Greene County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Greene County

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

Historical Facts


Greene County was named for Nathanael Greene who was a major general during the American Revolution, becoming Washington's most dependable officer.

Parent County

 * 1821--Greene County was created 20 January 1821 from Madison

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Calhoun
 * Jersey
 * Macoupin
 * Morgan
 * Pike
 * Scott

Cemeteries
Illinois cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.


 * 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.


 * Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Greene County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * Greene 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.


 * Illinois Cemeteries by county.


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists . Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Greene 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.
 * Cemetery Location Project of the Illinois State Genealogical Society lists Green County cemeteries with their locations and notations about their status and condition. It also links to a site with cemetery transcriptions made in the 1970s by Florence Hutchison.
 * Cemetery transcriptions compiled in the 1970s by Florence Hutchison. Each cemetery included its location and some include images. Not all cemeteries on the page incude links to transcriptions.
 * WorldCat lists several books of Greene County cemetery records. See what libraries near you have Green County cemetery records.
 * Linkpendium has many links to cemetery records and cemetery projects in Greene County. Some are transcriptions, others contain photos of headstones. The source of many of the links is the Morgan Area Genealogical Association.

Census
For tips on accessing census records online, see Illinois Census.

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, Greene County on page 187.]

Church Records
Churches of many denominations abound in Greene County. The leading denominations in oyder of membership are currently Evangelical denominations, Catholic, American Baptist churches, Assemblies of God, Christian (Disciples of Christ), Presbyterian, and Methodist. For a guide to Greene County churches on the internet Click Here.

Court Records
IRAD Holdings:


 * Circuit Court execution dockets 1821 to 1840
 * Jail registers 1836 to 1972

How to use 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

History
History of Greene County -- Its Past and Present by Clement L. Capp can be viewed for no charge online at the Internet Archive. "The book is dated 1879, so it includes the history of the county and its residents from the beginning of the county up to 1879. This is a wonderful resource for a genealogist if they have family that lived in Greene County before 1879. The book has 784 pages and contains detailed information on the history of the county, including the history of the towns within Greene County. There are illustrations of farms, pioneer dwellings, companies, and Indians and their impact on the history of the county. Portraits are also included of some of the early pioneers. The book also contains maps, War Records, Directories, and an abstract of Illinois State Law." It can also be downloaded to view on a Kindle.

Land and Property
IRAD Holdings


 * Deed records1824 to 1887
 * Entry books 1821 to 1853
 * Estray papers 1831 to 1971
 * Estray records 1866 to 1904
 * School land sale records 1834 to 1859

BLM GLO Records. Search original land patents for Greene 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.

Land records that include Bond 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.

Land records at Family History Library


 * Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Greene County, Illinois. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Pub. Co., 2007
 * Green County Deed records from the Probate and County Courts. Indexes 1821 to 1926, Deeds 1830 to 1887
 * Green County Deed records from the Justice of the Peace 1822 to 1837

Military
IRAD Holdings


 * Military Discharge records 1863 to 1801
 * Military Dicharge records index 1862 to 1981
 * Military Discharge records, Civil War 1865 to 1891
 * Militia roll records 1861 to 1862

Civil War Civil War service men from Greene 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 Greene County.


 * - 59th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.
 * - 61st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, E, and G.
 * - 91st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies G, H, I, and K.

Probate Records
Original probate records are held by the circuit court clerk. Probate records include wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records. No probate records are held at IRAD. Explore how to search IRAD–UIS. The following copies are available in the Family History Library Catalog:


 * 1836–1923Index to Probate Files Online images. Browse for Greene records. {{{{FHL|180583|item|disp=1306488 item 3}}
 * 1836–1981 Estate Index {{FHL|380196|item|disp=FHL Film 1310079}}
 * 1836–1848Probate Index Online images. Browse for Greene records.
 * 1836–1917Probate Records{{RecordSearch|1834344}} Online images. Browse for Greene records.
 * 1836–1981 Probate Records {{FHL|180583|item|disp=FHL Film 1306488 (first of 14 films)}} Includes indexes to all records.
 * 1845–1915Will Record{{RecordSearch|1834344}} Online images. Browse for Greene records.
 * 1836–1921 Will Records {{FHL|330740|item|disp=1306486–1306488}}
 * 1864–1927Inventory Records {{FHL|380196|item|disp=FHL Film 1310079–1310083}}

