Madison County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Madison County

County Organization
Madison County's civil records start the following years:

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

Historical Facts


Madison County is named for James Madison, the fourth president of the United States.

Parent County

 * 1812--Madison County was created 14 September 1812 from St. Clair County. County seat: Edwardsville

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Madison County boundary changes.

Places / Localities
To see a list of places in Madison County, click on [Show], in the bar above. The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

Cemeteries
The Cemeteries of Madison County, Illinois are documented in sixteen volumes of cemetery and tombstone inscription books prepared by the Madison County Genealogical Society. All sixteen volumes are available on-line at the Illinois Digital Archive. The volumes are organized by township, and are fully text searchable. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has burial records for Alton National Cemetery and other Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries around the country.

The Illinois Cemeteries page provides general explanations of the following additional online Madison County resources:

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

Elsie Wasser's transcriptions of the Illinois State Census for 1845, 1855, and 1865 for Madison County are available on the Illinois Digital Archive site as part of the Madison County Genealogical Resources collection.

1840 Pensioners

 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C., 1841. ; ; digital version at Google Books. [See Illinois, Madison County on page 187.]

City Directories

 * A transcription of The 1866 Madison County Directory (Genealogy trails) is available online. This directory is part of James T. Hair's Gazetteer of Madison County (Google Books). See p.161 for the County directory, p.205 for Alton, and p.239 for Upper Alton.
 * The St. Louis County Library has Alton City Directories 1858 and 1889-1935 available in their Special collections Department of the Main Headquarters Branch.

Court Records
Court Records of Madison County, Illinois, 1818-1821, World Cat

Illinois, Madison County court records, 1813-1818, and indenture records, 1805-1826 : register of slaves, indentured servants &amp; free persons of colour, with individual indexes, World Cat

Madison County, Illinois circuit court in chancery records, 1825-1911 First of 10 films.

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

Land and Property

 * 1796-1907U.S General Land Office Records at Ancestry–($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Recordsat Ancestry–($)


 * 1814-1910 Deed Records First of 92 films.
 * 1814-1910 Index - IRAD-EIU Search for Douglas records. How to use IRAD
 * 1814-11879 - IRAD-EIU Search for Douglas records. How to use IRAD
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales
 * Federal Township Plats of Illinois

A Gazetteer of Madison County, Containing Historical and Descriptive Sketches... (Google Books) published in 1866 by James T. Hair covers the geography and history of Madison County from the 1600's, and includes a directory of residents as of 1866. Also available on Ancestry ($).

Local Histories

 * The Madison County Genealogical Society publication A Complete Surname Index to the History of Madison County, Illinois is available on-line at the Illinois Digital Archive as part of the Madison County Genealogical Resources collection.
 * A fully-digitized copy of the original book, The History of Madison County, Illinois with Biographical Sketches of many Prominent Men and Pioneers, published in 1882 by W.R. Brink and Company, Edwardsville, Illinois, is available for free at Internet Archive and for a fee at the subscription sites Ancestry ($) and HeritageQuest Online ($).
 * Norton, William T. Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and Its People: 1812 to 1912. Chicago: Lewis Pub., 1912. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Maps
Maps of townships (Histopolis)

Military

 * Civil War Civil War service men from Madison 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 Madison County.


 * - 26th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F
 * - 27th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D and F
 * - 59th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 97th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies G and I.

Newspapers and Obituaries

 * Search the Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) database for a listing of historic newspapers available for Madison county.


 * The Edwardsville Spectator (1819-1826) is available on-line at genealogybank.com ($). Ancestry.com ($) has some issues of the Edwardsville Intelligencer from 1869-1977


 * Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line for the Madison County cities of Alton, Edwardville, and Troy. Some libraries including Hayner Public Library provide free access to this database. It is often listed under the name Access Newspaper Archive.

Probate Records
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.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through, the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Madison County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the SIU IRAD Wiki page.

Abstracts


 * 1813-1815 Records and Indentures

Copies of Original Records


 * 1813-1903 Probate Case Files First of 383 films.
 * 1818-1981 Probate Records First of 31 films.
 * 1813-1910 Probate Case Files - IRAD-EIU
 * 1859-1966 Probate Inventory Record - IRAD-EIU
 * 1821-1970 Probate Record - IRAD-EIU
 * 1818-1963 Probate Will Record - IRAD-EIU

Online Resources


 * Madison County Probate Case Files Index
 * Madison County Probate Case Files Index, 1813-1910, courtesy: Illinois State Archives.
 * Madison County Probate Case Files Index, 1813-1903, courtesy: Genealogy Trails.
 * 1819-1929 An unspecified number of Madison County probate records are available in.

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

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Alton Illinois Family History Center

Public Libraries
Hayner Public Library located in Alton, Illinois has genealogical information including maps, city directories, marriage records and cemetery transcriptions in its Genealogy &amp; Local History Library.

Societies
Madison County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 631 Edwardsville, Illinois 62025-0631

The Madison County Genealogical Society maintains a library at the: Edwardsville Public Library 112 S. Kansas Edwardsville, Illinois 62025 Phone: (618) 692-7556

Vital Records
See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois.

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Madison 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 original records may be accessed through online databases, the Family History Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Madison County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the SIU IRAD Wiki page.

Births

 * 1846-1915 Index Birth certificates- IRAD (SIU)
 * 1846-1900 Birth certifictes- IRAD (SIU)
 * ca. 1846-1916 Birth certificate index
 * 1846-1916 Birth reports First of 13 films.

There are a number of birth records on the ILGenWeb site.

Marriages

 * 1813-1908 Index Marriage records- IRAD (SIU)
 * 1813-1903 Marriage records- IRAD (SIU)
 * 1790-1860 Illinois Marriages, 1790-1860 at Ancestry–($);Index, INCOMPLETE
 * 1813-1908 Marriage index
 * 1813-1903 Marriage records First of 3 films.
 * Illinois Statewide Marriage Index

Deaths

 * 1878-1915 Index Death records- IRAD (SIU)
 * 1878-1900 Death certificates- IRAD (SIU)
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index
 * 1878-1915 Death index
 * Arranged by certificate number Death records First of 4 films.
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates

There are a number of death records on the ILGenWeb site.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History(Linkpendium)
 * Genealogytrails
 * Genealogytrails