Whiteside County, Illinois Genealogy

Guide to Whiteside County, Illinois ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and military records. Illinois Online Genealogy Records

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

Historical Facts


Whiteside County is named for Samuel Whiteside who was a commander in the War of 1812, a Colonel of the Territorial militia, and Brigadier General during the Black Hawk War. He also served in politics and helped select the site for the State Capitol.

Parent County

 * 1836--Whiteside County was created 16 January 1836 from Jo Daviess and Henry Counties. County seat:  Morrison

Description
The county was named for General Samuel Whiteside, an Illinois officer in the War of 1812 and Black Hawk War. The county seat is Morrison and the county was organized on 1836. The County is located in the North West area 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.

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

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:

Neighboring Counties

 * Bureau
 * Carroll
 * Clinton County, Iowa
 * Henry
 * Lee
 * Ogle
 * Rock Island

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, Whiteside County on page 188.]

Church Records
Church records may give birth, death and marriage information. It is usually best to locate church records with a search at a local level such as the city, town, or village. List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

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.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through the FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the NIU IRAD Wiki page.


 * 1855–1886 Chancery Court records
 * 1872-1886 Jail Registers IRAD-NIU

African American
The following have information concerning African American research.


 * 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

Local Histories

 * History of Sterling Township.
 * The Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society has published a history of Sterling.

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.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed online, through the FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD – Northern Illinois University|NIU IRAD Wiki page.


 * 1832-1870 Land patent record IRAD-NIU
 * 1839–1855 Land patent record
 * 1855-1871 Swamp Land Record IRAD-NIU
 * 1855–1883 Swampland record
 * 1865 Special bounty war tax judgments
 * 1800s-Present - Use the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land Patent Index to obtain original federal land transfer records including homestead, military warrants, and cash entry patents. These records help a research establish location and lead to National Archives' records which may include genealogical information. Earlier land transfer records are housed at the National Archives.
 * 1800s-Present - Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales from Illinois State Archives also provides an index to federal land sales.
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry ($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
 * Whiteside County Federal Township Plats

Maps

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

Civil War
Civil War service men from Whiteside 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 Whiteside County.


 * - 8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company C.
 * - 13th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and G.
 * - 34th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, and K.
 * - 52nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
 * - 93rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
 * - 140th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies A, B, and D.
 * - 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and G.
 * - 156th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records


 * 1800-1998 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1856-1991 Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991 at Ancestry - index and images, ($)

Newspapers and Obituaries

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


 * The Digital Archives of the Sterling Public Library has published more than 65,000 digital newspaper pages online for a number of local newspapers including Daily Gazette (2007), Evening Gazette (1887-1892), The Great Northwestern Fair (1884), Republican and Gazette (1861), Sauk Valley Sunday (2007), Sterling Daily Gazette (1917-1951), Sterling Evening Gazette (1894-1906), Sterling Gazette (1866-2007), Sterling Republican Gazette (1861-1865), Sterling Standard (1872-1928), The Sterling Times (1854), and Telegraph (2007).


 * The Sterling Public Library has published an index to the Sterling Daily Gazette that includes "births, engagements, marriages, marriage licesnse, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, divorces, obituaries, retirements, and individual accomplishments."

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 FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see theNIU 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.org — images
 * 1839–1931 Probate records, wills, administrators' records, executors' records, guardianship records, inventory records, and probate estate judgement records for Whiteside County probate records are also available in . Click on the browse through images link, select Whiteside County, and select the record type you are interested in.
 * 1839–1922 Estate and other probate records
 * 1842-1922 Will Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1845–1943 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1852–1904 Probate records

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

FamilySearch Centers

 * Davenport Iowa FamilySearch Center
 * Sterling Illinois FamilySearch Center


 * Clinton Public Library - Lyons Branch - an affiliate library
 * Geneseo Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Polo Public Library - an affiliate library

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)
The Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD), managed by the Illinois State Archives, houses 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.

The Northern Illinois University (IRAD-NIU) holds the records for Whiteside County. Learn more about finding and using their records.


 * Illinois Regional Archives Depository c/o Regional History Center Founders Memorial Library, Room 400 Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 Telephone: (815) 753-1807

Public Libraries

 * Albany Public Library District 201 South Main Albany, IL 61230 Telephone: (309) 887-4193


 * Erie Public Library 802 8th Ave. Erie, Illinois 61250 Telephone: (309)659-2707


 * Henry C. Adams Memorial Library 209 West Third Street Prophetstown, IL 61277 Telephone: (815) 537-5462


 * Odell Public Library 307 South Madison Street Morrison, IL 61270 Telephone: (815) 998-2012


 * Rock Falls Public Library District 1007 Seventh Avenue Rock Falls, IL 61071 Telephone: (815) 626-3958


 * Schmaling Memorial Public Library District 501 Tenth Avenue 501 10th Ave. PO Box 125 Fulton, IL 61252 Telephone: (815) 589-2045


 * Sterling Public Library 102 West Third Street Sterling, IL 61081 Telephone: (815) 625-1370

Societies

 * Lyndon Historical Society PO Box 112 405 4th Street West Lyndon, Illinois, 61261-0112 Phone 815-778-4962 Email:[mailto:lyndonareahistoricalsociety@yahoo.com lyndonareahistoricalsociety@yahoo.com] Facebook Website
 * Genealogy Contact: Carol Crady
 * Phone 815-499-7875 or 815-537-2843
 * Her Email:[mailto:sjc3crady@yahoo.com sjc3crady@yahoo.com]


 * Morrison Historical Society 202 East Lincoln Highway Morrison IL 61270 Phone 815-772-3013 or 815-772-4558
 * Prophetstown Area Historical Society 304 Washington St Prophetstown IL 61277 Phone 815-537-2224 E-mail:[mailto:jag1939@thewisp.net jag1939@thewisp.net] Facebook
 * Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society PO Box 65 1005 E. Third Street Sterling, IL 61081 Phone 815-622-6215 Facebook lWebsite
 * Tampico Area Historical Society PO Box 154 Phone 815-438-7581 or 815-718-3617 E-mail:[mailto:garyjoan@thewisp.net garyjoan@thewisp.net] Facebook Website
 * Tri-Township Heritage House 306 Lime St Albany IL 61230
 * (covers Albany, Garden Plain, Newton Twps.)

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.

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Whiteside County Clerkwhile 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 website of the Whiteside County Clerk explains how to order birth, marriage, and death records.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through online databases, the FamilySearch Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

Marriage Records

 * 1587-1959 Illinois, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index $
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHertitage($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810-1934 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1839-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index at Illinois State Archives; Index
 * Genealogy Trails History Group has an index for marriages online for Whiteside County.

Death Records

 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — index, some images
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1850,1860,1870,1880 U. S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 at Ancestry ($) These include the deaths occurring twelve months before the census was taken.
 * 1871-1891, 1908–1918 Coroner's record
 * 1892-1908 Coroner's record
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHertitage($)
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives - index
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Deaths, 1916-1950 at MyHeritage - index, ($)
 * 1951-1971 Illinois Death Certificates, 1951–1971 at Illinois State Archives - index

Additional resources for Whiteside County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the, and the topic pages of the FamilySearch Catalog. Online microfilm are indicated by the camera icon in the catalog entry. Copies of books found in the FamilySearch Catalog may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the FamilySearch Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Websites

 * Whiteside County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Whiteside County IL Genealogy
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Whiteside County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Whiteside County, Illinois (Genealogy Trails)
 * Whiteside County, Illinois (Genealogy Trails)