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.]

Church Records

 * 1892–1928 Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Church Minutes, baptisms, marriages, deaths
 * 1855–1922 Methodist Episcopal Church
 * 1866–1990 West Prairie Presbyterian Church
 * 1859–1992 New Salem Christian Church
 * 1830–1991 Inventory of the McDonough County Genealogical Society's church records
 * 1846–1884 Marriages performed by Rev. W.S. Campbell
 * 1850–1874, 1940 Old Bedford Christian Church membership

Court Records
Copies of original records


 * 1869–1875 Patent records
 * 1857–1869 Patent 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

 * 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)

Land and Property
Abstracts


 * Boyd, Gregory A. Family maps of McDonough County, Illinois : with homesteads, roads, waterways, towns, cemeteries, railroads and more. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Pub. Co., 2008. Many libraries (WorldCat)

Copies of original records


 * 1831–1905 Grantor and grantee indexes
 * 1831–1847 School land record
 * 1802–1938 Town lot abstracts
 * 1986 Land Atlas and plat book Many libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1954 Farm Plat book and business guide Many libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1969 Triennial atlas &amp; plat book Many libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1945 Plat book of farm ownership of McDonough County, Illinois Many libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1913 Standard atlas - including plat book
 * 1972 Atlas and plat book Many libraries (WorldCat)

Additional Resources

Additional resources for McDonough County land and property may be found in the. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

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.


 * - 21st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.
 * - 28th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 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
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 Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Western Illinois University (WIU) - search for Brown County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the WIU IRAD Wiki page.

Abstracts


 * 1834–1857 McDonough County Genealogical Society. Abstracts of wills in McDonough County, Illinois 1834-1857: from will book I in the courthouse at Macomb, Illinois, page 1 through page 193. Macomb, Illinois : McDonough County Genealogical Society, 1980. Many libraries (WorldCat)
 * 134–1851 Bell, Annie W. B. Record of wills in McDonough County, Illinois, 1834-1851.

Copies of original 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

Additional Resources
Additional resources for McDonough County probates may be found in the topic page of the Family History Library catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

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.

Vital Records
See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois.

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the McDonough County Clerk while those recorded after 1916 are kept by theIllinois 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 Family History Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Western Illinois University (WIU) - search for Fulton County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

Births:
Abstracts of Birth Records

Copies of Original Birth Records

Marriages:
Abstracts of Marriage Records


 * 1830–1900 Grimm, Libby, and Mary Hartmann. McDonough County marriages. Macomb, Illinois: McDonough County Genealogical Society, 1980-. Many libraries (WorldCat)


 * 1830–1851 Bell, Annie W. B. Record of marriages in McDonough County, Illinois, for the period of years, 1830-1851. Washington, D.C.: [s.n.], 1935. Many libraries (WorldCat)

Copies of original Marriage Records

Deaths:
Abstracts of Death Records


 * 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880 Allen, Margaret McKee. 1850-60-70-80 mortality schedules for McDonough County, Illinois. Macomb, Illinois : McDonough County Genealogical Society, [1982?].Many libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1966–1970 Foster, Virgil R. Index to Fulton, McDonough and Hancock counties, Illinois obituaries Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1993.

Copies of original Death Records


 * 1860–1923 Inquest records

Additional Resources
Additional resources for McDonough births, marriages and deaths may be found in the topic page and the  topic page of the Family History Library catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

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)