Original Records | Microfilm at the Library | Books at the Library | Online Resources
Original Records
The LaPorte County Health Department holds county death certificates from 1882 to the present. Copies are available for a fee. Please contact the Health Department for further information at:
LaPorte County Health Department – LaPorte Office
809 State Street, Suite 401A
LaPorte, IN 46350
Phone (LP): 219-326-6808 Ext. 2200
Phone (MC): 219-874-5611 Ext. 2200
After Hours: 219-326-6808 Ext. 8410
Fax: 219-325-8628
LaPorte County Health Department – Michigan City Office
300 Washington Street (inside the courthouse)
Michigan City, IN 46360
Phone: 219-874-5611 Ext. 7780
Fax: 219-873-3018
Order death certificates online through VitalChek
Microfilm at the Library
Obituaries – Our obituary index contains names, obituary dates, newspaper name and column/page number. Although the index is incomplete, it contains approximately 90,000 entries from 1887 to date. The obituaries may be retrieved from the library’s collection of Michigan City newspapers on microfilm.
LaPorte County Court Records – Includes probate records (1832-1922), deed records (1833-1901), partition records (1863-1926) and will records (1844-1921). Also available online through FamilySearch.
Church Records – The library holds 50 reels of sacramental records from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary, IN, and two reels of records from St. John’s United Church of Christ, Michigan City. Death records are included for many churches.
Three ViewScan 4 microfilm readers are available for free public use in the Reference Department. Please ask at the Reference Desk if you have any questions. Prints are $0.15 a page. PDFs and images may be saved on a flash drive or emailed for no charge.
Books at the Library
LaPorte County Death Records
Index to Death Records: LaPorte County, Indiana, 1882-1920 Inclusive, Letters A-Z Inclusive. Compiled by Indiana Works Progress Administration. Genealogy Collection, LaPorte County Index. Also available online through FamilySearch: catalog record | digital images
Index to Death Records: LaPorte County, Indiana (Michigan City) 1882-1920 Inclusive, Letters A-Z Inclusive. Compiled by Indiana Works Progress Administration. Genealogy Collection, Michigan City Index
St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, U.A.C., Otis, LaPorte County, Indiana: Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths 1871-1921. Translated and Transcribed by Deloris Rensberger Niendorf. Genealogy Collection, LaPorte County St. Paul
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Michigan City, Indiana Church Records: Births, Baptisms, Confirmations, Weddings, Burials, Deaths 1856-1891. German Names Translated by Ruth Hall; Book Compiled by Vivian Crowley, Library Genealogist. Genealogy Collection, Michigan City St. John’s
St. Paul Lutheran Church Michigan City, Indiana, Deaths and Burials 1876-1917. Gertrude Davison Flotow, Compiler. Genealogy Collection, Michigan City St. Paul
Indiana Death Records
Abstracts of Obituaries in the Western Christian Advocate, 1834-1850. Compiled by Margaret R. Waters, Dorothy Riker, and Doris Leistner, in Observance of the bicentennial of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Genealogy Collection, Indiana Abstracts
Deaths in Logansport, Indiana Newspapers: Democratic Pharos Weekly, 1858-1859, 1869-1871, July 31, 1872: Logansport Weekly Journal, 1870-1876: Logansport Daily Journal, 1876-1878. Abstracted by Roberta Burns Hofmann. Genealogy Collection, Indiana Deaths
Obituaries for the Year 1987. Indexed by the Genealogy Department of Porter County Library System. Genealogy Collection, Indiana Obituaries
Clinton County, Indiana Death Records 1882-1920. Compiled by Indiana Works Projects Administration. Genealogy Collection, Indiana Clinton
Perry County, Indiana Death Record, 1882-1920 Index. Compiled by Indiana Works Progress Administration. Genealogy Collection, Indiana Perry
Porter County Obituaries and Death Notices: Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana. Transcribed by Steven Ross Shook. Genealogy Collection, Porter County
Death Records from Other States
Index to the Obituaries and Death Notices Appearing in the Dziennik Chicagoski, 1890-1929. Compiled by Thomas L. Hollowak and William F. Hoffman. Genealogy Collection, Illinois Index
Kentucky Obituaries, 1787-1854. Compiled by G. Glenn Clift; with an Index by Anita Comtois. Genealogy Collection, Kentucky
Online Resources
LaPorte County Herald-Argus Obituary Index (1920-1929 & 1940-1949)
Indiana State Department of Health – Vital Records Department
LaPorte County Health Department – Vital Records
Index to Death Records, LaPorte County, Indiana, 1882 to 1920, Inclusive – FamilySearch: catalog record | digital images
Court Records, 1832-1922, LaPorte County Courthouse (including some probate and will records) – FamilySearch
Estate Indexes, 1834-1978, LaPorte County Courthouse – FamilySearch
Probate Records of La Porte County, Indiana, 1899-1920 – FamilySearch
Will Records, 1844-1921, La Porte County Circuit Court – FamilySearch
Michigan City probate order books, 1899-1920; complete record, 1901- 1919; will record, 1898-1920; partition record, 1898-1916 – FamilySearch
Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993 – FamilySearch
Indiana Death Index, 1882-1920 – FamilySearch
Pre-1882 Indiana Deaths Database – Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
HeritageQuest – Will and probates; Federal Census Mortality Schedules 1850-1885
Porter County, Indiana Obituary Index – Porter County Public Library
Michigan Death Indexing System (1867-1897)
Indiana State Prison records – Indiana State Archives
DeathIndexes.com – Links to death indexes and databases
U.S. Vital Records – Nationwide links for birth, marriage, death and divorce records
International Vital Records – International links for birth, marriage, death and divorce records