Macon County, Illinois Genealogy

Guide to Macon County, Illinois ancestry, genealogy and family history, birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

Description
The county was named for Nathaniel Macon, who served as a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. Macon later served as senator from North Carolina until his resignation in 1828. The county seat is Decatur and the county was organized on January 19, 1829. The County is located in the central part of the state.

County Courthouse
Macon County Courthouse 253 E Wood St Decatur, IL 62526 Phone: 217-425-7098 Macon County Courthouse

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

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:

Church Records
Church records may give birth, death and marriage information as well as indictate family relationships. See Illinois Church Records for more ideas about how to use church records in your research. Many libraries (WorldCat) and the hold abstracts of church records for Macon County. Learn more about how to search WorldCat and the FamilySearch Catalog.
 * Macon County, IL, Churches Index. Courtesy of ILGenWeb.
 * Early Church History for Macon County, Illinois Courtesy Genealogytrails.com. Includes Baptist, Catholic, Christian, Church of God, Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, United Brethren and Universalist Churches.
 * Forney, Christian Henry History of the Churches of God in the United States of North America (Board of Directors of the Publishing House and book rooms of the Churches of God, 1914.) Available for viewing at Google Books.

 List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

Court Records
County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for Macon County are kept, see the Macon County Courthouse page. Original court records are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. See Illinois Court Records for more information about using court records.

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1829-1904 Circuit Court Case Files including Criminal Files IRAD-UIS
 * 1830-1848 Circuit Court Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1831-1848 Court record, Vol. A-B
 * 1857-1871 Justice of the Peace Dockets IRAD-UIS
 * 1831-1866 Circuit Court Execution Files IRAD-UIS
 * 1869-1869 Circuit Court Dockets, Common Law IRAD-UIS
 * 1872-1934 County Court Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1878-1881 Circuit Court Cockets IRAD-UIS
 * 1883-1892 County Court Dockets IRAD-UIS
 * 1893-1910 County Court Judgment Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1893-1906 Insanity and Conservator's Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1893-1910 Insanity Dockets IRAD-UIS
 * 1895-1926 Insanity Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1899-1909 County Court Dockets, Criminal IRAD-UIS
 * 1900-1933 County Court Miscellaneous Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1831-1838 Hauffe, Jean Parks Abstracts of Macon County, Illinois Circuit Court records, book A, 1831- 1838 ;
 * Macon County Jail, 1930 Index of Prisoners, courtesy: Blacksheep Ancestors.
 * 1829-1861 Macon County Circuit Court Case Files Index Courtesy Illinois State Archives.

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
 African Americans
 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records
 * Illinois African-American Resource Guide by the Illinois State Archives describes what records are at the State Archives with an online method for ordering records.
 * African-American Resources for Illinois

Land and Property Records
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, through the FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the University of Illinois at Springfield - search for Macon County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the UIS IRAD Wiki page. Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1796-1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry ($)
 * 1829-1893 Deed Index IRAD-UIS
 * 1829-1901 Deed Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1830-1893 Land records index
 * 1830-1887 Deeds records
 * 1830-1874 Original entry
 * 1857-1893 Mortgage Record IRAD-UIS
 * 1871-1948 Chattel Mortgages IRAD-UIS
 * BLM GLO Records. Search original land patents for Macon County from the Govenment Land Office (GLO) or Eastern States Office. Some searches include images of the original warrants. All search results include the patant details needed for requesting copies of the land entry files at the National Archives.The GLO is the custodian of millions of land title documents. The General Land Office Automated Records Project is responsible for making these important documents available to the public.
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales. The Illinois State Archives has an online index to the records of Public land sales held by the State Archives. The indexes are by purchasers name and by legal description. This is a statewide collection with nearly 550,000 land sales fro 54740 square miles.
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
 * Macon County Federal Township Plats
 * 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.
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Maps and Gazetteers

 * 1788-1940 Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records

 * 1862-1965 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1879-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

 Civil War Regiments. Civil War service men from Macon 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 Macon County.
 * - 7th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company I.
 * - 8th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3 months, 1861), Companies A and B.
 * - 8th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A and B.
 * - 21st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.
 * - 41st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A and E.
 * - 63rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 70th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 115th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
 * - 116th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, C, D, E, G, I, and K.
 * - 145th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 150th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (1 year, 1865), Company I.
 * - 152nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (1 year, 1865), Company K.

 World War II
 * Decatur advertiser, November 11, 1943 honor roll Decatur, Illinois : Decatur Genealogical Society (Illinois), 200-? FS Library 977.3582/D1 M2h

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1800-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1856-1991 Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991 at Ancestry - index and images ($)

Newspapers

 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry - index ($)

 Current The website of the Decatur Herald Review provides free access to birth and death notices published in the newspaper since 1997.

Obituaries

 * 1879-2007 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Probate Records
Original probate records are usually held by the Macon. Probate records include wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records. Copies of probate records are held at IRAD. Explore how to search IRAD–UIS.

Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1819-1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
 * 1830-1872 Probate Case Files Index IRAD–UIS
 * 1830-1972 Estate Files Index
 * 1830-1890 Probate Case Files IRAD–UIS
 * 1830-1885 Estate Files
 * 1847-1916 Probate Will Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1847-1916 Will Records
 * 1860-1960 Probate Inventory Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1873-1939 Probate Administrator's Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1883-1904 Probate Widow's Relinquishment and Selection Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1887-1962 Probate Appraisement RecordIRAD–UIS
 * 1904-1957 Probate Heirship Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1943-1962 Probate Wills IRAD–UIS
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

In addition, IRAD maintains an online index to Other abstracted probate records for Macon County can be explored through a subject search of the (Probate Records), (Probate indexes) and WorldCat.
 * Macon County Circuit Court case files, 1829–1861.These records include chancery cases.Although, not officially probate records, chancery court records may include plaintiffs and defendants in property settlements.

Social Security Records

 * 1935-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index. Also at Ancestry, findmypast, Fold3, GenealogyBank, MyHeritage, and Steve Morse. Click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 at Ancestry ($) — index, click here for more information.
 * 1936-2007 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Vital Records
Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded since 1877 are kept by the Macon 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 kept by the County Clerk from 1829 to the present. Original divorce records are generally in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. Copies of original records may be accessed through the FamilySearch Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the University of Illinois–Springfield(UIS). Search Macon County records in the Local Governmental Records Holdings Database. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD–UIS Wiki page. found in the FamilySearch Catalog. Other libraries(at WorldCat) also hold copies of abstracted Macon County vital records. (How to explore WorldCat).

Birth

 * 1850-1922 Birth Records Index
 * 1850-1890 Birth Records Index IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD search for Macon County records.
 * 1877-1917 Birth record IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD search for Macon County records.

Marriage

 * 1587-1959 Illinois, United States Marriages at Findmypast — index ($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1810-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1829-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index search for Macon County records.
 * 1829-1930 Marriage records index IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD search for Macon County records.
 * 1829-1918 Marriage Records IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD search for Macon County records.
 * 1883-1884, 1889 Marriage License Applications IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD search for Macon County records.
 * 1829-1850 Illinois Marriages 1790 to 1860. Search for Macon county records.Ancestry ($). The source of this collection is films in the FamilySearch Library's collection
 * 1851-1900 Illinois Marriages 1851 to 1900. Search for Macon county records.Ancestry ($)The source of this collection is films in the FamilySearch Library's collection

Death

 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1844-1987 Burial Record, Soldiers and Sailors. Available at UIS IRAD Region. Search for Macon county.
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1877-1922 Death Records Index. Available at UIS IRAD Region. Search for Macon county.
 * 1877-1918 Death Record. Available at UIS IRAD Region Search for Macon county.
 * 1878-1902 Death Record, Stillbirths IRAD-UIS. How to Use IRAD search for Macon County records.
 * 1879-2007 Macon County, Illinois, U.S., Decatur Public Library Obituaries at Ancestry — index, images ($)
 * pre-1916 Pre–1916 Statewide Death Index at IRAD.
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Deaths, 1916-1950 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Statewide Death Index. Search for Macon County.
 * 1951-1971 Illinois Death Certificates, 1951–1971 at Illinois State Archives - index

Divorce

 * Macon County Divorce Index from newspaper abstracts Courtesy of USGenWeb.

Archives
 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 Macon 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

FamilySearch Centers

 * Champaign Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Decatur Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Jacksonville Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Normal Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Springfield Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Athens Municipal Library - an affiliate library
 * Champaign County Historical Archives - an affiliate library
 * McLean County Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Vespasian Warner Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries

 * Barclay Public Library 220 S. Main St. P.O. Box 349 Warrensburg, IL 62573 Phone: 217-672-3621 Website
 * They have a wide variety of genealogy and local history resources. They are also digitizing their collection, which can be accessed online and in the library.


 * Decatur Public Library 130 N. Franklin St. Decatur, IL 62523 Phone: 217-424-2900
 * Shilling Local History Room has newspapers, obituary index, cemetery listings, local directories.
 * A wiki article describing the online collection is found at:  Website


 * Maroa Public Library 305 E. Garfield Street Maroa, IL 61756 Phone 217-794-5111 Prairie Post Online Obituary Index Website

Museums

 * Macon County History Museum and Prairie Village 5580 North Fork Road Decatur, Illinois 62521 Phone 217-422-4919 Email:[mailto:info@mchsdecatur.org info@mchsdecatur.org] Website

Societies

 * Decatur Genealogical Society and Library PO Box 1548 1255 W. South Side Drive Decatur, IL 62525-1548 Phone: 217-429-0135 Email:[mailto:DecaturGenSoc@att.net DecaturGenSoc@att.net] Website

Websites

 * Macon County IL Genealogy
 * Macon ILGenWeb
 * Macon County, IL Linkpendium
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.