Illinois, United States Genealogy

United States Illinois

Unique genealogical features:


 * Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD)
 * Newberry Library, Chicago
 * Learn Chicago big city research: history, places, and resources
 * FamilySearch Historical Record Collections includes 11 indexed and 6 image-only collections.

Illinois Counties
Adams • Alexander •  Bond •  Boone •  Brown •  Bureau •  Calhoun •  Carroll •  Cass •  Champaign •  Christian •  Clark •  Clay •  Clinton •  Coles •  Cook •  Crawford •  Cumberland •  DeKalb •  DeWitt •  Douglas •  DuPage •  Edgar •  Edwards •  Effingham •  Fayette •  Ford •  Franklin •  Fulton •  Gallatin •  Greene •  Grundy •  Hamilton •  Hancock •  Hardin •  Henderson •  Henry •  Iroquois •  Jackson •  Jasper •  Jefferson •  Jersey •  Jo Daviess •  Johnson •  Kane •  Kankakee •  Kendall •  Knox •  Lake •  LaSalle •  Lawrence •  Lee •  Livingston •  Logan •  Macon •  Macoupin •  Madison •  Marion •  Marshall •  Mason •  Massac •  McDonough •  McHenry •  McLean •  Menard •  Mercer •  Monroe •  Montgomery •  Morgan •  Moultrie •  Ogle •  Peoria •  Perry •  Piatt •  Pike •  Pope •  Pulaski •  Putnam •  Randolph •  Richland •  Rock Island •  Saline •  Sangamon •  Schuyler •  Scott •  Shelby •  St. Clair •  Stark •  Stephenson •  Tazewell •  Union •  Vermilion •  Wabash •  Warren •  Washington •  Wayne •  White •  Whiteside •  Will •  Williamson •  Winnebago •  Woodford •  Extinct or Renamed Counties:  Dane •  Illinois Country •  Knox (1790-1809)

See also Illinois County Creation Dates and Parent Counties.

Mouse over a county to see its name and click to go directly to that county page. For a larger version of the map, see Illinois Counties Map.



Major Repositories
Newberry Library· Illinois State Archives· Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)· Illinois State Library· Illinois State Historical Library (ISHL)· National Archives Great Lakes Region (Chicago)· Allen County Public Library

Migration Routes
Illinois River· Mississippi River· Ohio River· Wabash River· Lake Michigan· Buffalo Trace· Chicago-Dubuque Highway· Chicago-Kaskaskia Road· Detroit-Chicago Road· Kellog Trail· Mihoaukee Trail· Nashville-Saline River Trail· National Road (or Cumberland Road)· Old Chicago Road· Pecatonica Trail· Russellville-Shawneetown Trail· Illinois and Michigan Canal· Santa Fe Railway· Great Northern Railway (U.S.)· Illinois Central Railroad

Research Tools

 * Cook County Genealogy Online is a free (requires registration) index of births 1871-1936, marriages 1856-1961, and deaths 1871-1991.
 * Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915 Index and 55,233 images. Search fields: first name, last name, place, year, parents' names.
 * Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1922 Index and 1,434,175 images. Search fields: first name, last name, place, year, parents' names.
 * Illinois County Marriages, 1810-1934 Index 9 percent complete; no images. Counties: Adams, Alexander, Bond, Boone, Brown, Champaign, Christian, Clark and Clay.
 * Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 Free statewide or countywide searches by groom's name, bride's name or both.
 * Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920 Index and images. Search fields: first name, last name, place, year, spouse's names.
 * Illinois Statewide Death Index 1878-1916 Free statewide or countywide name searches; no images. This is an on-going project.
 * Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922 Index and 1,429,365 images. Search fields: first name, last name, place, year, spouse's name, parents' names.
 * Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1945 Index only. Search fields: first name, last name, place, year, spouse's and parents' names.
 * Illinois State Census, 1855 Index and images. Search fields: first name, last name, place, spouse's and parents' names.
 * Illinois, Diocese of Belleville, Catholic Parish Records, 1729-1956 34,135 images of baptisms, communions, confirmations to 1907; marriages to 1930; deaths to 1956. Includes images of indexes in some volumes.
 * Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950 1,493,775 petition index card images in Soundex number order for parts of IL, IN, WI, &amp; IA.
 * Illinois Probate Records, 1819-1970 427,770 images of wills, indexes and other estate documents.
 * Illinois GenWeb Offers free statewide and county resources.
 * Illinois Genealogy Trails - presenting free transcribed data
 * Looking 4 Kin Genealogy &amp; Family History Network - Illinois
 * David Rumsey Map Collection for Illinois contains a large online collection of rare, old, antique historical atlases, globes, maps, charts plus other cartographic treasures.
 * The United States Vessel Enrollments for the Great Lakes region. The transcriptions are from a project that involved an attempt to transcribe all steamboat enrollments for Great Lakes ports prior to 1861, all vessels for Detroit and Cleveland up to 1861, and Buffalo up to 1841 are included in the file. The set includes 5741 enrolments in which just under 2000 individual vessels are named, over 6000 people were identified.

Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * Illinois 1855 State Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Illinois 1865 State Census (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Illinois Belleville Catholic Church Records, (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Illinois Births and Chirstenings (FamilySearch Historicl Records)
 * Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Illinois County Marriage Records (FamilySearch Historical Recoords)
 * Illinois, Macon County, Decatur Public Library Collections (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Illinois Marriages (FamilySearch Historiacal Records)
 * Illinois, Northern District, Indexes to Naturalization Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)
 * Illinois, Tazewell County, Obituary Card Index from the Pekin Times (FamilySearch Historical Records))
 * Illinois Probate Books (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Obtain additional help

 * Call or chat with an experienced researcher
 * Join a Facebook Group
 * Consult a Professional Genealogist

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