Find Dickinson County Death Records

Dickinson County obituaries and death records date back to 1891 and are maintained by the County Clerk in Iron Mountain. This page covers how to search for death records in Dickinson County, what sources are available, and where to get certified copies. Whether you need a recent death certificate or are tracing family history from the Menominee Iron Range era, this guide gives you a clear path to the right records.

Dickinson County Clerk Office

Death records for Dickinson County are filed and stored at the County Clerk's office at 705 S. Stephenson Ave. in Iron Mountain. Under MCL 333.2882, these records are public documents and anyone can request a copy. The clerk charges between $10 and $13 per copy depending on whether you want a plain or certified version. Office hours run Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM.

Dickinson County was formed from parts of Marquette and Menominee counties and did not begin keeping its own records until 1891. This is important for researchers: deaths that occurred in this area before 1891 may be found in Marquette or Menominee county records rather than Dickinson's. The MichiganGenWeb Dickinson County page provides context on record gaps and links to alternate sources. The county's official site is at dickinsoncountymi.gov.

The MichiganGenWeb page for Dickinson County includes volunteer-compiled death indexes and links to scanned records. It is a practical supplement to the official clerk's office files.

The Dickinson County MichiganGenWeb site provides death record transcriptions and genealogy indexes compiled by local volunteers with knowledge of the county's mining-era communities.

State-Level Death Records for Dickinson County

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services holds statewide death records. For Dickinson County deaths, you can contact MDHHS at 517-335-8666. Certified copies cost $34 for the first copy and $16 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. The VitalChek platform accepts online orders with an added $12.95 service fee.

For older records, the free GENDIS database on Michiganology covers death records from roughly 1897 to 1952. Dickinson County deaths from that period are included and searchable by name at no cost. Public Act 194 of 1867 required statewide death registration, so the earliest records in the state system date from around that year, though Dickinson County's local records start in 1891 when the county was organized.

Public Act 73 of 2006 restricts online access to death record images less than 75 years old. For deaths in that window, you must request copies directly from the county clerk or MDHHS. FamilySearch has indexed Dickinson County deaths in its Michigan Death Indexes collection and the FamilySearch Dickinson County wiki lists archives and local repositories.

Mining Heritage and Obituary Research

Dickinson County's history is tied to the Menominee Iron Range, which brought waves of Cornish, Italian, and Finnish immigrants to the area from the 1870s onward. Obituaries from this period are especially rich in detail, often naming the deceased's mine, hometown in Europe, and surviving relatives who remained abroad. Local newspapers like the Iron Mountain Daily News published detailed death notices for miners and their families.

Back issues of area papers are held at the Iron Mountain Public Library and at the Michigan State Archives at michigan.gov/archivesofmi. The Carnegie Library, which served as Iron Mountain's public library for much of the 20th century, had strong local history holdings that have since been incorporated into the current library collection. For Finnish immigrant families, the Finlandia University archives in Hancock, Michigan, holds additional records that may supplement local death records.

Note: Researchers looking for Cornish or Italian family surnames from the iron range era should also check church burial records, as many immigrant communities maintained their own death registers separate from the county system.

Searching Dickinson County Death Records Online

Several free tools are useful for Dickinson County obituary and death record searches. The Michiganology GENDIS database is the best free option for deaths before 1952. FamilySearch covers Dickinson County in its Michigan indexes and offers free image viewing for records old enough to be out of the 75-year restriction window under Public Act 73 of 2006.

Ancestry.com and MyHeritage hold additional Dickinson County death records, newspaper obituaries, and cemetery indexes. These require paid subscriptions but are available free through many public library cards. The Iron Mountain Public Library may have a library card program that includes Ancestry access. Findagrave.com has cemetery transcriptions for Dickinson County that often include birth and death dates sourced from headstones and local obituaries.

GENDIS is free and covers early Dickinson County death records, making it a strong starting point for mining-era family research.

Cities in Dickinson County

Iron Mountain is the county seat of Dickinson County. Kingsford is the other major city in the county. Neither city meets the population threshold for an individual city page on this site. Death records for all Dickinson County residents are processed through the county clerk's office in Iron Mountain.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Dickinson County. Pre-1891 records for this area may be found in Marquette or Menominee counties, as Dickinson was carved from their territory.