Wayne County, Illinois Genealogy

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

Description
Wayne County was named for Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne, an officer in the Revolutionary War and Northwest Indian War. The county seat is Fairfield and the county was organized on 1819. The county is located in the southeastern area of the state.

County Courthouse
Wayne County Courthouse 301 E. Main St Fairfield, IL 62837 Phone: 618-842-7684 Wayne County Courthouse

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

Census Records

 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images

 1840 Pensioners
 * A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshals of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C., 1841. ; . Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library, Internet Archive, Ancestry ($). See Illinois, Wayne County on page 188.

Church Records
 Baptist  Catholic Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints  List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * USGenWeb, Wayne County, Illinois (ILGenWeb), early church records and history
 * Wayne County, Illinois Church Records (Genealogy Trails)
 * 1845-1874 Hopewell Baptist Church, records and registers
 * 1853-1958 Pleasant Grove Baptist Church
 * 1729-1956 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
 * 1868-1934 Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Dry Fork Branch
 * 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. The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Wayne County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the EIU IRAD Wiki page. Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1915-1928 Circuit Court Record, Criminal IRAD–EIU

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 through online sources, the FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Wayne County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the EIU IRAD Wiki page.

Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1796-1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry ($)
 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * 1836-1854 School Land Sale Petitions IRAD–EIU
 * 1837-1854 School Land Sale Record IRAD–EIU
 * 1851-1898 Deed Index IRAD–EIU
 * 1851-1912 Land records - Indexes and deeds
 * 1910-1917 Stallion Registration Record IRAD–EIU
 * 1915-1961 Chattel Mortgage Record IRAD–EIU
 * 1987 Land atlas and plat book
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence found at Ancestry ($)
 * Wayne County Federal Township Plats

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)
 * Wayne County Federal Township Plats
 * USGenWeb, Wayne County, Illinois (ILGenWeb), 1875 Township Map
 * USGenWeb, Wayne County, Illiniois (ILGenWeb), Illinois County Boundaries, 1790 - Present
 * Wayne County, Illinois Cemetery Map (Genealogy Trails)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
 Civil War Regiments. Civil War service men from Wayne 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 Wayne County.
 * - 5th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Companies D and M.
 * - 18th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies F and G.
 * - 40th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D and E.
 * - 56th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 60th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies G and H.
 * - 61st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.
 * - 87th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 110th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.
 * - 111th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies C, E, and K.
 * - 136th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company C.

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
 * USGenWeb, Wayne County, Illinios (ILGenWeb), obituaries and death notices

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. The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through, the FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Wayne County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the EIU IRAD Wiki page. 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
 * 1852-1865 Miscellaneous newspapers (includes probate)
 * 1861-1950 Will index
 * 1880-1932 Wills
 * 1886-1925 Probate records
 * No probate record holdings noted in IRAD-EIU Wayne County Listing. Search for Wayne County records. Information about how to use IRAD
 * USGenWeb, Wayne County, Illinois (ILGenWeb), will index books C and D

School Records
Online School Indexes and Records
 * 1826-1968 School teachers' daily registers IRAD–EIU
 * 1836-1854 School Land Sale Petitions IRAD–EIU
 * 1837-1854 School Land Sale Record IRAD–EIU

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

Tax Records
Online Tax Indexes and Records
 * 1899 Tax Assessment Abstracts IRAD–EIU
 * 1884-1901 Tax Lists, Delinquent IRAD–EIU

Vital Records
Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Wayne 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. The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through online databases, the FamilySearch Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Wayne County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the Wiki article IRAD - Eastern Illinois University.

Birth

 * 1860-1906 Birth Record, Delayed IRAD–EIU
 * 1860-1910 Birth Record Index, Delayed IRAD–EIU
 * 1861-1905 Birth Records
 * 1867-1905 Birth records
 * 1867-1908 Birth Record IRAD–EIU
 * 1870-1906 Delayed birth record books
 * 1800s-Onward Wayne County, Illinois birth records at ILGenWeb

Marriage

 * 1587-1959 Illinois, United States Marriages at Findmypast ($) — index
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHeritage($)
 * 1790-1860 Illinois Marriage index found at Ancestry ($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1810-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1855-1886 Marriage Certification Record, Pre-Fire IRAD–EIU
 * 1879-1952 Marriage Record IRAD–EIU
 * 1879-1976 Marriage Record Index IRAD–EIU
 * 1886-1930 Index to marriages
 * 1886-1930 Marriage records
 * Wayne County, Illinois marriage records at ILGenWeb

Death

 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1880-1955 Death records
 * 1886-1955 Death records IRAD–EIU
 * 1888-1960 Coroner's Inquest Record IRAD–EIU
 * 1888-1960 Wayne County Coroner's Inquest Record Index Illinois State Archives.
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHeritage($)
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives - index
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Deaths, 1916-1950 at MyHeritage ($) - index
 * 1951-1971 Illinois Death Certificates, 1951–1971 at Illinois State Archives - index
 * Wayne County, Illinois death records at ILGenWeb

Archives
Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) The Illinois State Archives administers a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD) to manage the archival records of local governments. Local governments which have transferred records to the regional depositories include counties, townships, municipalities, and school districts. The records of Wayne County come under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) regional depository. Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) Booth Library 600 Lincoln Avenue Charleston, IL 61920 Phone: 217-581-6093

FamilySearch Centers

 * Centralia Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Eldorado Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Evansville Indiana FamilySearch Center
 * Foxcroft Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * O'Fallon Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Vincennes Indiana FamilySearch Center
 * C.E. Brehm Memorial Public Library District - an affiliate library
 * Knox County Public Library - Indiana - an affiliate library

Libraries
Fairfield Public Library 300 South E Second St Fairfield IL 62837 Phone: 618-842-4516 Website Wayne City Public Library 103 East Mill St Wayne City, IL 62895 Phone: 618-895-2661 Brehm Memorial Library 101 S. 7th Street Mt. Vernon, IL Phone: 618-242-6322 Website

Societies
Wayne County Historical Society Museum 300 Southeast 2nd Street Fairfield, IL 62837 Phone: 618-842-3544 Email: [mailto:wayneillinoishistory@gmail.com wayneillinoishistory@gmail.com] Website Illinois Daughters of the American Revolution (IDAR) Website

Websites

 * Wayne County Illinois Genealogy - ILGenWeb
 * Wayne County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History Linkpendium
 * Wayne County IL Genealogy - 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.