Brown County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois Brown County

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

Historical Facts


Brown County is named for who was a Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the early 1800's.

Boundary Changes

 * 1 February 1839: -- Brown County was created from Schuyler County. 


 * Interactive map of Brown County boundary changes.

Record Loss
8 March 1939: Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

For further information on researching in burned counties, see the following:


 * Burned Counties Research

Cemeteries
Find A Grave, list of cemeteries. Additional information can be found at local level (city, township, etc.)


 * Brown 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.

Census
For information and tips on using and accessing online census records, see Illinois Census.

Federal

 * 1840 federal census of Brown County, Illinois, pub. 200?
 * 1850 Brown County, Illinois federal census, pub. 1983
 * Illinois 1870 census index, Brown County, pub. 1997
 * 1880 federal census, Brown County, Illinois: complete, indexed; pub. 2003
 * Ancestry.com (FI$)
 * heritagequestonline.com (LAR)

State

 * Illinois State Census, 1825-1865 Ancestry.com (FI$)

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, Brown County on page 186.]

Church History and Records
Some additional resources for Brown County, Illinois church recordscan be found in the WorldCat library which can be ordered through interlibrary loan at your local library. Explore how to search the Worldcat Online Catalog.

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 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.

Copies of original records


 * 1837–1853 Circuit Court records
 * 1841–1895 Circuit court fee books IRAD–WIU
 * 1853–1924 Chancery 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

History

 * Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing Biographical Sketches of Pioneers and Leading Citizens. Chicago: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1892. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Genealogy Trails; Internet Archive; USGenWeb (partial).

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 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.

Online Resources


 * 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.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * Brown County Federal Township Plats

Abstracts


 * Boyd, Gregory. Family maps of Brown County, Illinois: with homesteads, roads, waterways, towns, cemeteries, railroads, and more. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Company, 2005. Other libraries (WorldCat)


 * 1986 Rockford Map Publishers. Land atlas and plat book, Brown County, Illinois, 1986. Rockford, Illinois: Rockford Map Publishers, 1986. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Copies of original records


 * 1817–1853 Lists of lands subject to taxation

Military History and Records

 * 1943–1950 Military Discharge Record Index IRAD–WIU
 * 1901–1951 Military Discharge Record IRAD–WIU

Civil War
Civil War service men from Brown 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 Brown County.


 * - 3rd Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company G.
 * - 50th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 84th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.

Newspapers
For local newspapers, please check local town.

Poorhouses
Brown County Almshouse Registers Index, 1882-1963, courtesy: Illinois State Archives

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.

Online Resources


 * 1817-1936 An unspecified number of are available at the Family Search Records online database. The collection does not have an every name index, but the images are available to browse and may have indexes within each volume.
 * SAMPUBCO - Index of testators of wills.

Copies of original records


 * 1839–1923 Probate Related records
 * 1844–1964 Probate record indexes
 * 1844–1922 Probate records
 * 1849–1936 Administrator's records
 * 1850–1967 Probate fee books IRAD–WIU
 * 1869–1928 Executor's Records, vol. B–E
 * 1869–1927 Wills
 * 1873–1963 Will packets index
 * 1873–1963 Will packets
 * - Probate Index

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Brown County probates may be found in the Illinois,Brown– Probate recordstopic 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.

Repositories
Inventory of the county archives of Illinois, no. 5, Brown County (Mt. Sterling), Historical Records Survey; pub. 1938

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

Family History Center
There are over 4500 Family History Centers, in more than 80 countries, offering public access to genealogical records from all over the world. Family History Centers provide patrons with access to over a billion online records and approximately 2.5 million circulating microfilms. Centers are staffed by local volunteers who are eager to provide genealogical research assistance. Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in Brown County. To find the nearest Family History Center, check out the Family Search Centers page on the FamilySearch.org website.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD-WIU)
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.Western Illinois University houses the records for Brown County.

Taxation

 * 1817–1853 Lists of lands subject to taxation

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 Brown 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 Brown County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

General

 * 1959 Brown County, Illinois Marriages and Deaths

Births
Copies of Original Birth Records


 * 1830–1900 Birth certificates
 * 1854–1895 Birth record index IRAD–WIU
 * 1865–1895 Birth record index
 * 1877–1895 Birth record IRAD–WIU
 * 1901–1904 Birth Records

Marriages

 * Hoffman, Laurie. Early Marriages -- Brown County Illinois 1839 - 1850, courtesy: ILGenWeb

Copies of original Marriage Records


 * 1839–1850 Marriages
 * 1839–1951 Marriage record index
 * 1839–1995 Marriage record index IRAD–WIU
 * 1839–1951 Marriage record IRAD–WIU
 * 1868–1951 Marriage licenses IRAD–WIU
 * 1886–1951 Marriage licenses

Online Resources


 * Some of the Family History Library's Collection of Brown County marriages have been digitized:.
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
 * 1790–1860 Illinois Marriage indexfound at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1839 Brown County, IL 1839 Marriages found at USGenWeb Archives Illinois.
 * Brown County Marriage Records found at USGenWeb Archives Illinois.

Deaths
Copies of original Death Records


 * 1877–1915 Death record IRAD–WIU
 * 1877–1945 Death record index IRAD–WIU
 * 1877–1915 Deaths
 * 1878–1945 Deaths index

Online Resources


 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
 * 1850–1885 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 found at Ancestry.com (free)

Additional Resources
Additional resources for Brown births, marriages and deaths 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.

Websites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Brown County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)