Ford County, Illinois Genealogy

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

County Organization
County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for Ford County are kept, see the Ford County Courthouse page.

Historical Records
This county is named for Governor Thomas Ford, its eighth governor.

Description
The county was named for Thomas Ford, who served as Governor of Illinois from 1842 to 1846. The county seat is Paxton and the county was organized on 1859. The County is located in the East-central part of the state.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Illinois county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Illinois County Boundary Maps" (1790-1869) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.


 * 17 February 1859: Ford County was created from Clark County. Note: An earlier attempt to create Holmes County (proposed), on 31 January 1857 in the same general area, was unsuccessful. (Ill. Laws 1859, pub., pp. 29-33) (source:Newberry Library}

Record Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Biography

 * Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County1892.


 * History of Ford County, by E.A. Gardner.

Cemeteries

 * Genealogy Trails Ford County Listings
 * Cemetery Records of Ford County. Daughters of the American Revolution

Census
For information and tips on using and accessing online census records, see Illinois Census.

Church Records
The Farmersville Settlement, by Shirley Hildman Johnson.

''A County History: Ford County History: Ford County, Illinois. ''by Ford County Historical Society, c. 1984 has a section on church records.

Court Records
Original court records are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. See Illinois Court Records for more information about using court records.

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

History

 * History of Ford County, Illinois:From it's Earliest Settlement to 1908 :(Ancestry)

Land and Property
Original land records are held in the office of the County Clerk. See Illinois Land and Property for more information about using land records


 * 1885-1890 Deed Record. IRAD-ISU
 * 1888-1897 Chattel Mortgage Extensions. IRAD-ISU
 * 1938-1952 Chattel Morgage Record. IRAD-ISU

Index
1860-1941 Chattel Mortgage Index. IRAD-ISU

Available through the Family History Library

1837-1901 Grantor and Grantee Indexes, and Deed Records '''1859-1904. ''' first film of eighteen

Online Resources


 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records Available at www.ancestry.com ($). This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence.
 * Ford County Federal Township Plats

Library

 * Paxton Carnegie Library 254 S. Market St. |Paxton, Illinois (217)379-3431


 * Melvin Public Library 102 S. Center St. Melvin, Illinois (217)388-2421


 * Moyer Library 618 S. Sangamon Ave. Gibson City, Illinois (217)784-5343


 * Loda Township Library 105 E. Adams St. Loda, Illinois (217)386-2783


 * Piper City Public Library 39 W. Main Street Piper City, Illinois (815)686-9234


 * Cullom Memorial Library Inc. 103 Hack Street Cullom, Illinois (815)689-2720


 * Rankin Public Library 121 S. Main St. Rankin, Illinois (217)397-2133

Family History Centers
Introduction to Family History Centers

There are no Family History Centers in Ford County.

The nearest facitlity is:

Champaign Illinois Family History Center 604 Windsor Road Champaign, Illinois (217)352-8063

Maps

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)

Military
For information about using Military records see Illinois Military Records

Civil War
Civil War service men from Ford 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 Ford County.


 * [76th Regiment, Illinois Infantry|76th Regiment, Illinois Infantry]], Company K.


 * List of Pensioners on the Roll January 1, 1883 (Source: Internet Archives)

World War I

 * World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Source: Ancestry.com $ )

World War II

 * World War II Casualities, Army and Army Air Corps (Source: Access Genealogy)

Naturalization and Citizenship
Original naturalization records are held in the office of the County Clerk. See Illinois Naturalization Records for more information about using naturalization records.

The following copies of original records may be accessed through the Family History Library


 * 1859-1906 Naturalization Records.

Online Records
 * 1800-1998 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers
Newspapers Published in Ford County (Source: Illinois Newspaper Project)

Chronicling AmericaFord County (Source: The Library of Congress)

Cataloged Titles (Source: Illinois Newspaper Project)

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

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1819 - 1988 at FamilySearch.org — images

Original estates and wills are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. See Illinois Probate Records for more information about using probate records.

1860-1942 Will Record, 1859-1929 Administrator's Record, and 1859-1953 Guardian Record. Ford County Courthouse.

Repositories
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. Illinois State University houses the records for Ford County.


 * County Courthouse

County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for Ford County are kept, see the Ford County Courthouse page.


 * Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)

Illinois State Universtiy (ISU) 2016 Warehouse Road Campus Box 1520 Normal, Illinois 61802 Phone: 309-452-6027

Illinois Regional Archives Depository System

Illinois State University Region

Societies
Ford County Historical Society Facebook Home

Taxation
1833-1876 Taxable Lands Lists. IRAD-ISU

Vital Records
See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois. See also How to order Illinois Vital Records or order electronically online.

IDPH Registrar of Vital Records Room 101 Courthouse 200 West State Street Paxton, IL 60957 1-217-379-2721

Order Birth and Death Certificates Online

Births

 * 1878-1909 Birth Record Index
 * 1878-1901 Birth Records. IRAD-ISU

Available through the Family History Library

1870-1909 Index to Birth Records, Birth Records, 1878-1909

Marriages

 * 1587-1959 - Illinois, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810–1934 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1859-1983 Marriage Record Index. IRAD-ISU. Available throught the Family History Library
 * 1859-1927 Marriage Record. IRAD-ISU. Available through the Family History Library FHL|23833|itme|disp=FHL films 1401877 - 1401878

Deaths

 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1878-1915 Death Record Index. IRAD-ISU
 * 1878-1901 Death Record. IRAD-ISU

Available through the Family History Library

1878-1901 Index to Deaths, Register of Deaths, 1878-1901

Websites

 * Ford County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Ford County IL Genealogy
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Ford County ILGenWeb Part of the USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county.
 * Databases Pertinent to Ford County


 * Local Governmental Records Database


 * Name Index to Illinois Local Governments


 * Illinois Statewide Marriage Index


 * Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916–1950


 * Illlinois Statewide Death Index, pre-1916


 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database


 * Federal Township Plats of Illinois