Our society was formed in July of 1977 and in 2017 we celebrated our 40th anniversary as well as our county's bicentennial! We are gearing up to celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2027.
Mission and Purpose
- To collect and preserve the records of our ancestors.
- To encourage members in genealogical research.
- To compile and prepare records.
- To establish and maintain an archive of genealogical records and books through donations.
- To cooperate with other genealogical societies.
- To sponsor and encourage educational meetings, lectures, and activities on genealogy and history.
Our meetings are usually on the first Saturday of each month (except July & August) at 1:00 pm. All are welcome to attend. Meeting times and places will be posted on our website and in our newsletter.
GSMC Archives
The GSMC Archives is located on the second floor of the Monroe County Museum, 126 S. Monroe Street, Monroe, MI. We are open every Wednesday from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm (closed from noon until 1:00 for lunch). If you would like to arrange for other times to use our archives, please contact us using the form below.
Archives Closed
GSMC Archives Closed
The GSMC archives on the second floor of the Monroe Museum will be closed until the museum reopens sometime in 2028. Sales of all books except those listed on the website have been suspended until the reopening. GSMC members will meet at the Ellis Library and Reference Center on Wednesday mornings at 10:00 am to help researchers and answer questions.
Our archives contains genealogical research materials for Monroe County, surrounding counties and adjoining states. Here is just a small sample of what we have in our archives:
- GSMC publications
- GSMC newsletters and newsletters from around the area.
- Transcriptions of Monroe County and Lenawee County cemeteries
- Death records for many townships
- Birth and marriage records that appeared in the Monroe Evening News, 1926-1950
A complete list of our holdings can be found in the GSMC Library.
The Betty Gay Collection is a great resource for Monroe County genealogists. Betty Gay was a dedicated researcher who traced the ancestry of many Monroe County families and donated copies of her research to our society. There are over 5000 names in the index to this collection, which contains obituaries, death records, family group sheets, and pedigree charts. Her collection is housed in over 35 binders on our shelves. Check out the index on our website and stop in the archives to see what Betty compiled on your family.
While visiting our archives be sure to stop by the museum's archives to check out the massive obituary index, which covers deaths in the entire county from 1830's to current times. The museum also has a great photo archives and name/subject files. Many church histories which include biographies of members are located in the museum's archives. There are over 2500 folders of information about Monroe County Civil War soldiers. Plan to spend the day researching your family while here. We are adding to our collection and have an all county cemetery index on our website containing information over 101,000 burials in our county.