Jasper County, Illinois Genealogy

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

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

Historical Facts


The county is named after Sergeant William Jasper (c1750-1779) who was a noted American soldier during the Revolutional War.

Parent County

 * 1831--Jasper County was created 15 February 1831 from Clay and Crawford Counties. County seat: Newton

Description
The county was named for Sgt. William Jasper, Revolutionary War hero from South Carolina. In the defense of Fort Moultrie in 1776, when the staff of the American flag was shot away, Sgt. Jasper erected a temporary staff, and waved the flag at the British until a new staff was erected. The county seat is Newton and the county was organized on 1831. The County is located in the East-Central part 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.

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Clark
 * Clay
 * Crawford
 * Cumberland
 * Effingham
 * Richland

Cemeteries

 * ePodunk list of Jasper 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.

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 copies of original records may be accessed through the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Jasper County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the EIU IRAD Wiki page.


 * 1860-1933 Administrator's record.
 * 1873-1988 Jail Registers IRAD-EIU

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

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.

Copies of Original Records


 * 1837-1915 Deed records, 1837-1915; index, 1840-1895.

Abstracts


 * Family Maps. Boyd, Gregory A. Family Maps of Jasper County, Illinois (Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Pub. Co., c2010.)

Online Resources


 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
 * Jasper County Federal Township Plats

Maps

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)


 * Jasper County Federal Township Plats

Civil War
Civil War service men from Jasper 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 Jasper County.


 * - 21st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.
 * - 38th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies H and K.
 * - 54th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 97th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D and E.
 * - 98th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 155th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.

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

The following copies of original records may be accessed through the Family History Library.


 * 1869-1906 Naturalization records.

Newspapers and Obituaries
Obituaries courtesy of Genealogy Trails

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.

The following copies of original records may be accessed through the Family History Library.


 * 1835-1972 Probate Records.
 * 1850-1937 Will Records.

Online Resources


 * 1856-1921 Probate records are also available in . Click on the browse through images link, select Jasper County, and select the record type you are interested in.

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

Family History Centers
There are over 4500Family History Centers worldwide which serve as branch facilities of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Volunteers provide research assistance to help patrons identify their ancestors. Microfilm and microfiche may be available at various local family history centers. Locate your nearest Family History Center at the FamilySearch website. Call ahead to verify operating hours. All are welcome. The following centers are accessible to residents of Jasper County, Illinois:

Centralia Illinois Family History Center 

Leafland &amp; 3rd Street Centralia, Marion, Illinois Phone: 618-532-3482 Hours: Wednesday 2-6pm Attention: We have temporarily moved to this new location while our building is being remodeled.

Champaign Illinois Family History Center

604 W Windsor Rd Champaign, Champaign, Illinois Phone: 217-352-8063 Hours: Thur-Sat 9:30-12:30pm; Thur 7pm-9pm; or by appt

Terre Haute Indiana Family History Center

1845 N 6 1/2 St Terre Haute, Vigo, Indiana Phone: 812-234-0269 Hours: Tue 6:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Closed: Mondays after 6:00 p.m., all major holidays, inclement weather, whenever Vigo schools are on delays or early dismissals. Attention: The Center is also available by appointment.

Vincennes Indiana Family History Center

1940 N Old Hwy 41 Vincennes, Knox, Indiana Phone: 812-882-4022 Hours: T, Thu 9am-12:30pm, 5pm-8:30pm Closed: Closed 1 1/2 weeks for Christmas Please note: Addresses posted are not mailing addresses. Due to limited staff, Family History Centers are unable to respond to mail inquiries.

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 Jasper County come under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) regional depository.&lt;

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) Booth Library Eastern Illinois University (EIU) 600 Lincoln Avenue Charleston, IL 61920 Telephone: (217) 581-6093 Hours: Monday – Friday, except state holidays 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Note: The depository is staffed by graduate student interns. Because of class scheduling conflicts, hours may vary somewhat from the published schedule. Researchers are urged to call before planning a visit.

Libraries
Newton Public Library 100 South Van Buren Street Newton, IL 62448-1559 (618) 783-8141

Taxation
The following copies of original records may be accessed through the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Jasper County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the EIU IRAD Wiki page.


 * 1871-1918 Assessor's Books IRAD-EIU

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 Jasper 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 Family History Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Eastern Illinois University (EIU) - search for Jasper County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the EIU IRAD Wiki page.

General

 * Miscellaneous Marriages, Births, and Deaths - for Jasper County. Courtesy genealogytrails.com

Births
Copies of Original Records


 * 1877-1903 Birth Record IRAD-EIU
 * 1877-1916 Birth Record Index - IRAD-EIU
 * 1884-1903 Births, marriages, deaths.

Online Resources


 * Jasper County Birth Notices from the Newton Press. Courtesy genealogytrails.com
 * 1879 Births from Jasper County, IL. Courtesy genealogytrails.com

Marriages
Copies of Original Records


 * 1835–1900 Marriage Record IRAD-EIU
 * 1835-1900 Births, marriages, deaths.
 * 1874–1901 Marriage Record IndexIRAD-EIU

Online Resources


 * 1587-1959 - Illinois, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
 * 1790–1860 Illinois Marriage index found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810–1934 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1878-1900 Jasper County, IL Marriages Courtesy genealogytrails.com
 * Pre-1878 Marriages in Jasper County. Courtesy genealogytrails.com
 * Jasper County Marriage licenses as reported in the Newton Press. Courtesy genealogytrails.com
 * Jasper County Marriage Notices. Courtesy genealogytrails.com

Deaths
Copies of Original Records


 * 1877-1908 Death Record IRAD-EIU
 * 1877-1910 Death Record Index IRAD-EIU.
 * 1877-1908 Births, marriages, deaths.

Online Resources


 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1850-1885 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1850 Mortality index of Jasper County, Illinois. Courtesy genealogytrails.com
 * 1860 Mortality index of Jasper County, Illinois. Courtesy genealogytrails.com

Divorces

 * Pre-1887 Divorces in Jasper County, Illinois. Courtesy genealogytrails.com

Additional Resources
Additional resources for Jasper County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the, topic page of the FamilySearch Catalog. Online microfilm are indicated by the camera icon in the catalog entry. Copies of books found in the FamilySearch Catalog may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the FamilySearch Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Websites

 * Jasper County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Jasper County IL Genealogy
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook

Databases pertinent to Jasper County


 * Local Governmental Records Database IRAD
 * Name Index to Illinois Local Governments IRAD
 * Jasper County Genealogy Trails
 * Jasper County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * USGenWeb Project, Jasper County, Illinois Genealogy (Last update Feb 2008, some broken links)