Kendall County, Illinois Genealogy

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

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

Historical Facts


Kendall County is named for Amos Kendall who was a journalist and statesman and served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.

Description
The county was named for Amos Kendall, a newspaper editor who later became an important advisor to President Andrew Jackson. He also became U.S. Postmaster in 1835. The county seat is Yorkville and the county was organized on 1841. The County is located in the Northeast 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.

Prior to County Formation


 * 1790-1801 - Kendall part of Knox County and the Northwest Territory
 * 1801-1812 - Kendall part of St. Clair County
 * 1812-1815 - Kendall part of Madison County
 * 1815-1816 - Kendall part of Edwards County
 * 1816-1819 - Kendall part of Crawford County
 * 1819-1821 - Kendall part of Clark County
 * 1821-1823 - Kendall part of Pike County
 * 1823-1825 - Kendall part of Fulton County
 * 1825-1831 - Kendall part of Putnam County
 * 1831-1841 - Some of Kendall part of LaSalle County
 * 1836-1841 - Some of Kendall part of Kane County

County Formation and After


 * 1841 - Kendall County created from LaSalle and Kane counties

For more information see Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties or Kendall County Fact Sheet (Illinois State Archives). For interactive county boundary maps see Illinois County Boundaries, 1790-Present, Illinois Historical Counties

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

Populated Places
Oswego, Yorkville (county seat), Plano, Sandwich (portion), Joliet (portion), Montgomery (portion), Boulder Hill (unincorporated), Plainfield (portion), Lisbon, Newark, Millbrook

Neighboring Counties

 * DeKalb
 * DuPage
 * Grundy
 * Kane
 * LaSalle
 * Will

Biography

 * The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Kendall County edition. This includes a state history section along with a county history and biographies of Kendall County residents. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

Cemeteries

 * ePodunk list of Kendall 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.

Church History and Records
Church records may give birth, death and marriage information. It is usually best to locate church records with a search at a local level such as the city, town, or village.


 * USGenWeb's Kendall County Church Records directory of Kendall County churches, and links to several compiled church records.


 * Search WorldCat to identify a library near you which holds books of compiled church records for Kendall County.


 * Dickson, Elmer George. The Ministers &amp; Priests of Kendall County, Illinois. Chico, California: E. Dickson, 1992. ;

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 online or through the Family History Library.

Copies of original records


 * 1841–1926 Deed records
 * 1841–1892 Grantor index
 * 1841–1891 Grantee index

Abstracts


 * Family Maps of Kendall County, Illinois (2005) plats the land of many nineteenth-century Kendall County residents. The publisher's bookstore includes a free online surname index.

Online Resources


 * 1800s-Present - Use the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land Patent Index to obtain original federal land transfer records including homestead, military warrants, and cash entry patents. These records help a research establish location and lead to National Archives' records which may include genealogical information. Earlier land transfer records are housed at the National Archives.


 * 1800s-Present - Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales from Illinois State Archives also provides an index to federal land sales.


 * Land Records Kendall County, Illinois at ILGenWeb includes indexes to federal lands sales, and the 1859, 1870, 1922, and 1941 plat maps of Kendall County.


 * 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 ($)


 * Kendall County Federal Township Plats

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Kendall County land and property may be found online in the, and. 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.

Maps

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)

War of 1812
Dickson, Elmer George Kendall County veterans of the Civil, Mexican &amp; Spanish-America wars and the War of 1812 (Chico, California: E. Dickson, c1993) pages 39 FHL Book 977.3263 M2

Civil War
Civil War service men from Kendall 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 Kendall County.


 * - 4th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company C (Also known as Dollins' Cavalry Company).
 * - 15th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company I.
 * - 20th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.
 * - 36th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D, E, F, and I.
 * - 89th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 91st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 127th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, F, and K.
 * - 132nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company C.
 * - 141st Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company F.
 * - 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C.

Naturalization
Online Records
 * 1800-1998 - at FamilySearch — index and images

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

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

Family History Center
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States) and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy.

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site.

Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in Kendall County. The following centers are located in surrounding counties. Their wiki pages may supply hours and other information.


 * Dekalb Illinois Family History Center 675 Fox Avenue Sycamore, Illinois 60178 Telephone: (815) 895–0702


 * Joliet Illinois Family History Center 655 Springfield Joliet, Illinois, 60435 Telephone: (815) 725-8621


 * Morris Illinois Family History Center 1414 Dupont Ave. Morris, Illinois 60450 Telephone: (815) 941-4214


 * Naperville Illinois Family History Center 1320 Ridgeland Road Naperville, Illinois Telephone: (630) 505-0233


 * Ottawa Illinois Family History Center 1377 Adams Street Ottawa, Illinois Telephone: (815) 431-0186

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)
The Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD), managed by the Illinois State Archives, houses 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.

The Northern Illinois University (IRAD-NIU) holds the records for Kendall County. Learn more about finding and using their records.


 * Illinois Regional Archives Depository c/o Regional History Center Founders Memorial Library, Room 400 Northern Illinois University DeKalb, IL 60115 Telephone: (815) 753-1807

Public Libraries
The following Kendall County libraries have collections of particular interest to genealogists.


 * Oswego Public Library District 32 W. Jefferson St. Oswego, IL 60543 Telephone: (630) 554-3150 Volunteers from the Fox Valley Genealogical Society assist researchers with the Local History and Genealogy Collection at designated times.


 * Plano Community Library District 15 N. Center Plano, IL 60545 Telephone: (630) 552-2009 Their Local History collection includes histories, directories, cemetery records, church and school records, and more.


 * Yorkville Public Library 902 Game Farm Road Yorkville, IL 60560 Telephone: (630) 553-4354 The library has microfilms of census records and The Kendall County Record newspaper.

Other Repositories

 * Little White School Museum Box 23 72 Polk Street Oswego, IL 60543 Telephone (630) 554-2999 The museum holds records of local interest, including indexes, histories, maps, photos, and more. Check in advance for their limited hours.

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 Kendall 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 Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Kendall County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

General

 * Kendall County Vital Records at ILGenWeb includes [births, marriages, and deaths.

Births
Copies of Original Birth Records


 * 1877-1903 Birth Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1877-1918 Birth Record Index IRAD-NIU

Online Resources


 * 1887-1903 Kendall County Birth Records Courtesy USGenWeb Archives Illinois

Marriages
Copies of Original Marriage Records


 * 1587-1959 - Illinois, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1841-1915 Marriage Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1841-1897 Marriage Record Index IRAD-NIU
 * 1877-1918 Marriage Record Index IRAD-NIU

Online Resources
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810–1934 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1841-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 at Illinois State Archives; Index
 * 1841-1915 Kendall County Marriage Records Courtesy USGenWeb Archives Illinois

Deaths
Copies of Original Death Records


 * 1877-1903 Death Records IRAD-NIU

Online Resources


 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — index and images


 * 1877-1903 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 at Illinois State Archives; Index


 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives; Index


 * 1877-1903 Kendall County Death Records Courtesy USGenWeb Archives Illinois

Additional Resources
Additional resources for Kendall County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the, the , and the topic pages 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

 * Kendall County ILGenWeb
 * Kendall County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * Kendall County IL Genealogy
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Kendall County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History(Linkpendium)
 * Kendall County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History(Linkpendium)