Updated Jaunary 2008

The Eaton County Centennial Family Survey Project was developed in 1977 by the Eaton County Historical Commission for a two-fold reason. The Commission hopes to develop a resource file for genealogical research in Eaton County which will be of great value to members of future generations, and to honor Eaton County centennial families by issuing certificates to their descendants.

The Eaton County Pioneer Certificate Project is now sponsored  by the Eaton County Genealogical Society and the Eaton County Historical Commission. 

We are asking the descendants of early pioneers to apply for a certificate, which will be given in four categories recognizing the settlement and growth of Eaton County.  These Certificates are of framable quality with the name of the Applicant and the Ancestor.  The Certificate will be based on the year that the Ancestor first settled in Eaton County.  The categories are:

First Families -- pre 1841 (Gold Seal)
Founders -- 1841 - 1861 (Silver Seal)
Settler -- 1862 - 1881 (Blue Seal)
Builder -- 1882 - 1907 (Red Seal)

ELIGIBILITY
To qualify as an Eaton County Centennial Family the pioneer ancestor must have settled in Eaton County 100 years or more from the date you make your application.  The applicant must directly descend from the ancestor who 'resided' in Eaton County, and must be able to prove descent from the ancestor (male or female) by an official record or records for each generation, including proof for the applicant.   100 years of continuous residency by descendents of the original settler is required.  Current Eaton County residency is not required to receive a Pioneer Certificate.

INSTRUCTIONS
First,  read the attached Instructions for information on how to fill out the application.    Then, complete, to the best of your ability, the Questionnaire and Lineage Chart. Use extra sheets, as needed, to include any available additional information such as names of all children of direct descendants, who they married, places of residency of all ancestors and any information of a biographical nature that you feel is pertinent. Be detailed ~~ the more information you include, the more complete the records will be. Photocopies of any pertinent or vital information will be helpful.   To open the complete document in Word, click here. 

All applications and enclosed materials will become the property of the Eaton County Historical Commission and will be filed in the library of the Eaton County Genealogical Society. Researchers who visit this library will have access to these files and the information in them may help with their family research.

A fee of $10 will help defray the printing and mailing cost of the certificate.

To see a list of Pioneer families we currently have, please click here.