Mercer County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Mercer County

Mercer County Organization
Mercer 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 Mercer County are kept, see the Mercer County Courthouse page.

Historical Facts
Mercer County is named for Hugh Mercer who was a General of the Revolution and a close friend to George Washington. He died as a result of wounds received in battle during the Battle of Princeton.

Parent County

 * 1825--Mercer County was created 13 January 1825 from unorganized territory and Pike County. County seat: Aledo

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Des Moines County, Iowa
 * Henderson
 * Henry
 * Knox
 * Louisa County, Iowa
 * Muscatine County, Iowa
 * Rock Island
 * Warren

Biography

 * The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Mercer County edition. This includes a state history section along with a county history and biographies of Mercer County residents. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

Cemeteries
Illinois cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.


 * 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 Mercer County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * Mercer 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 of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Mercer 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.

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, Mercer County on page 187.]

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

Local Histories

 * History of Mercer and Henderson Counties Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. Chicago, Illinois: H.H. Hill and Company, 1882. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($), and Internet Archive (free)
 * Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Mercer County. Chicago: Munsell Pub. Co., 1903. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

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.

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

Abstracts


 * 1935 Thomas, Clarence C. Township plat book of Mercer County, Illinois: supplement of the official directory of Mercer County 1935. [S.l. : s.n., 19--]. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Copies of original records


 * 1834–1901 Deed Index IRAD–WIU
 * 1834–1901 Deed Record IRAD–WIU
 * 1834–1954 Entry Books IRAD–WIU
 * 1979 Land atlas and plat book Other libraries (WorldCat)

Online Resources


 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * Mercer County Federal Township Plats

Civil War
Civil War service men from Mercer 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 Mercer County.


 * - 17th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 26th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C.
 * - 27th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.
 * - 30th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A and G.
 * - 37th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.
 * - 45th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 65th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Scotch Regiment), Company B.
 * - 83rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 84th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 102nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, C, E, G and K.

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

Newspapers and Obituaries

 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Burlington, Iowa newspapers dating back to the mid 1800's that may have included Mercer County residents. This database is free at some libraries.

Poorhouse

 * Mercer County Almshouse Registers Index, 1859-1948, courtesy: Illinois State Archives


 * 1859–1986 Almshouse Registers IRAD–WIU

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.

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

Family History Center
There are over 4500 Family History Centers in more than 80 countries offering public access to genealogical records from all over the world. Family History Centers provide patrons with access to over a billion online records and approximately 2.5 million circulating microfilms. Centers are staffed by local volunteers who are eager to provide genealogical research assistance. Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in Mercer County. To find the nearest Family History Center, check out the Family Search Centers page on the FamilySearch.org website.

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. Western Illinois University houses the records for Mercer County.

Societies
The Essley-Noble Museum located at 1406 SE 2nd Ave. in Aledo Illinois is a friendly and well staffed genealogy resource for those researching Mercer County. They specialize in having an INDEXED cross-referenced obituary collection going back to the early publication dates for the local papers. They also have microfilms available for these papers. They just completed (2010) a project for all the cemeteries in the county which contains GPS locations, which is particularly useful when trying to locate the small and hidden cemeteries in the townships. Their current project is collecting civil war veteran photos, biographies, histories from Illinois, specifically in Mercer County. Although the genealogy section is in a corner of the Museum it is well worth the visit. The majority of the building is devoted to collections of period attire, house wares and other antiques. Visit their web site at mcmuseum@frontier.com for current hours (the volunteers currently staff the facility three days a week) and other details. The mailing address is PO Box 269 Aledo, IL 81231,

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 Mercer 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.

Marriages
Online Resources


 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
 * 1790–1860 Illinois Marriage indexfound at Ancestry.com ($)

Deaths
Online Resources


 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
 * 1850–1885 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 found at Ancestry.com ($)

Web Sites

 * Mercer County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Mercer County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)