Illinois, United States Genealogy

''This article is about the mid-western state of the United States. For other uses, see Illinois (disambiguation)''. United States   Illinois


 * Join a Community of Illinois researchers! Ask questions, help others, and share your research successes on Facebook and/or Skype. NEW!

Illinois Counties
Extinct or Renamed Counties:  Dane

Click on the map below to go to a county page. Hover over a county to see its name. To see a larger version of the map, click here.

Major Repositories
Newberry Library· Illinois State Archives· Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)· Illinois State Library· Illinois State Historical Library (ISHL)· National Archives Great Lakes Region (Chicago)· Allen County Public Library

Migration Routes
Illinois River· Mississippi River· Ohio River· Wabash River· Lake Michigan· Buffalo Trace· Chicago-Dubuque Highway· Chicago-Kaskaskia Road· Detroit-Chicago Road· Kellog Trail· Mihoaukee Trail· Nashville-Saline River Trail· National Road (or Cumberland Road)· Old Chicago Road· Pecatonica Trail· Russellville-Shawneetown Trail· Illinois and Michigan Canal· Santa Fe Railway· Great Northern Railway (U.S.)

Featured Content
The Illinois State Genealogical Society Internet page gives contact information, newsletter archives, collection and project descriptions, events calendar, speakers, and key databases.

Research Tools

 * 8+ million births, marriages, and deaths of Cook County are online at Cook County Genealogy Online.
 * The Chicago, Illinois Wiki page describes big city research including history, neighborhoods, available record types, societies, and ethnic groups.
 * Statewide Marriage Index
 * Illinois Statewide Death Index before 1916 gives name, death date, county, locale, age, sex, and citation. This is an on-going project.
 * The Illinois GenWeb Project has links to county formation information, birth, marriages, death, and cemeteries for each county.
 * BYU Research Outline for Illinois

Did you know?

 * Pre-statehood settlers of English and Ulster Scots descent came from Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Kentucky by way of the Ohio River, where they joined a few hundred Frenchmen already in the area. The first blacks came to Illinois in 1719 with the French, but their numbers remained few until after the Civil War. Indian tribes relinquished their last remaining Illinois lands shortly after the Black Hawk War of 1832.
 * Many archives and libraries in the state have resources such as maps, gazetteers, and other place-finding aids to help you locate information about Illinois. They may have collections of previous research, such as family and local histories and biographies. Many have record-finding aids such as guides to their own collections or inventories of records housed elsewhere in the state.

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