Grundy County, Illinois Genealogy

Guide to Grundy 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 U.S. Attorney General Felix Grundy. The county seat is Morris and the county was organized on February 17, 1841. The County is located in the Northeastern part of the state.

County Courthouse
Grundy County Courthouse 111 E Washington St Morris, IL 60450 Phone: 815-942-9024 Grundy County Courthouse County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for Grundy County are kept, see the Grundy 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:

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

History Timeline

 * Southeastern Part
 * 1826-1831 Vermilion
 * 1823-1826 Edgar
 * 1819-1823 Clark


 * Southwestern part
 * 1827-1831 Tazewell
 * 1821-1826 Fayette


 * North of Illinois River
 * 1825-1831 Putnam
 * 1823-1825 Fulton
 * 1821-1823 Pike
 * 1819-1823 Clark
 * 1816-1819 Crawford
 * 1915-1816 Edwards
 * 1812-1815 Madison
 * 1801-1812 St. Clair


 * Northwest territory
 * 1790-1801 Knox

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

Census Records
For tips on accessing census records online, see Illinois Census.
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

Church Records
The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Grundy County edition. This includes several sections on Grundy County churches. Explore both the township sections for local churches, and beginning on page 730 an overview of many churches found in Grundy County. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

Presbyterian Church


 * Presbyterian Church Records, Morris Illinois. by Patricia Dewey Sanders WorldCat
 * Communion Roll, Members, Baptisms and Marriages for the Records of Morris Presbyerian Church. by Patricia Dewey SandersWorldCat

Catholic


 * St. Mary's Catholic Church Records 1869-1919''. by Betty Steffes KinsellaWorldCat

 List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

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. Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1846-1963 Circuit Court Case Files IRAD-ISU Search for Grundy County. How to use IRAD

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
 * African American Coal Miner at the Information Center

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. Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 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 ($)
 * 1832-1902 Mixed Land Records, original records in the Grundy County Courthouse. 43 films. first film
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records at Ancestry ($)
 * 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.


 * Grundy County Federal Township Plats
 * Dates Vary United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search at FamilySearch - incomplete index and images, counties and dates vary

Maps and Gazetteers

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

Military Records
For information about using Military records see Illinois Military Records

 Revolutionary War
 * Veterans Burials at Genealogy Trails History Group

 War of 1812
 * Military Land Grantsin Grudy County Illinois for Soldiers of the War of 1812 at USGenWeb

 Indian Wars
 * Military Land Grantsin Grundy County Illinois for Soldiers of the Indian Wars at USGenWeb

 Civil War Regiments. Civil War service men from Grundy 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 Grundy County.
 * -1st Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company H. (Also Known as Centralia Cavalry)
 * - 11th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3months) Company F.
 * - 36th_Regiment,_Illinois_Infantry, Company G.
 * - 53rd_Regiment,_Illinois_Infantry, Company B.
 * - 55th_Regiment,_Illinois_Infantry, Company I.
 * - 69th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 76th_Regiment,_Illinois_Infantry, Company C.
 * - 91st_Regiment,_Illinois_Infantry, Company D.
 * -127th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * -128th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * -138th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.


 * Civil War Companies Organized in Grundy County, Illinois
 * Illinois Military Units in the Civil War, Published by Civil War Centennial Commission of Illinois, Springfield, 1962.
 * Confederate Soldiers Buried in Grundy County at Genealogy Trails History Group

 World War I
 * 1917-1918 World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 at FamilySearch and also at Ancestry

 World War II
 * Army Enlistees names Adams - Lynes at USGenWeb
 * Army Enlistees names Mack - Zingre at USGenWeb
 * Casualties at Genealogy Trails History Group

Naturalization and Citizenship
Original naturalization records are held in the office of the County Clerk. See Illinois Naturalization Records for more information about using naturalization records. 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 ($) - index
 * 2006-Current Morris Daily Herald March 2006-Current, at Genealogy Bank ($) and also at Ancestry ($)
 * Newspapers Published in Grundy County at Illinois Newspaper Project
 * Chronicling America Grundy County at The Library of Congress
 * Grundy, Will, La Salle and Kendall Counties: 1840-1879 Deaths, Marriages, Births as Extracted from Area Newspapers. by Becki Leucht. FS Library Film 795992 item 2 or Book 977.32 V2L

Obituaries
Illinois Obituary Project USGenWeb

Probate Records
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. 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

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

Birth
The original Grundy County birth records 1877-1905 are housed at the County Clerk office. The following copies are available:
 * 1877-1893 Birth Record Index IRAD-ISU Search for Grundy County Records. How to use IRAD. Availabel through the FamilySearch Library Item 2
 * 1877-1905 Birth Records IRAD-ISUAvailable throught the FamilySearch Library Items 3-4.

Marriage
The original Grundy County marriage records 1841- 1923 are housed at the County courthouse. The following copies are available:
 * 1587-1959 Illinois, United States Marriages at Findmypast ($) — index
 * 1763-1900 Statewide Marriage Index
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1810-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1841-1903 Marriage Records Index IRAD-ISU Search for Grundy County Records. How to use IRAD. Available through the FamilySearch Library Item 4
 * 1841-1923 Marriage Records IRAD-ISU Items 1-6.

Death
The original Grundy County death records 1847-1901 are housed at the County Courthouse. The following copies are available:
 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1878-1901 Death Record IRAD-ISU. Available through FamilySearch Library Items 2-3
 * 1878-1904 Death Record Index IRAD-ISU Search for Grundy County Records. How to use IRAD. Available through FamilySearch Library Item 1
 * Pre-1916 Death Index
 * 1916-1950 Statewide Death Index
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Deaths, 1916-1950 at MyHeritage ($) - index
 * 1951-1971 Illinois Death Certificates, 1951–1971 at Illinois State Archives - index

Archives
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. Illinois State University houses the records for Grundy County.

 Illinois Regional Archives Depository Illinois State Universtiy (ISU) 2016 Warehouse Road Campus Box 1520 Normal, Illinois 61802 Phone: 1-309-452-6027 Illinois Regional Archives Depository System - Local Governmental Records Listings Arranged by County

FamilySearch Centers

 * Bourbonnais Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Chicago Heights Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Joliet Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Morris Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Ottawa Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Frankfort Public Library District - an affiliate library
 * Joliet Public Library - Black Road Branch - an affiliate library
 * Joliet Public Library - Ottawa Branch - an affiliate library
 * LaSalle County Genealogy Guild - an affiliate library
 * Matteson Area Public Library District - an affiliate library
 * New Lenox Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Shorewood-Troy Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Wilmington Public Library District - an affiliate library

Societies

 * Carbon Hill Historical Society' 875 North 2nd Street Carbon Hill, IL 60416 Phone 815-347-0810
 * Grundy County Historical Society 510 W. Illinois Ave. Morris, IL 60450 Phone 815-942-4880 Email:[mailto:grundyhistory@att.net grundyhistory@att.net] Website
 * Seneca Historical Guild 431 North Main Seneca, Illinois 61360 Phone 815-769-5077 Email:[mailto:senecahistory@gmail.com senecahistory@gmail.com] Website

Websites

 * Grundy ILGenWeb
 * Grundy County Illinois USGenWeb Archives
 * Grundy County, IL Linkpendium
 * Grundy County IL - LDS Genealogy
 * – 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.