Lake County, Illinois Genealogy

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

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

Historical Facts
Lake County is named for Lake Michigan which Lake County borders.

Description
The county was named for Lake Michigan. The county seat is Waukegan and the county was organized on March 1, 1839. The County is located in the Northeast part 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.

Prior to County Formation


 * 1795-1801 - Lake part of Knox County and the Northwest Territory
 * 1801-1812 - Lake part of St. Clair County
 * 1812-1815 - Lake part of Madison County
 * 1815-1816 - Lake part of Edwards County
 * 1816-1819 - Lake part of Crawford County
 * 1819-1821 - Lake part of Clark County
 * 1821-1823 - Lake part of Pike County
 * 1823-1825 - Lake part of Fulton County
 * 1825-1831 - Lake part of Putnam County
 * 1831-1836 - Lake part of Cook County
 * 1836-1839 - Lake part of McHenry County

County Formation and After


 * 1839 - Lake County created from McHenry County

For more information see Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties or Lake County Fact Sheet (Illinois State Archives). For interactive county boundary maps see Illinois County Boundaries, 1790-Present, Illinois Historical Counties

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

 * Cook
 * Kenosha County, Wisconsin
 * McHenry

Biography

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

Cemeteries

 * In 1946, the Aaron Miner Chapter D.A.R. (Chicago) prepared a List of Cemeteries in Cook - Lake - Will Counties Containing Graves of the Military Dead Who Served in the Wars of the United States. Ancestry ($) digitized this publication.

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

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.


 * USGenWeb's list of Lake County Churches provides numerous church histories.

Catholic


 * Koenig, Harry Corcoran. A History of the Parishes of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois: The Archdiocese, 1980. This two volume set includes indexes. The archdiocese covers Cook and Lake counties.


 * Koenig, Harry Corcoran. A History of the Institutions of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois: The Archdiocese, 1981. This two volume set includes indexes. The archdiocese covers Cook and Lake counties.

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.


 * 1857-1963 County Court Case File Index IRAD-NIU; search for Bureau County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1840-1898 Lake County Circuit Court Case Files Index at Illinois State Archives


 * 1840-1898 Circuit Court Case Files IRAD-NIU; search for Lake County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1857-1963 County Court Case Files IRAD-NIU; search for Lake County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1930-1941 Jail Registers IRAD-NIU; search for Lake County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

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

Genealogy
Federal Land Sales of residents of Lake County, Illinois have been annotated with genealogical and geographical information by Historic Millburn Community Association Incorporated. The material has been placed in an Online Historical Archives.

History

 * [1831–1857] McHenry and Lake County Old Settlers' Association members. Courtesy of Illinois Trails.

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 or through the Family History Library.

Copies of original records


 * 1834–1855 First land purchase maps
 * 1886, 1896 Land tax judgements, sales, redemptions and forfeitures

Online Resources


 * 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.
 * 1800s-Present - Federal Land Sales of residents of Lake County, Illinois have been also been annotated with genealogical and geographical information by the Historic Millburn Community Association Incorporated. The material has been placed in an Online Historical Archives.
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
 * Federal Land Sales Buyers by Name courtesy Historic Millburn Community Association, Inc.
 * Lake County Federal Township Plats

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Lake County land and property may be found online in the, and. 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.

Maps

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Civil War
Civil War service men from Cook 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 Cook County.


 * - 8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company A.
 * - 15th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 17th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company I.
 * - 37th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies C and F.
 * - 39th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
 * - 51st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.
 * - 64th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Yates’ Sharpshooters), Company K.
 * - 65th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Scotch Regiment), Company F.
 * - 96th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B, C, D, and G.
 * - 144th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (1 year, 1864-65), Company F.
 * - 146th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 153rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (1 year, 1865), Company H.

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Records
 * 1800-1998 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1819 - 1988 at FamilySearch.org — images

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 Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Lake County records. For information on how to use IRAD see theNIU IRAD Wiki page.

