window is open.
6. AfternoonWalk old Broadway, eleven stops with the 1860 plan underfoot, then a cemetery from our Cass County list, with the gravestone guide in your pocket.
7. EveningWrite up what you found that night, each fact with where you found it, while you still remember the page. Somewhere to stay.

A second day

• Niles: the Star at the district library and the Fort St. Joseph Museum; see Niles and the river.
• Berrien Springs and South Bend: the courthouse square and The History Museum.
• Kalamazoo or Lansing, when the trail leads to regional papers or the state’s own records.

More ready-made days, with routes, on Visit & Plan; every museum, library and archive on one map; and stamps for the places you reach in your passport.

What to bring

• Your list of questions, names, dates and reel or book numbers.
• Pencils and a notebook. Archival reading rooms often allow no pens; the Archives of Michigan is one.
• Photo ID, which the Archives of Michigan asks for, and which a clerk may ask for too.
• A phone or camera, if the room allows it. Use no flash, and ask first.
• Small change or a card for copies and parking, and a USB stick in case a microfilm reader saves scans.
• The hunter’s worksheet, and a sweater, just in case.

How to ask

• Be specific. “The marriage of John Smith and Mary Jones, Cass County, about 1855 to 1860” is a request; “anything on the Smiths” is a wish.
• Say what you have searched already, so nobody looks twice.
• Ask about the rules before you photograph, copy or touch: some records may be viewed but not copied.
• Leave the order as you found it. One folder or volume at a time; ask before you re-file.
• Say thank you, and credit the place in your notes, so the next reader can find the record again.

Cemeteries and private land

• A grave on private land is still on private land. Ask the owner before you set foot on it, and take no for an answer.
• Visit in daylight, keep to the paths and drives, and leave everything as you found it: flowers, flags, stones and fences.
• Never rub, chalk, clean or straighten a stone. Photograph it in raking light; our gravestone guide shows how.
• The township clerk or the sexton usually keeps the lot records of a township cemetery; ask them before you go looking.
• Families still live here. Old houses on the walks are homes and businesses: look from the sidewalk.