Hardin County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Hardin County

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

Historical Facts
Large numbers of Kentuckians settled in frontier Hardin County, Illinois. Names of the county (Hardin) and the county seat (Elizabethtown) are reminiscent of Hardin County, Kentucky - the previous residence of many pioneer settlers.

Parent County

 * 1839--Hardin County was created 2 March 1839 from Pope County. County seat:  Elizabethtown

Record Loss
May 19, 1884 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research
 * http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424

Cemeteries
The Illinois Cemeteries page provides general explanations of the following online Hardin County resources:

Catholic
FamilySearch has made parish records from a Belleville Diocese Catholic church in Hardin County available online. The records include first communions, confirmations, marriages, and deaths:


 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.

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.

The following copies of records may be accessed through the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Hardin County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

IRAD (SIU)
 * 1821-1839 Circuit Court record, Volumes A-B
 * 1892-1955 Police Magistrate Dockets
 * 1915-1963 Justice of the Peace Dockets IRAD (SIU)

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

Land and Property
The following copies of original records are available:


 * 1880–1904 Grantor index
 * 1880-1904 Grantee index
 * 1880–1942 Deeds
 * 1814-1879 Land book
 * 1865–1885 Entry book

Probate Records
The following copies of original records are available:


 * 1884–1888; 1888–1926 Probate court records; Will 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 Hardin County are kept, see the Hardin County Courthouse page.

Vital Records
The following abstracts are available:

Births:


 * 1879–1889 Ferrell, Ed. Revised births as recorded in Hardin County newspapers, 1879-1889.

Marriages:


 * 1873–1914 Ferrell, Ed. Abstracts from Hardin County newspapers, 1873–1914: to reconstruct records lost in fire of 1884: Illinois State Historical Library microfilms. Juneau, AK: E. Ferrell, 1988.


 * 1884–1891 Lee, Judy Foreman and Carolyn Cromeenes Foss. Hardin County, Illinois marriage register 1 May 1884–December 1891, volume I with annotations plus earlier marriage dates gleaned from other sources. Evansville, Indiana: Evansville Bindery, 1996.

Deaths:


 * 1884–1919 Reynolds, Marion Lavender. Hardin County, Illinois deaths, 1884–1919, and notes from the Pleasant Hill church register. Harrisburg, Illinois : M.L. Reynolds, c1995.


 * Ferrell, Ed. Abstracts from Hardin County newspapers: Illinois State Historical Library microfilms. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988.

Newspapers with vital record information:


 * 1850s–1930s Reynolds, Marion Lavender. Early newspaper clippings of Hardin County, Illinois from Uncle George Lavender's scrapbook. Harrisburg, Illinois : M.L. Reynolds, 1994, c1994. Other libraries (WorldCat)


 * 1871–1908 Reynolds, Marion Lavender. Hardin County, Illinois newspaper abstracts. Harrisburg, Illinois: M.L. Reynolds, c1992. Other libraries (WorldCat)

The following copies of original records are available:

Births:


 * 1884–1942 Index of births
 * 1884–1918 Births, register and record

Marriages:


 * 1884-1969 Index of Marriages
 * 1884–1929 Marriage Register

Deaths:


 * 1884-1946 Index of deaths
 * 1884–1919 Death register and record

Places / Localities
To see a list of places in Hardin County, click on [Show], in the bar above. The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Hardin County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Hardin County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)