Lake County Court Probates from 1840-1900 are available at Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) - Northern Illinois University Region located at Founders Memorial Library, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, or

There are almost 4000 probate folders in the boxes. You have to have a Box Number or you will not be able to locate the probate folder. The boxes have aprox 2 years of probate in them until you hit 1882. Some of the file folders are not in numeric order. Lake County Genealogical Society Quarterly. Libertyville IL: Mar 1987. Vol. 7 Iss. 3 index #1-200. Further Persi search has failed to locate an index to these files as of Mar2010.


 * 1840-1900 Probate Case Files IRAD-NIU


 * 1840-1963 Probate Case Files Index IRAD-NIU

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

Family History Centers
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States) and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy.

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site. The following centers serve Lake County:


 * Buffalo Grove Illinois Family History Center

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 Lake 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

Other Repositories
Part of the Lake County Discover Museum, the Lake County History Archives' collection includes photos, postcards, maps, a Civil War collection, school histories, and more.


 * Lake County History Archives 27277 N. Forest Preserve Rd. Wauconda, IL 60084 Telephone: (847) 968-3381



Societies
Lake County (Illinois) Genealogical Society PO Box 998 Mundelein, IL 60060-4534

Lake County Genealogical Society Research Facility offers census records, family histories, indexed probate records, an obituary file, and more records related to Lake County and the surrounding area. Hours are limited so call before you visit.
 * Lake County Genealogical Society Genealogy Room 290 Evergreen Dr. Vernon Hills, IL Telephone: (847) 918-3584

The LCIGS has an extensive list of genealogical resources including:
 * Index to Births (1866-1915)
 * Index to Cemetery transcirption books by township Index to Church records Index to Marriages, 1839-1916


 * Index to Naturalizations,1854-1920
 * Index to Obituaries (Index to Waukegan News-Sun, 1950s - present)
 * Index to Deaths, 1877-1901
 * Index to Burials, Peterson Funeral Home, 1865-1945
 * Index to Probates, 1848-1963
 * Probate records on microfilm, to about 1900
 * Wills
 * Index to Surnames in the LCIGS Quarterly Journal

See the LCIGS web site for more information, including the costs associated with a lookup request, and the form to request a looks-up.

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 Lake 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 website of the Lake County Court Clerk explains how to order birth, marriage, civil union, death, and adoption records.

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 Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Lake County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

Birth Records
Copies of Original Birth Records


 * 1866-1893 Birth Records and Certificates IRAD-NIU
 * 1866–1875, 1877–1905 Birth records [only 7 certificates in 1866–187]
 * 1871–1905 Birth record index
 * 1877-1905 Birth Record Index IRAD-NIU
 * 1922-1941 County Hospital Birth Records IRAD-NIU

Marriage Records
Online Resources


 * 1810–1940 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1815-1935 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Marriages from Illinois counties at FamilySearch — index

Copies of original Marriage Records


 * 1839-1915 Marriage Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1893-1905 Marriage License Applications IRAD-NIU
 * 1839-1918 Marriage Record Index IRAD-NIU

Death Records
Online Resources
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1877-1901 Death Records IRAD-NIU; search for Lake County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives; Index+

Copies of original Death Records
 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — index, some images
 * 1862-1918, 1933 Record of burial certificates of soldiers, sailors or Marines [only 1 for 1933]
 * 1877-1901 Deaths
 * 1916-1938 Death Record Index IRAD-NIU; search for Lake County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1922-1972 County Hospital Death Records IRAD-NIU; search for Lake County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

Additional Resources
Additional resources for Lake County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the, 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

 * Lake County, IlGenWeb
 * Lake County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Lake County IL Genealogy
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Lake County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Lake County, Illinois Genealogy, Faces and Records Resources (familytree101)
 * Lake County, Illinois Genealogy, Faces and Records Resources (familytree101)