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United States Illinois  McHenry County

History and Geography


McHenry County was created 16 January 1836 from Cook County. Historically, all or part of the present county were parts of the following counties :

1831–1836  Cook 1831–1836   LaSalle 1825–1831   Putnam 1823–1825   Fulton 1821–1823   Pike 1819–1821   Clark 1816–1819   Crawford 1815–1816   Edwards 1812–1815   Madison 1801–1812   St. Clair 1795–1801   Knox, Northwest Territory

If your ancestor lived in what is now McHenry County prior to the county formation in 1836, you may find records mentioning your ancestor in one of the counties listed above.

McHenry County borders the following counties:


 * Boone
 * Cook
 * DeKalb
 * Kane
 * Kenosha County, Wisconsin
 * Lake
 * Walworth County, Wisconsin

Birth
Birth records were recorded beginning in 1877...

Marriage Records
Search the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900 at the Illinois State Archives web site for McHenry County marriages from the county formation date through 1900.

Marriages, 1880-1979 -- These indexes represent a list of couples whose notice of marriage license issued, or marriage performed or wedding conducted, or news items for anniversaries celebrated, appeared in the weekly Crystal Lake Herald newspaper. Information was not necessarily limited to residents of Crystal Lake and/or Nunda Township. Researchers should look for variant spellings within each index.

The Index, broken down by 10 year intervals, gives:


 * Bride’s name
 * Groom’s name
 * Issue date and page

Death Records
An Index to McHenry County Death records from 1916-1950 is available as part of the Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 on the Illinois State Archives web site. Use the index to discover the death date and death certificate number for an ancestor, then contact the McHenry County Clerk to order the corresponding death certificate.

McHenry County death certificates prior to 1916 are not included in the Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre–1916 on the Illinois State Archives web site (as of July 2011).

Court
22nd Judicial Circuit Court, Public Case Access to search for family court cases. Database also includes traffic violations, small claims, and criminal complaints.

Land
Walk-In: McHenry County Recorder Administration Building 667 Ware Rd. Woodstock, IL 60098

By mail: McHenry County Recorder Government Center 2200 N. Seminary Ave. Woodstock, IL 60098

Land records are extraordinarily accessible in McHenry County. The County Recorder's web site includes a free web search. The index to deeds, mortgages, affidavits, liens, and more can be searched by name and/or document type and/or date. The system can return a maximum of 200 hits, and begins with the most recent transactions first. Because the index contains thousands of entries, searchers may need to include a date range as well as surname, to ensure that the oldest records are included in the results.

Records from the original leather-bound first volume of the McHenry County Commissioners’ Court Minutesfrom 1837 - 1848 are available in PDF format online at the County Recorder's site, as well. This Board established precincts (townships would come later), set the rate for taxable property, and began the process of laying out roads and determining the location for the county seat. Because Lake County wasn't divided off until March of 1839, early Lake County information is included.

Family Maps of McHenry County, Illinois (2008) plats the land of many nineteenth-century McHenry County residents. The publisher's bookstore includes a free online surname index.

Civil War
Civil War service men from McHenry County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of McHenry County.


 * -3rd Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company A (pictured above, 1863).
 * -36th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * -52nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * -95th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, C, D, F, H, and I.

Probate
An unspecified number of McHenry County probate records are available in the FamilySearch collection. Records include Non-Probated Wills 1886-1976, Probate Records 1840-1843, Probate Records v. 4 1844-1985,and overlapping collects of Will Records: 1898-1923 and 1915-1919.

Voter Registration
The 1877 Biographical Directory of the Tax-payers and Voters of McHenry County includes listings of men registered to vote or who paid taxes in 1877. Some listings include brief biographies giving his occupation, the date and place of birth for both the man and his wife, their marriage date, and the number of children.

African American
The following have information concerning African American research.


 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records


 * Illinois State Archives pamphlet on African American Research describes what records are at the State Archives with an online method for ordering records.
 * African-American Resources for Illinois

Cemeteries
Illinois cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.


 * Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried. Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone.  May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.
 * Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in McHenry County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.
 * McHenry Co. IL USGenWeb Tombstone Project usually gives the names of the deceased in alphabetical order by last name with birth and death dates plus any remarks.
 * Illinois Cemeteries by county.
 * The Family History Library Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.
 * ePodunk list of McHenry County cemeteries gives the names of the cemeteries in the county with a link to more information such as address, phone number, and web site.

Church Records
An index to the Early Records of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Johnsburg, McHenry County, Illinois, Volume I, 1852-1868 has been created by the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society.

