Illinois Cemeteries

Cemetery records, such as tombstone and sexton’s records, may give birth and death dates, age at death, name of spouse and children, and the maiden names. Sometimes they include birthplace. Tombstones may have symbols or insignias indicating military service and social or religious affiliations. Family members may also be buried nearby.

Locating Cemeteries
The Illinois Cemetery Project of the Illinois State Genealogical Society has identified hundreds of cemeteries and their exact locations in the state. This information is on their Internet site:

Cemetery Location Project. In Illinois State Genealogical Society. Springfield, Illinois: ISGS, 1999 [cited 19 July 1999]. Available at http://www.tbox.com/isgs/ilcemetery.html ; INTERNET. County-by-county listing of cemetery names, locations, and whether their tombstones have been abstracted. The information has also been published regularly since 1972 in Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly cited in the "Periodicals" section. Headstone abstracts are not part of this project.

Internet Tombstone Transcripts and Index

Genealogical society members often copy and publish tombstones inscriptions (abstracts) on paper or on the Internet. The USGenWeb Archives have headstone abstracts from over 70 cemeteries listed on their Internet site at:

The Illinois Tombstone Transcription Project. In USGenWeb Archives Digital Library [database on-line]. N.p.: USGenWeb Archives, 17 February 1999– [cited 15 July 1999]. Available at www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/illinois.html. This is a county-by-county list of cemeteries. The highlighted cemeteries on the web page include tombstone abstracts. Abstracted cemeteries are indexed in:

Search the USGenWeb Archives Digital Library. In USGenWeb Archives Digital Library [database on-line]. N.p.: USGenWeb Archives, 22 September 1997– [cited 15 July 1999]. Available at www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ussearch.htm. This web site indexes cemetery abstracts and other items. Select the state of interest, type the name of the ancestor you seek in the "Query" field, and click Search. For best results, use the "Search Tips" and examples at the bottom of the web page. The computer will list any matches it finds and give you the option of viewing the full transcript.

Print and Microfilm Abstracts
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) collection contains tombstone inscriptions from Illinois cemeteries. This collection, microfilmed at the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., also includes transcripts of Bible records, cemetery records, church records, family records, marriages, deaths, obituaries, and wills.

Daughters of the American Revolution (Illinois). Genealogical Collection. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970. (On 35 Family History Library films beginning with 848640.) The volumes are generally arranged by county and many have individual indexes.

An important collection of unindexed tombstone abstract records is:

Cemetery Records of Illinois. 13 Volumes. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society, 1960–66. (Family History Library book 977.3 V22g; films 824271–74.)

The Family History Library has a county-by-county list of cemeteries as of 1988:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Family History Library (Salt Lake City, Utah.) Index to United States Cemeteries. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988. (Family History Library films 1206468–94; another filming is on 1206461–7.) Illinois is on film 1206471 (or 1206463–64 for the other filming).

Another list of the names and addresses of cemeteries is in:

Beckstead, Gayle, and Mary Lou Kozub. Searching in Illinois: A Reference Guide to Public and Private Records. Costa Mesa, California: ISC Publications, 1984. (Family History Library book 977.3 D27b.) This is a good source for locating federal, state, county, and city or town records and resources. It also gives lists of cemeteries, libraries, and newspapers and shows addresses of genealogical and historical societies. This guide has a special emphasis for adoptees.

Several periodicals have published inscriptions and inventories from Illinois cemeteries. These are referenced in the "Places" section of the Periodical Source Index (PERSI), described in the "Periodicals" section.

For more information on cemetery records, see the United States Research Outline. To find more sources in the Family History Library Catalog, use a Place Search under:

ILLINOIS- CEMETERIES

ILLINOIS, [COUNTY]- CEMETERIES

ILLINOIS, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- CEMETERIES

For records on related record types, see the "Funeral Homes," "Obituaries," and "Vital Records" sections of this outline.

Web Sites
http://www.interment.net/us/il/index.htm

http://www.illinoisgenealogy.org/

http://illinoisgravestones.org/