Mercer County, Illinois Genealogy

Guide to Mercer County, Illinois ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records. Illinois Online Genealogy Records

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

Historical Facts
Mercer County is named for Hugh Mercer who was a General of the Revolution and a close friend to George Washington. He died as a result of wounds received in battle during the Battle of Princeton.

Parent County

 * 1825--Mercer County was created 13 January 1825 from unorganized territory and Pike County. County seat: Aledo

Description
The county was named for Hugh Mercer (1726–1777), a physician and general during the American Revolution who died from wounds suffered at the Battle of Princeton. The county seat is Aledo and the county was organized on January 13, 1825. The County is located in the West area of the state.

Boundary Changes
For animated maps illustrating Illinois county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Illinois County Boundary Maps" (1790-1869) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Records Loss
There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

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:

Neighboring Counties

 * Des Moines County, Iowa
 * Henderson
 * Henry
 * Knox
 * Louisa County, Iowa
 * Muscatine County, Iowa
 * Rock Island
 * Warren

Biography

 * The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Mercer County edition. This includes a state history section along with a county history and biographies of Mercer County residents. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

Cemeteries
The following web sites have additional information on Mercer county cemeteries.


 * Mercer County Cemeteries by GenealogyTrails.com is a list of cemeteries in Mercer county.


 * Illinois Ancestors Tombstone Project.


 * Mercer County Cemetery Records. Interment.com has a cemetery records available online.


 * Mercer County Cemetery by Linkpendium.com has links to several related websites.


 * The Mercer County Cemeteries by Illinois State Genealogical Society's "Cemetery Location Project" has identified many cemeteries.

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, Mercer County on page 187.]

Church Records
List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

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.


 * The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Mercer County edition. Church information can be found in the township histories beginning on page 658. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

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.

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

Local Histories

 * History of Mercer and Henderson Counties Together with Biographical Matter, Statistics, Etc. Chicago, Illinois: H.H. Hill and Company, 1882. ; digital versions at Ancestry ($), and Internet Archive (free)
 * Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Mercer County. Chicago: Munsell Pub. Co., 1903. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Land and Property
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 through online sources, the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Western Illinois University (WIU) - search for Mercer County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the WIU IRAD Wiki page.

Abstracts


 * 1935 Thomas, Clarence C. Township plat book of Mercer County, Illinois: supplement of the official directory of Mercer County 1935. [S.l. : s.n., 19--]. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Copies of original records


 * 1834–1901 Deed Index IRAD–WIU
 * 1834–1901 Deed Record IRAD–WIU
 * 1834–1954 Entry Books IRAD–WIU
 * 1979 Land atlas and plat book Other libraries (WorldCat) FHL book 977.3395 R2m

Online Resources


 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * Mercer County Federal Township Plats

Maps

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)
 * FamilySearch Places:Cities and Towns- How to Use FS Places

Civil War
Civil War service men from Mercer 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 Mercer County.


 * - 9th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 17th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 26th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C.
 * - 27th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.
 * - 30th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A and G.
 * - 37th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.
 * - 45th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 65th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Scotch Regiment), Company B.
 * - 83rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 84th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 102nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, C, E, G and K.
 * - 124th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.
 * - 126th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.
 * - 140th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company F.

Naturalization
Original naturalization records are held in the office of the County Clerk. See Illinois Naturalization Records for more information about using naturalization records.

Online Records


 * 1800-1998 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Newspapers and Obituaries

 * NewspaperArchive.com ($) has historical newspapers online including Burlington, Iowa newspapers dating back to the mid 1800's that may have included Mercer County residents. This database is free at some libraries.

Poorhouse

 * Mercer County Almshouse Registers Index, 1859-1948, courtesy: Illinois State Archives


 * 1859–1986 Almshouse Registers IRAD–WIU

Probate Records
Online Probate Records
 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1819 - 1988 at FamilySearch.org — images

Original estates and wills are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. See Illinois Probate Records for more information about using probate 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 Mercer County are kept, see the Mercer County Courthouse page.

Family History Center
There are over 4500 Family History Centers in more than 80 countries offering public access to genealogical records from all over the world. Family History Centers provide patrons with access to over a billion online records and approximately 2.5 million circulating microfilms. Centers are staffed by local volunteers who are eager to provide genealogical research assistance. Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in Mercer County. To find the nearest Family History Center, check out the Family Search Centers page on the FamilySearch.org website.

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. Western Illinois University houses the records for Mercer County.

Public Libraries
Aledo Mercer Carnegie Public Library District 200 N. College Av. Aledo, IL 61231 Telephone: 309-582-2032 Fax: 309-582-5155 Email: [mailto:mercer.carnegie@mchsi.com mercer.carnegie@mchsi.com]

New Windsor Public Library District 412 Main Street New Windsor, IL 61465 Telephone: 309-667-2515 Facebook

Sherrard Library District 200 5th Avenue Sherrard, IL 61281 Telephone: 309-593-2178 Fax: 309-593-2179 Facebook

Societies
Mercer County Historical Society 1406 Se 2nd Avenue Aledo 61231-2504 Telephone Number:309-582-2280 Website

Mercer County Genealogical and Historical Society RR 2 Aledo 61231

Essley-Noble Museum and Mercer County Historical Society 1406 SE 2nd Avenue Aledo, IL 61231 Telephone Number: 309-582-2280 E-mail: [mailto:mcmuseum@frontier.com mcmuseum@frontier.com] Website

The Essley-Noble Museum in Aledo Illinois is a friendly and well staffed genealogy resource for those researching Mercer County. They specialize in having an INDEXED cross-referenced obituary collection going back to the early publication dates for the local papers. They also have microfilms available for these papers. They just completed (2010) a project for all the cemeteries in the county which contains GPS locations, which is particularly useful when trying to locate the small and hidden cemeteries in the townships. Currently the museum is collecting civil war veteran photos, biographies, histories from Illinois, specifically in Mercer County.

Although the genealogy section is in a corner of the Museum it is well worth the visit. The majority of the building is devoted to collections of period attire, house wares and other antiques.

Vital Records
See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois. See also How to order Illinois Vital Records or order electronically online.

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Mercer County Clerk 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 usually kept by the County Clerk from the establishment of the county to the present. Original divorce records are generally in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk.

Marriages
Online Resources


 * 1587-1959 - Illinois, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
 * 1790–1860 Illinois Marriage indexfound at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810-1934 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index

Deaths
Online Resources
 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — index, some images
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * 1850-1885 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 found at Ancestry.com ($)

Websites

 * Mercer County ILGenWeb
 * Mercer County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Mercer County IL Genealogy
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Mercer County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Mercer County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)