County Courthouse
Greene County Courthouse 519 N. Main Street Carrollton, IL 62016-1033

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

Greene county does not have a family history center. Center addresses are not mailing addresses. Some of the nearest centers are:


 * Alton Illinois Family History Center 6500 Humbert Rd Godfrey, Illinois Telephone: 618-466-4352
 * Jacksonville Illinois Family History Center 1053 E. Vandalia Rd Jacksonville Illinois Telephone: 217-245-8113

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)
The Archives hold many records for Greene County. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page

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

Public Libraries
Carrollton Public Library  509 South Main Street Carrollton, IL 62016-1251 (217) 942-6715 e-mail: cte@lcls.org Website

Greenfield Public Library 515 Chestnut Street Greenfield, IL 62044 Phone: (217) 368-2613 Fax: (217)368-2613 Website

Roodhouse Public Library 220 West Franklin Street Roodhouse, IL 62082 Phone: (217) 589-5123

White Hall Township Public Library 119 East Sherman Street White Hall, IL 62092 Phone: (217) 374-6014 Fax: (217) 374-6554 E-mail: whelib@gcctv.com Website

The White Hall Libraryhas a genealogy file, which contains dates of birth, death, and marriages, which have appeared in the local newspaper, dating 1869 to present time. These newspapers are on microfilm, and are used in the library by people throughout the U.S. We also have other local history information available for use in the library.

Societies
Greene County Historical and Genealogical Society P.O. Box 137 Carrollton, Illinois 62016 (217) 942-6013

The Greene County Historical &amp; Genealogical Society is located in the Lee-Baker-Hodges House on North Main Street on the northwest corner of the square in Carrollton, Illinois. The Society Library and Museum hours are currently Wednesday &amp; Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The entrance is at the side door at the top of the ramp. For more information, see their website.

The genealogical society has a file folder for each surname. The folders contain summaries of newspaper articles, burial locations (including some unmarked graves) and extractions of marriage and probate records.

The courthouse is located across the street and the County Clerk's office is open on Monday through Thursday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. The courthouse has birth, marriage and death records that they will search for a fee. There are originals of wills that you can see and copy for a minimal cost.

Vital Records
Marriages 1821 to 1891 with indexes 1821 to 1981; Birth records 1877 to 1901 with index to delayed births ca. 1860 to 1972; Death records 1877 to 1901 with indexes 1877 to 1901

Many of these records are available at the IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD

Births
IRAD holdings:


 * Birth records 1877 to 1901
 * Birth records Index 1877 to 1981
 * Birth recods index, delayed 1862 to 1972

Marriages
IRAD holdings:


 * Marriage records 1821 to 1901
 * Marriage records index 1821 to 1981

Available through Ancestry.com $:


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

Deaths
Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois offers the following online free death indexes:


 * Deaths 1909-1911
 * Greene County Patient Deaths at the Illinois State Hospital
 * WWII U.S. Army Deaths
 * Index to Greene County Illinois Inquest Files
 * Simpson Funeral Home Records
 * Coroner's Record Books: Book 1 (1874-1883) and Book 2 (1884-1919)

IRAD holdings:


 * Death records 1877 to 1901
 * Death records index 1877 to 1981

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Greene County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Greene County, Illinois (Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois) Cemeteries, Census, Death Records, Local Histories, Military, Naturalizations, Newspapers, Probate Index, Soldier's and Sailor's Home
 * Greene County, Illinois (Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois) Cemeteries, Census, Death Records, Local Histories, Military, Naturalizations, Newspapers, Probate Index, Soldier's and Sailor's Home