Illinois Biography

Online resources

 * Illinois Biography Project
 * County and Town Histories with biographies
 * Encyclopaedia of biography of Illinois, 1902, Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2
 * Who's who in Illinois, women-makers of history, e-book
 * History of Illinois and her people, v.1, e-books. Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5, Vol. 6
 * Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Vol. 1, e-book, Vol. 2, Vol. 3
 * Biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of the representative men of the United States : Illinois volume, e-book
 * The biographical encyclopædia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, e-book

Biographies provide useful genealogical information such as a person’s birth date and place; names of family members, including maiden names; education; occupation; and social, political, and religious affiliation. They may also contain a physical description of the person, previous residences, and immigration information. Biographies are the product of family knowledge or previous research about early settlers and prominent citizens of a state, county, or town. Local histories may contain biographical sketches of lesser-known people.

Biographies in Local Histories

 * Biographical information is often found in state, county, and town histories.
 * Towards the end of the 19th century, began publishers soliciting short biographical/family histories from local founding families, offering to publish them in an upcoming local history. This then became an incentive for family members to buy a copy of the book.
 * Families represented were not necessarily prominent. Practically everyone living there, especially in the Midwest, counted as an early settler.
 * These biographies often start with the first member of the family to settle in the area, and detail their descendants at the time of publishing. They may tell where the family moved in from. Children's marriages often are given, with maiden names included.

Finding Biographies

 * The county Wiki page lists several county histories. It also lists local libraries, and societies which probably have copies of local histories.
 * Many histories are no longer under copyright and can be found in the following online, digitized book collections. Search with keywords "History" and "the name of your locality" (state, county, or town).
 * FamilySearch Books
 * Google Books
 * World Cat
 * HathiTrust
 * Internet Archive
 * The FamilySearch library has extensive collections of these local histories. Many are digitized. Search the FamilySearch Catalog under your locality for the topics "Biography" and "History".

Major Biographical Collections
Two major archives and libraries in Illinois have biographical indexes to local histories and other sources in their collections. The Illinois State Archives has card indexes to biographies (not every name) found in selected local histories. The archives also have most of the collection of county biographical volumes edited by Newton Bateman, titled Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois (subtitles, places, and dates of publication vary by county). Many of these are also at the FamilySearch Library. See Illinois History for more information about this source. Listing of available counties and where to access the respective volumes.


 * Bateman, Newton, et. al. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois. Chicago, Illinois: Munsell Pub., 1908.

The Illinois State Historical Library, a division of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, has an extensive collection of local histories. It has a biographical card index to about 10,000 Illinoians featured in local histories and other sources. The library also has every-name indexes to some of the histories. Many of its printed sources are available through interlibrary loan, and the library will do limited searches for a fee. Excellent collections are also at the Newberry Library. See Illinois Archives and Libraries for addresses.

Biographical Encyclopedias
Examples of statewide biographical encyclopedias are:


 * Encyclopedia of Biography of Illinois. Three Volumes. Chicago, Illinois: Century Publishing and Engraving, 1892–1902.Other libriaries(WorldCat)
 * The United States Biographical Directory and Portrait Gallery of Eminent Self-made Men, Illinois Volume. Two Volumes. Chicago, Illinois: American Biographical Publishing, 1876. This book is a reprint of the 1883 edition, published under a slightly different title.
 * Illinois Biographical Dictionary: People of All Times and All Places Who Have Been Important to the History and Life of the State. New York, New York: Somerset, 1993.Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * The Biographical Encyclopedia of Illinois of the Nineteenth Century. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Galaxy Pub., 1875.Other libraries (WorldCat)

Statewide Collections

 * The Illinois Biographies Project offers biographies from several Illinois counties.
 * State Archives Online
 * Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Libraries
 * Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Home
 * Access Genealogy Illinois Biographies
 * Numerous Illinois Family Biographies from historical county histories are available free online at:My Genealogy Hound