Montgomery County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Montgomery County

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

Historical Facts
Montgomery County is named for Richard Montgomery who was an Irish-born Revolutionary War General most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.

Parent County

 * 1821--Montgomery County was created 12 February 1821 from Bond and Madison Counties. County seat: Hillsboro

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

Populated Places
To locate forgotton towns check the Montgomery County Genealogical Society web page.

Neighboring Counties

 * Bond
 * Christian
 * Fayette
 * Macoupin
 * Madison
 * Sangamon
 * Shelby

Biography

 * The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Montgomery County edition. This includes a state history section along with a county history and biographies of Montgomery 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.

Published Records


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists.
 * Records available at many libraries (WorldCat)
 * Google Books Enter Montgomery County Illinois in the search box.

Online Gravestone Transcriptions


 * 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.
 * Historical Society of Montgomery County Illinois Cemetery Burial Index. Can filter search by name, township or cemetery.
 * Montgomery 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.
 * Confederate soldiers buried in Montgomery County Courtesy of Illinois Trails.

Cemetery Gazetteers


 * ePodunk list of Montgomery 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.
 * Montgomery County Genealogical Society has a list of the cemeteries for the county alphabetically and by townships.
 * Historical Society of Montgomery County Ilinois Cemetery Locations. Can search by township.
 * Illinois State Genealogical Society Cemetery Location Project

Census
Censuses indexes from Montgomery County Genealogical Society

Federal Census

1830

1840

1850

1860

1870

1910

State Census

1825

1855

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, Montgomery County on page 187.]

Church Records
Church records may give birth, death and marriage information as well as indictate family relationships. See Illinois state wiki article Church Records for more ideas about how to use church records in your research.

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
 * Negro in Montgomery County - an article from the Illinois State Genealogy Society originally published in 1978

Land and Property
BLM GLO Records. Search original land patents for Montgomery County from the Govenment Land Office (GLO) or Eastern States Office. Some searches include images of the original warrants. All search results include the patant details needed for requesting copies of the land entry files at the National Archives. The GLO is the custodian of millions of land title documents. The General Land Office Automated Records Project is responsible for making these important documents available to the public.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales. The Illinois State Archives has an online index to the records of Public land sales held by the State Archives. The indexes are by purchasers name and by legal description. This is a statewide collection with nearly 550,000 land sales fro 54740 square miles.

IRAD–UIS land holdings for Montgomery County include:


 * 1837–1868 school land sale
 * 1865–1874 swamp lands sale
 * 1821–1848 taxable lands

Explore the IRAD–UIS wiki page for more information about how to use IRAD.

Various and land property abstracts may found in the  with a subject search.

Land records that include Montgomery County 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.
 * "U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796 to 1907:" Records of Illinois are among the 13 states included in this set. It includes images of the land patents which contain the information necessary for ordering the complete case files from the National Archives. This appears to be the same information that is online at the Federal Land Office site http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.
 * Sheldon, Theodore. Land registration in Illinois. Chicago: Callaghan Co., 1901. Digital book. Expains the laws regarding land and the land systems used in Illinois. Includes court cases involving land issues. In addition to being on Ancestry, this book is available online at no cost at Internet Archives and Google Books.

Maps
Federal Township Plat Map Courtesy of IRAD–UIS.

Military

 * Civil War Civil War service men from Montgomery 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 Montgomery County.


 * - 70th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C.
 * - 91st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.

Military Soldiers Indexed from Montgomery County Genealogical Society.

Obituaries
Montgomery County Genealogical Society has an index to obituaries for 1980 to 1981 and 1984 to 2009. They also have forms to request the obituary.

Probate Records
Original probate records are usually held by the circuit court clerk. Probate records include wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records. See the Illinois Probate wiki page for more information about these records. The following copies are available:

1850–1914 Probate Records. Includes indexes.

1849–1925 Will Records and Widow's Relinquishment

1860–1906 Index to Wills and Probates Montgomery County Genealogical Society

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

Family History Center
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.

The FHC center in Montgomery County is located in Litchfield. Be sure to call and visit the wiki page for hours of service and other information.

Litchfield Illinois Family History Center 12367 Roberson Rd Litchfield, Illinois 62056 217-324-2396

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site, if you live outside the area.

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.

The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) houses the records for Montgomery County. The link will help you find and use the records. There address is:

Illinois Regional Archives Depository LIB144 University of Illinois at Springfield Region One University Plaza, MS BRK 140 Springfield, Illinois 62703-5407 217-206-6520

Societies

 * Montgomery County, Illinois Genealogical Society has many searchable birth, death, schools, military, census, wills, and many more links. You can also order publications.
 * Historical Society of Montgomery County Illinois is a society for those who are interested in history of Montgomery County. There website has searches for births, marriages, deaths, cemeteries, land records, and military records. There are online sources for churches, schools, cemetery locations, and maps.

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 since 1877 are kept by the Montgomery County Clerk while those recorded after 1916 are kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health. with a copy to the County Clerk. A limited number of births were recorded between 1862 and 1877. Original marriage records are kept by the County Clerk from 1821 to the present. Original divorce records are generally in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through online databases, the as a subject search, and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the University of Illinois Springfield(UIS) - search for Montgomery County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD–UIS Wiki page.

Birth
Montgomery County Genealogical Society has: Birth records index 1862–1877

Marriage

 * 1821–1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
 * 1821–1895 Marriage Records (Index 1821–1968}
 * 1821–1915 Marriage records index Courtesy of the Montgomery County Genealogical Society.

Available through Ancestry.com $:


 * Montgomery county marriages in "Illinois Marriages 1790 to 1860." The source of this collection is films in the Family History Library's collection
 * Montgomery County marriages in "Illinois Marriages 1851 to 1900." The source of this collection is films in the Family History Library's collection

Death
Montgomery County does not have death records included in the pre-1916 statewide death index.


 * 1916–1950 Illinois Statewide Death Index
 * 1916–1921 Burial or Removal Permits
 * 1878–1905 Death records index Courtesy of the Montgomery County Genealogical Society.

Web Sites

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