Clinton County, Illinois Genealogy

Guide to Clinton County, Illinois ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
Clinton County was named for New York Governor DeWitt Clinton. The county seat is Carlyle and was founded 1824. The county is located in the south-central area of the state.

County Courthouse
Clinton County Courthouse 850 Fairfax St Carlyle, IL 62231 Phone: 618-594-6600 Clinton County Courthouse County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for Alexander County are kept, see the Clinton County Courthouse page.

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit Hometown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

Census Records

 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

 Federal

 1840 Pensioners
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C., 1841. ; . Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). See Illinois, Clinton County on page 186.

Church Records
 Catholic FamilySearch has made parish records from 14 Belleville Diocese Catholic churches in Clinton County available online. The records include first communions, confirmations, marriages, and deaths:  List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * Clinton County Church Records available through WorldCat.org.
 * 1729-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
Illinois Court Records for more information on Court Records in Illinois. Online Court Indexes and Records

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
 African Americans
 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records
 * Illinois African-American Resource Guide by the Illinois State Archives describes what records are at the State Archives with an online method for ordering records.
 * African-American Resources for Illinois

Land and Property Records
Illinois Land and Property for more information on land records in Illinois. Land records for Clinton County are held in the office of the County Clerk and Recorder. The following abstracts and copies of records may be accessed through the FamilySearch Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Clinton County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1796-1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry ($)
 * 1818-1915 Deeds, 1818-1915 at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1818-1920 Entry books, 1818-1920 at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1818-1920 Deed Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1816-1890 Entry Books IRAD (SIU)
 * 1825-1915 Deed Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1857-1873 Plat Record, Roads IRAD (SIU)
 * 1858-1890 Mortgage records, 1858-1890
 * 1874-1908 Tax Deed Affidavits IRAD (SIU)
 * 1886-1891 Tax Judgment, Sale, Redemption and Forfeiture Record IRAD (SIU)
 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * Family maps of Clinton County, Illinois with homesteads, roads, waterways, towns, cemeteries, railroads and more. at FamilySearch Catalog; also at Other libraries (WorldCat).
 * Land atlas and plat book, Clinton County, Illinois, 1985, also at: Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database. Also available at Ancestry ($)
 * Clinton County Federal Township Plats
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) Collection The following records may be accessed through: IRAD-Southern Illinois University (SIU) and search for Clinton County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page
 * 1865-1948 Military Discharge Record

 Civil War Regiments. Civil War service men from Clinton County served in various regiments. Men often joined a regiment or a company (within a regiment)that originated in their county. Listed below are the military units that were formed in or had many men from Clinton County.
 * - 15th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company D (Clinton County Cavalry, O'Harnett's Cavalry Company).
 * - 22nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A
 * - 111th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies G and I.
 * - 117th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 150th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (1 year, 1865), Company F.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) Collection The following copies of records may be accessed through: IRAD-Southern Illinois University (SIU) and search for Clinton County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page

Circuit Court
 * 1857-1902 Naturalization Record, Final
 * 1858-1880 Naturalization Declarations of Intent
 * 1861-1900 Naturalization Record

County Court
 * 1854-1906 Naturalization Record
 * 1899-1903 Naturalization Record, Final

FamilySearch Library Collection
 * 1800-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1856-1991 Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991 at Ancestry - index and images ($)

Newspapers

 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

Probate Records
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Clinton County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1772-1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1819-1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * 1825-1898 Probate Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1825-1899 at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1825-1968 Probate Case Files Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1855-1863, 1866-1873 at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1855-1873 Probate Case Files IRAD (SIU)
 * 1857-1914 Probate Will Record Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1857-1928 at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1857-1928 Probate Will Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1864-1869 Probate Appraisement Record IRAD (SIU)
 * Wills Index Clinton County, Illinois, courtesy: ILGenWeb
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Vital Records
Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Clinton County Clerk while those recorded after 1916 are kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health. with a copy to the County Clerk. Original marriage records are usually kept by the County Clerk from the establishment of the county to the present. Original divorce records are generally in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. The following abstracts and copies of records may be accessed through online databases, the FamilySearch Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Clinton County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the Wiki article IRAD - Southern Illinois University.

Birth

 * 1867-1941 Birth Record Index, Delayed IRAD (SIU)
 * 1867-1941 Birth Record, Delayed IRAD (SIU)
 * 1874-1915 Delayed birth certificates, 1874-1915; index, 1874-1941
 * 1877-1898 Birth Certificates IRAD (SIU)
 * 1877-1915 Birth Records and IndexIRAD (SIU) and
 * 1884-1887 Falk, Dorothy. Clinton County Illinois Births Jan 1884 - June 3 1887, courtesy: ILGenWeb

Marriage

 * 1587-1959 Illinois, United States Marriages at Findmypast ($) — index
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1810-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1825-1856 Clinton County, Illinois marriages
 * 1825-1937 Marriage Record IRAD (SIU) and
 * 1825-1920 Marriages 1825-1920, courtesy: ILGenWeb (Split into several collections)
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1874-1937 Marriage Record Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1886-1914 Marriage applications volumes 2-10
 * 1886-1914 Marriage License Applications IRAD (SIU)

Death

 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1877-1903 Death Record Book 1 Index, Clinton County, Illinois December 1877 - June 1903, courtesy: ILGenWeb
 * 1877-1915 Death records, 1877-1915; still birth register, 1878-1911
 * 1877-1915 Death Record and IndexIRAD (SIU)
 * 1878-1916 Death Record, Stillbirths IRAD (SIU)
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHeritage ($)
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Deaths, 1916-1950 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1951-1971 Illinois Death Certificates, 1951–1971 at Illinois State Archives - index

Archives
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) IRAD is a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories managed by the Illinois State Archives, housing the archival records of local Illinois counties, townships, municipalities and school districts. The seven Regional Depositories are housed on state university campuses scattered throughout Illinois. Southern Illinois University houses the records for Clinton County.

FamilySearch Centers

 * Centralia Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * O'Fallon Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * St Louis Missouri FamilySearch Center
 * St Louis Missouri North FamilySearch Center
 * O'Fallon Public Library - an affiliate library
 * St Louis County Library - an affiliate library
 * St Louis Public Library - Central Library - an affiliate library
 * Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society - an affiliate library

Libraries
Case-Halstead Public Library 571 Franklin Street Carlyle, IL 62231 Phone: 618-594-5210 Fax: 618-594-8415 Email: [mailto:casehalstead@gmail.com casehalstead@gmail.com] Website Breese Library 530 North Third Breese, IL 62230 Phone: 618-526-7361 Email: [mailto:bra@breeselibrary.org bra@breeselibrary.org] Website

Societies
Clinton County Historical Society 1091 Franklin Street Carlyle, IL 62231 Phone: 618-594-7907 Email: [mailto:clintoncountyilhistoricalsoc@gmail.com clintoncountyilhistoricalsoc@gmail.com] Facebook

Websites

 * Clinton County IL Genealogy
 * Clinton IL GenWeb
 * Clinton County, IL Linkpendium
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.