Local Histories
History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens : also a condensed History of Illinois, embodying accounts of pre-historic races, aborigines, Winnebago and Black Hawk wars, and a brief review of its civil and political history. Chicago: Inter-State Pub. Co., 1885, 991 pgs. (Heritage Quest)

History of McHenry County, Illinois; Chicago: Munsell Pub. Co., 1922, 1076 pgs. (Heritage Quest)

Maps
http://gis.mchenrycountygis.org/athena/

Newspapers
Crystal Lake Herald

Daily Herald Elgin Courier News

Woodstock Independent, 1987-present

Northwest Herald

Algonquin
The Algonquin Area Newspapers Index includes obituaries appearing in the Northwest Herald and Algonquin/Lake in the Hills Countryside from January 1, 2005 - Present. Selected obituaries mentioning Algonquin or Lake in the Hills from the Daily Herald and Elgin Courier News are also included.

Crystal Lake/Nunda
The McHenry County Genealogical Society has created an index to the names of deceased individuals whose notice of death appeared in the weekly Crystal Lake Herald newspaper. Information was gleaned from obituaries, death notices, police reports, and newspaper articles and is not necessarily limited to residents of Crystal Lake and/or Nunda Township. It was not unusual for a death notice to appear months and even years after the event, particularly in the case of war dead. Researchers should scan several indexes when searching for the name of a specific individual and look for variant spellings within each index.

Index to Deaths Appearing in the Nunda (Crystal Lake) Herald


 * 1880-1890
 * 1891-1895
 * 1896-1900
 * 1901-1903
 * 1904-1905
 * 1906-1910

Index to Deaths Appearing in the Crystal Lake Herald


 * 1911-1915
 * 1916-1920
 * 1921-1925
 * 1926-1930
 * 1931-1935
 * 1936-1940
 * 1941-1945
 * 1946-1950
 * 1951-1955
 * 1956-1960
 * 1961-1965
 * 1966-1969
 * 1970-1973
 * 1974-1976
 * 1977-1979

Algonquin Area Public Library
2600 Harnish Dr. Algonquin, IL 60102 (847) 458-6060

Genealogy and Local History collections at the Algonquin Area Public Library are described in the document Genealogy Pathfinder for Algonquin Library. Digital resources include the Algonquin Area Obituary Index, a searchable listing of selected obituaries mentioning Algonquin or Lake in the Hills from from the Daily Herald and Elgin Courier News beginning January 1, 2005.

The Illinois Digital Archives includes a collection of Algonquin and Lake in the Hills photos and documents.

Crystal Lake Family History Center
480 N Walkup Ave Crystal Lake, IL 60014 815/459-7475

Family History Centers are branches of FamilySearch's Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and circulate microfilm and microfiche from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Contact the Crystal Lake Family History Center to learn more about their facilities and resources.

Crystal Lake Historical Society
PO Box 1151 Crystal Lake, IL 60039-1151

The Crystal Lake Historical Society is located in the Colonel Palmer House at the intersection of Illinois Route 176 and Terra Cotta Road in Crystal Lake. Their Research/Archives Room resources include newspapers from 1875, published county and local histories, atlases, maps and family files. On-line resources include the Index to Death Notices/Obituaries in the Nunda/Crystal Lake Herald, which provides details of name, age, date of death and date of burial for more than 33,000 people, dating back to 1875.

Crystal Lake Public Library
126 Paddock Street Crystal Lake, IL 60014 815.459.1687 815.459.9581 fax

The Crystal Lake Public Library has a genealogy collection that is helpful in McHenry County research. On-line resources include indexes to the the Lake Avenue, Mt. Thabor, and Union cemeteries.

Illinois State Historical Society
P.O. Box 1800 Springfield, IL 62705-1800 217/525-2781

The Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1950-2006)

Illinois Heritage (1997-2008)

Marengo-Union Library
200 S. State St. Marengo, Illinois 60152 815/568-8236

Woodstock Public Library
414 W. Judd Street Woodstock, IL 60098 815/338-0542 http://www.woodstockpubliclibrary.org/

A significant genelogical resource available through the Woodstock Public Library's Genealogy and Local History web site is the on-line searchable Woodstock Surname Index, an every-name index of 13 local history publications.

Many of the library's local history pamphlets and local ephemera have been digitized are available on the LookAtIllinois web site. How to Research Your Old House is an excellent research guide to library collections and county records.

The library has made its local historic photos collection available on-line through Flickr, in the Woodstock Illinois Historic Photographs collection.

Reference librarians are very knowledgeable about Woodstock-area genealogical resources, and are accessible through the library's Contact Us on-line reference request form.

Web Sites

 * McHenry County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * McHenry County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)