Kane County, Illinois Genealogy

United States &gt; Illinois &gt; Kane County

Parent County

 * 1836--Kane County was created 16 January 1836 from LaSalle County. County seat:  Geneva

Record Loss
Geneva’s Damaging Blaze

Geneva, Ill., March 14,-Special Telegram.-The court house in this city which was destroyed by flames late last night, caught fire through spontaneous combustion, it is believed, in the floor between the jail and the County Clerk’s office at 9:30 p.m. The alarm was given by the prisoners in the jail, who fearing they could be cremated alive, yelled lustily for help. Sheriff Kelley was asleep when the fire originated, but was awakened by their cries and hastened to release them and provide other quarters. He then turned his attention to superintending the efforts to check the flames. There were two vats filled with water in the building, together with a limited supply of hose. These availed nothing, though the engineer kept the tanks filled until the building was clearly doomed. Telegrams asking for fire engines were sent to Aurora and Batavia, and both cities responded, but the apparatus did not arrive in time to prevent the total destruction of the building. The loss is supposed to be upward of $60,000, with insurance nearly sufficient to cover it. The building was erected in 1856. Most of the records have been saved, the main vault in the building succumbed to the flames. The Board of Supervisors will meet Tuesday next, and will probably take immediate steps for rebuilding. In the meantime the county officers are arranging for temporary quarters.

The Sunday Inter Ocean, Chicago, IL 15 Mar 1890 (source:GenDisasters)

Neighboring Counties

 * Cook
 * DeKalb
 * DuPage
 * Kendall
 * McHenry
 * Will

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

Cemeteries
Illinois cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation. Local volunteers through Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness may take photographs of headstones found in county cemeteries.


 * Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried. Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone.  May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.


 * Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Kane County and links to the information for the individuals buried there,


 * Kane Co. IL USGenWeb Tombstone Project usually gives the names of the deceased in alphabetical order by last name with birth and death dates plus any remarks.


 * Illinois Cemeteries by county


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries in Kane County. Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Kane County cemeteries gives the names of the cemeteries in the county with a link to more information such as address, phone number, and web site.

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Aurora
 * Batavia

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Family History Library Catalog
 * Elgin Genealogical Societyis a great gateway to sites to aid researches to this area.
 * Kane County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)