McDonough County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  McDonough County

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

Historical Facts
McDonough County is named for Thomas McDonough whose most notable achievement was when, as commander of American naval forces during the War of 1812, he won the decisive Battle of Lake Champlain.

Parent County

 * 1826--McDonough County was created 25 January 1826 from Schuyler County. County seat:  Macomb

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Fulton
 * Hancock
 * Henderson
 * Schuyler
 * Warren

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 McDonough County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * McDonough 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 McDonough 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.

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, McDonough County on page 187.]

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

 * Clarke, S. J. History of McDonough County, Illinois: Its Cities, Towns and Villages, with Early Reminiscences, Personal Incidents and Anecdotes, and a Complete Business Directory of the County. Springfield, Ill.: D.W. Lusk, State Printer and Binder, 1878. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Google Books; Internet Archive.
 * Portrait and biographical record of Hancock, McDonough and Henderson counties, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county (1894)
 * History of McDonough County, Illinois: Together with Sketches of the Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History, Portraits of Prominent Individuals, and Biographies of the Representative Citizens: History of Illinois, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic and Historic Races and a Brief Review of Its Civil and Military History. Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Co., 1885. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Internet Archive.
 * Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County. Chicago: Munsell Pub. Co., 1907. Digital version at Ancestry ($); USGenWeb (partial)

Military

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


 * - 55th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies F and G.
 * - 59th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C.
 * - 64th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Yates’ Sharpshooters), Companies A and D.
 * - 65th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Scotch Regiment), Company E.
 * - 78th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies C and I.
 * - 84th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, C and F.

Probate Records
McDonough County Probate Case Files Index, 1833-1925, courtesy: Illinois State Archives

McDonough County Guardian's Case Files Index, 1838-1933, courtesy: Illinois State Archives

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

Public Libraries
Macomb Public Library District 235 S. Lafayette Macomb, Illinois 61455-2231 (309) 833-2714

http://www.macomb.lib.il.us/library/

Societies
PO Box 202 Macomb IL 61455 309/255-5161 http://www.mcdcgs.com/mcgsfront.html

The McDonough County Genealogical Society Research Center is located within the Western Illinois Museum, 201 S. Lafayette St., Macomb, Illinois.

Family History Centers

 * Introduction to LDS Family History Centers
 * Macomb Illinois Family History Center

Web Sites

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