Jackson County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Jackson County

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

Historical Facts


The county is named after War of 1812 hero Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) who became Seventh President of the United States in 1829.

Parent County

 * 1816--Jackson County was created 10 January 1816 from Randolph and Johnson Counties.
 * County seat: Murphysboro

Record Loss
June 10, 1843 -- Courthouse burned and many records were damaged.

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


 * Burned Counties Research
 * http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2424

Cemeteries
The Illinois Cemeteries page provides general explanations of the following online Jackson County resources:

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, Jackson County on page 187.]

Catholic
FamilySearch has made parish records from more than five Belleville Diocese Catholic churches in Jackson County available for free online (free registration is required to view the images). The records include first communions, confirmations, marriages, and deaths:


 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.
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 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.
 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.
 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.
 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.
 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.
 * , browsable online (no index); courtesy: FamilySearch.

Court Records
Jackson County Court records are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. For more information on court records see Illnois Court Records

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


 * 1843–1855 County Court record, v. D
 * 1844–1855 Circuit Court record law, v. E
 * 1844-1856 Circuit Court record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1873-1973 Jail Registers IRAD (SIU)

The following abstracts are available at the Family History Library:


 * 1823–1841 Wright, John W. D. Jackson County, Illinois meetings of county court and jury lists, 1823- 1841. Murphysboro, Illinois : Jackson County Historical Society (TN), 1981. Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1823–1835 Illinois. County Commissioner's Court (Jackson County) and Ruth L. Hutchcraft and Barbara Burr Hubbs. County commissioners court record, Jackson County, Illinois. Murphysboro, Illinois : Jackson County Historical Society (TN), c1993. Other libraries (WorldCat)

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

 * Portrait and Biographical Record of Randolph, Jackson, Perry and Monroe Counties, Illinois: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the Counties: Together with Biographies and Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States, and the Governors of the State of Illinois. Chicago: Biographical Pub. Co., 1894. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Internet Archive. For additional access, see WeRelate.

Land and Property
Original land records are held in the office of the County Recorder. See Illinois Land and Property for more information about using land records.

The following abtracts and copies of original records may be accessed through the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Jackson County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.


 * 1836-1853 School Land Sale Petitions IRAD (SIU)
 * 1836-1861 School Land Sale Record
 * 1838-1889 Deed Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843-1936 Deed Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843–1889 Grantor and grantee indexIRAD (SIU) to deeds
 * 1843–1889 Deeds
 * 1840–1861 Sale of school lands.
 * 1855-1962 Plat Record, Schools IRAD (SIU)
 * 1870-1962 Chattel Mortgage Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1879-1880 Agricultural Society Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1886-1963 Chattel Mortgage Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1887-1906 Plat Record, Roads IRAD (SIU)
 * 1888-1940 Chattel Mortgage Extensions IRAD (SIU)
 * 1905-1948 Mortgage Index, Marginal Releases IRAD (SIU)
 * 1924-1964 Lien Record, Federal Taxes IRAD (SIU)
 * 1962-1964 Lien Record, Real Estate, Old Age Assistance IRAD (SIU)
 * 1962-1974 Lien record Index, Real Estate, Old Age Assistance IRAD (SIU)
 * 1986 Rockford Map Publishers. Jackson County (Illinois) land atlas and plat book, [1986]. Rockford, Illinois : Rockford Map Publishers, c1986. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Abstracts


 * 1814–1840 Wright, John W.D. Jackson County, Illinois formation and early settlement. Murphysboro, Illinois : Jackson County Historical Society (TN), 1983. Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1907 index of landowners; De Voe, Glenda. Index of landowners to the 1907 plat book of Jackson County, Illinois . Murphysboro, Illinois: Jackson County Historical Society (TN), [1986?]. Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1907 R. Allyn and George Ogle, Elisabeth Pinkerton Leighty, and Glenda DeVoe. 1878 history and 1907 atlas of Jackson County, Illinois. Murphysboro, Illinois : Jackson County Historical Society (Illinois),[1908?]. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Other Land Resources

Family Maps of Jackson County, Illinois (2007) plats the land of many nineteenth-century Jackson County residents. The publisher's bookstore includes a free online surname index.

Online Resources


 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database. Also available at Ancestry ($)
 * [ http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/irad/township_maps/Jackson_map.html Jackson County Federal Township Plats]

Military Records

 * Civil War Civil War service men from Pike 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 Pike County.


 * - 31st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 73rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.
 * - 81st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B, D and F.

Naturalization
Original naturalization records are held in the office of the County Clerk.

