Gogebic County Obituaries and Death Records

Gogebic County death records are maintained by the County Clerk in Bessemer and go back to 1887. This page explains how to find Gogebic County obituaries and death certificates, where historical records from the Gogebic Iron Range era are held, and how to use free and paid databases for Upper Peninsula genealogy research. Gogebic County has a rich immigrant heritage from Finnish, Italian, and Slavic communities tied to the iron mining industry.

Gogebic County Clerk Death Records Office

The Gogebic County Clerk at 200 N. Moore St. in Bessemer handles death record requests. Under MCL 333.2882, these records are public. Anyone can request a copy for around $10. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM. The county's official site is at gogebiccountymi.gov.

Gogebic County was organized in 1887 and death records begin from that year. Before 1887, deaths in this area would have been recorded in Ontonagon County, from which Gogebic was formed. Researchers working on families from the early iron mining period may need to check both county archives. The MichiganGenWeb Gogebic County page provides death indexes and links to volunteer-compiled resources, including materials gathered from the county's diverse immigrant communities. The FamilySearch Gogebic County wiki lists archives where records are held.

The MichiganGenWeb Gogebic County page offers death record transcriptions and genealogy indexes compiled by volunteers familiar with the county's Finnish, Italian, and Slavic community records.

The Gogebic County MichiganGenWeb site links to death indexes and records specific to the Gogebic Iron Range immigrant communities.

Gogebic Iron Range Death Record Research

The Gogebic Iron Range brought large waves of Finnish, Italian, and Slavic immigrants to the county from the late 1800s through the mid-20th century. These communities kept strong church records, and many congregations maintained their own death registers in their native languages. Finnish Lutheran churches, Catholic parishes serving Italian and Croatian miners, and Orthodox congregations all produced burial records that parallel the official county death registration system. These church records can be critical for tracing family lines when the state registration was incomplete.

The Range Genealogical Society serves the broader Gogebic Iron Range area and has compiled death indexes and cemetery records for Gogebic County. The society's work includes records from Ironwood, Bessemer, Wakefield, and surrounding townships. For Finnish immigrant families, the Finlandia University archives in Hancock, Michigan, hold supplementary materials that may extend research beyond what local records hold.

The upper peninsula logging industry also brought workers to Gogebic County before the mining boom, and deaths among these workers were sometimes not registered at all. Researchers should expect gaps in records from the 1880s and early 1890s, particularly for transient workers without established local family ties.

State and Online Death Records for Gogebic County

MDHHS holds certified death certificates for all Michigan counties. For Gogebic County, contact MDHHS at 517-335-8666. Certified copies cost $34 for the first copy and $16 per additional copy. Online orders go through VitalChek with a $12.95 service fee. Public Act 73 of 2006 limits online image access to records more than 75 years old.

For older records, the free GENDIS database on Michiganology covers Gogebic County deaths from roughly 1897 to 1952. This covers much of the peak mining era and includes records for many immigrant miners and their families. The Michigan State Archives holds newspaper microfilm that includes Gogebic County papers with obituary coverage going back to the mining era. Ironwood Daily Globe obituaries are among the most useful newspaper sources for the county.

GENDIS covers Gogebic County deaths from 1897 through 1952 at no cost and is particularly valuable for researching iron mining families from the range era.

Cities in Gogebic County

Bessemer is the county seat of Gogebic County. Ironwood is the largest city. Neither meets the population threshold for an individual city page on this site. All Gogebic County death records are processed through the county clerk's office in Bessemer.

Nearby Counties

Gogebic County borders Iron and Ontonagon counties in Michigan and also borders Wisconsin. For pre-1887 records, check Ontonagon County, as Gogebic was formed from that territory.