Status of Early Wayne Co. Records

Years ago when I first started research, I wanted to get access to some of the old Wayne Co. land and court ledger books....land, inventories, probate, etc.

I was directed to the old county bldg. and descended into the cavernous basements there.

I was kinda appalled....little to no order, old ledgers tossed about the floor on piles, etc. I think I spent 3-4 hours down there before I just gave up.

The point.
Does anyone know if those books are still in the old county bldg., has the place been cleaned up & ordered, and did the Mormons or someone ever microfilm them?

Thanks...

On a similar note, I was in Wayne County General Hospital in Oct 1977. They tore it down in 1999 and I've recently wondered what happened to my hospital records [[I'll need a hip replacement soon). Maybe they're in a dungeon, too. I see the Wayne County Clerk's Office offers copies of birth certificates from WCGH, but not complete medical records.

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Originally Posted by mikefmich

Years ago when I first started research, I wanted to get access to some of the old Wayne Co. land and court ledger books....land, inventories, probate, etc.

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How many years ago?

I had a similar experience to Mike's back when I worked for the city and we were trying to research some historic land ownership issues. The people at the Old County Bldg. seemed bored, indifferent, and mystified at our shock at the total disarray of their records. "All we have is what's down there" they kept saying, as if that somehow was an answer to our questions about the actual location of vital property records. We also discovered that they had a backlog of 3 to 6 years in the filing of newly registered deeds. I too hope the situation has been cleaned up since they left that building.

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Originally Posted by mikefmich

Does anyone know if those books are still in the old county bldg., has the place been cleaned up & ordered, and did the Mormons or someone ever microfilm them?

Thanks...

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I'm pretty sure the county is all moved out of the old county building. I don't see the Guardian Building as being a good place for that stuff, so maybe they put them into a low-rent warehouse. Wouldn't a phone call to the county solve the mystery?

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Originally Posted by downtownguy

I'm pretty sure the county is all moved out of the old county building. I don't see the Guardian Building as being a good place for that stuff, so maybe they put them into a low-rent warehouse. Wouldn't a phone call to the county solve the mystery?

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I'd wager no. I'd have no way of knowing whomever I was speaking to actually knew and was telling me facts, or just spouting BS to get me off the phone because they really don't know. If they did know, I would also wonder if they knew about whether the books have been put in proper order, or they were sitting haphazardly about.

This could be a precursor to a trip up, I cannot afford to waste the time & gas if I don't have a good feel for getting factual information ahead of time.

Hopefully they didn't dump them. When my [[State of Mich) dept cleaned records, we sent the keepers that were more than ten years old to the State Archives. You might check there.

Digital archives: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7...313---,00.html

More: http://www.statearchives.us/michigan.htm

Gaz I would HOPE the state archive folks got them...they take care of their stuff up there.

Thanks for the great links..gazhekwe ! ;)

Back around 1996 I worked for a same day delivery company in Detroit. We leased office space in the Vigliotti building on Jefferson off the Dequindre Cut. I tended to roam the building during slow times and stumbled on an open door in the basement. There were stacks and stacks of deed and property ledger books. They were huge, like 3' x 2', most ca. 1860-1890. They were on the floor, some were open, but mostly just randomly piled up like trash. I was just kind of checking them out without touching, just looking at the spines for info and this guy comes around the corner freaking out saying I was on Wayne County property and he was gonna call the cops. I explained my historical interest, and expressed my concern for the condition of the books and actually volunteered to assist in a proper stacking on a pallet or something. He was furious and chased me out and even brought Mr. Vigliotti's daughter into it. After some calm explanation I was politely told thanks for your interest but keep your nose out of it. I left after the company was bought out in 1998 and I have no idea where those books ended up. It was a real shame and something that still angers me a little to this day.

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Originally Posted by Krawlspace

Back around 1996 I worked for a same day delivery company in Detroit. We leased office space in the Vigliotti building on Jefferson off the Dequindre Cut. I tended to roam the building during slow times and stumbled on an open door in the basement. There were stacks and stacks of deed and property ledger books. They were huge, like 3' x 2', most ca. 1860-1890. They were on the floor, some were open, but mostly just randomly piled up like trash. I was just kind of checking them out without touching, just looking at the spines for info and this guy comes around the corner freaking out saying I was on Wayne County property and he was gonna call the cops. I explained my historical interest, and expressed my concern for the condition of the books and actually volunteered to assist in a proper stacking on a pallet or something. He was furious and chased me out and even brought Mr. Vigliotti's daughter into it. After some calm explanation I was politely told thanks for your interest but keep your nose out of it. I left after the company was bought out in 1998 and I have no idea where those books ended up. It was a real shame and something that still angers me a little to this day.

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Dear God.....I wish someone would tell me they got microfilmed. I'll never be able to sort out my folks properly without the land records.

Many improvements have taken place under Register of Deeds Bernard Youngblood. Check out the office's website at http://waynecountylandrecords.com or call the office at 313-224-5854