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


 * 1859-1892 Naturalization records: final papers
 * 1860-1892 Naturalization Record, Final IRAD (SIU)
 * 1864-1906 Naturalization Papers IRAD (SIU)
 * 1868-1898 Naturalization Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1868-1906 Naturalization records
 * 1873-1906 Naturalization Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1904-1906 Naturalizatoin Record of Minors IRAD (SIU)
 * 1904-1906 Naturalization Record, Final IRAD (SIU)
 * Index to naturalization records of Jackson County, Illinois Other Libraries (WorldCat);

Extractions from the Family History Library Catalog
 * 523 extractions from naturalization records of Jackson County, Illinois Other Libraries (WorldCat);
 * 826 additional extractions from naturalization records of Jackson County, Illinois Other Libraries (WorldCat);

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


 * 1840–1888 Index to probate files
 * 1840-1960 Probate Case Files Index IRAD (SIU)
 * 1842-1964 Probate Will Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843-1844 Probate Record, Board of Investigation IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843-1857 Probate Administrator's Accounts IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843-1888 Probate Record IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843–1897; 1899–1822 Will record v. 1-2 1843-1864
 * 1843-1913 Probate Case Files, Guardians IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843-1925 Probate Case Files IRAD (SIU)
 * 1843–1888 Probate record
 * 1844–1825 Probate estate case files
 * 1859-1902 Probate Guardian's Record IRAD (SIU)

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

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 Jackson 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 vital record collections may be accessed through online databases, the Family History Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) - search for Franklin County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.


 * Jackson County, Illinois Obituary and Death Notices Collection Free from GenealogyBuff.com. From various funeral homes in the Carbondale, Murphysboro, Somerset, Elk, and surrounding area.

The following abstracts are available:

Births:


 * 1878–1881 Kindorf, Catherine. Birth records, 1878-1881, returned by a midwife in Jackson County, Illinois.

Marriages:


 * 1843–1875 Ellis, Roberta McDaniel and Helen Falkenheim Williams. Marriages recorded from 1843 to 1875 (Jackson County, Illinois). Murphysboro, Ill. : Ellis, 1975. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Deaths:


 * 1850 Wright, John W.D. Jackson County, Illinois, residents in 1850. Carbondale, Illinois : Jackson County Historical Society (TN), [c1972]. This book includes mortality schedule, showing deaths in Jackson County for the year ending June 30, 1850. 5509137 Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1844–1906 Gildehaus, Valerie Phillips. Index to death records, 1844-1906, Jackson County, Illinois Murphysboro, Illinois: Jackson County Historical Society (Illinois), c1996. Other libraries (WorldCat)
 * 1904–1915 Cox, Phoebe; Jackson County Historical Society (Ill.). Phoebe Cox; Jackson County Historical Society (Ill.)Index to Jackson County, Illinois death books : 1904–1915. Murphysboro, Illinois : Jackson County Historical Society (Illinois), c2003. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Newspapers with vital record information:

1889–1891, 1919, 1927–1934 Lee, Brenda Garver and William W. Lee. Fireside tales : newspaper abstracts, 1889-1891, 1919, 1927–1934. [S.l. : s.n., c1989]. 1889 Lee, Brenda Garver. Ava remembers, 1889. [S.l. : s.n.], c1989. 1930–1935 Lee, Brenda Garver. Seeds of Ava, Illinois: Ava newspaper abstracts, 1930-1935 [S.l. : s.n., c19--]. Lee, Brenda Garver. Ava lives and Ava passings, volume I : Ava citizen, Du Quoin herald, early Carbondale, early Murphysboro newspapers. Steeleville, Illinois : Westerman Print., 1993. Lee, Brenda Garver. Memories. [S.l. : s.n., c19--].

The following copies of original records are available:

Births:


 * 1852–1943 Index to birth certificates
 * 1877–1915 Birth register and index
 * 1852–1915 Birth Certificates


 * 1902–1940 Index to births and deaths
 * 1902-1915 Birth Records
 * 1916–1941 Delayed birth record

Marriages:


 * 1875-1895 Index to marriages (brides)
 * 1843-1915 Marriage record and register

Deaths:


 * 1877–1901 Death register and index


 * 1902–1940 Index to births and deaths
 * 1908-1917 Death record
 * 1916–1922 Jackson County, Illinois death and stillborn certificates.
 * Jackson County, Illinois funeral card collection

Places / Localities
To see a list of places in Jackson County, click on [Show], in the bar above. The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

Web Sites

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