LaSalle County, Illinois Genealogy

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

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

Historical Facts


LaSalle County was named for the french explorer, Robert de LaSalle. He was responsible for the first European settlements in the area.

Parent County

 * 1831--La Salle County was created 15 January 1831 from Putnam and Vermilion Counties. County seat: Ottawa

Description
The county was named for the early French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. The county seat is Ottawa and the county was organized on January 15, 1831. The County is located in the North 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.

Populated Places
The Fox River Colony, in La Salle County, was a gathering place for early Norwegians. []

It was also an area of the first Norwegian converts to Mormonism in the early 1840s. 

Neighboring Counties

 * Bureau
 * DeKalb
 * Grundy
 * Kendall
 * Lee
 * Livingston
 * Marshall
 * Putnam
 * Woodford

Cemeteries

 * ePodunk list of LaSalle County cemeteriesgives 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, LaSalle County on page 187.]

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.


 * IL GenWeb's list of LaSalle County Illinois Churches provides mailing addresses and phone numbers.

Methodist


 * Little Indian Creek Wesleyan Methodist Church. Church Records &amp; History, 1843-1877. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994 from original manuscripts at the Northern Illinois Conference, United Methodist Church, Evanston, Illinois. The Little Indian Creek church was probably in northern La Salle County. Includes references to the Ophir Weslyan Methodist Church assumed to be in Ophir Township, La Salle County, Illinois. Includes church history, 1843–1875; baptisms, 1865-1868; members, 1855-1872; minutes, 1865-1876; and member-related records in loose papers, 1857-1877.
 * La Salle Mission, Methodist Episcopal Church. Membership &amp; Baptism Records, 1859-1878. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1994 from original manuscripts at the Northern Illinois Conference, United Methodist Church, Evanston, Illinois. Text in Swedish, Norwegian &amp; English. Includes Leland, Mission Township, Otter Creek, Dayton, Norway, and the streams of Indian Creek and Otter Creek. Much earlier dates of birth are listed.

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

Copies of original records


 * 1831-1870 Circuit Court Records IRAD-NIU; search for LaSalle County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1831–1923 Probate court records
 * 1843-1875 Chancery Court Records IRAD-NIU; search for LaSalle County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1840-1900 Naturalization Records for both Circuit and County Courts IRAD-NIU; search for LaSalle County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1836-1963 County Court Records IRAD-NIU; search for LaSalle County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1859-1871 Chancery Court Records IRAD-NIU; search for LaSalle County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
 * 1913–1925 Judgement dockets

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
History of La Salle County Illinois (1877)

The Past and Present of La Salle County, Illinois (1877)

History of La Salle County, Illinois, Vol. I (1886)

History of La Salle County, Illinois, Vol II (1886)

Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle County, Vol. I (1900)

Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle County Vol. II (1900)

History of La Salle County, Illinois (1906)

History of La Salle County Illinois (1924)

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, through the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University search for LaSalle County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD - Northern Illinois University NIU IRAD Wiki page.

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.


 * 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 ($)


 * LaSalle County Federal Township Plats

Copies of original records


 * 1835–1901 Grantor and Grantee indexes
 * 1831–1943 Deeds
 * 1842-1870 Surveyor's Record IRAD-NIU
 * 1936-1945 Chattel Mortgage Record IRAD-NIU
 * 1941-1962 Chattel Mortgage Index IRAD-NIU
 * 1952-1968 Chattel Mortgage Entry Books IRAD-NIU

Abstracts


 * Family Maps of LaSalle County, Illinois (2008) plats the land of many nineteenth-century LaSalle County residents. The publisher's bookstore includes a free online surname index.

Additional Resources

Additional resources for LaSalle County land and property may be found online in the and. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche may be available for viewing at Family History Centers. 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)
 * Township Map of 1870 LaSalle County, Illinois with numerous small settlements. (My Genealogy Hound)

Civil War
Civil War service men from LaSalle 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 LaSalle County.


 * - 1st Regiment, Illinois Light Artillery, Battery C.
 * - 4th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company A (Grant's Escort), Company B (Carrnichael's Cavalry Company), and Company I.
 * - 6th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company B.
 * - 7th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company C (Morgan's Escort, Palmer's Escort, Smith's Escort).
 * - 10th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company F (Also known as Ottawa Artillery or Houghtaling's Battery)
 * - 11th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3 months, 1861), Companies H, I, and K.
 * - 11th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies H and K.
 * - 12th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.
 * - 12th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company B.
 * - 14th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company C.
 * - 15th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company L (Ford's Cavalry, Grant's Escort).
 * - 20th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 23rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D, F, and H.
 * - 24th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 26th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 37th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 39th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.
 * - 44th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.
 * - 53rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, C, D, F, I and K.
 * - 55th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies G and I.
 * - 57th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.
 * - 58th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 64th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (Yates’ Sharpshooters), Company A.
 * - 88th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.
 * - 90th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.
 * - 104th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, all Companies.
 * - 132nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company A.
 * - 138th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies I and K.
 * - 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies C and H.
 * - 156th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.

Newspapers and Obituaries
The La Salle County Genealogy Guild has online indexes to obituaries and holds original copies of early newspapers on microfilm.

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 La Salle County Genealogy Guild has online indexes to Probate Records and holds the original probate files.
 * Digital images of guardianship and probate files (1844-1921) are available online at FamilySearch.org as part of the Illinois Probate Records, 1819-1970 collection. Browse probate records by volume (organized by date).

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

Copies of original records


 * 1831–1922 Probate estate file indexes
 * 1831-1900 Probate Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1831–1945 Probate records, wills, and guardianship records for LaSalle County probate records are also available in . Click on the browse through images link, select LaSalle County, and select the record type you are interested in.
 * 1831–1901 Probate estate files

Additional Resources
Additional resources for LaSalle County probates may be found in the topic page of the FamilySearch Catalog. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche may be available for viewing at Family History Centers. 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.

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

Family History Centers
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. The following centers serve LaSalle County:


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


 * 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 LaSalle 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 LaSalle County libraries have collections of particular interest to genealogists.


 * Lasalle Public Library 305 Marquette Lasalle, IL 61301 Telephone:(815) 223-2341 Their Genealogy and Local History collection includes city directories, local and state histories, yearbooks, LaSalle newspapers, maps, and more.


 * Oglesby Public Library District 111 S. Woodland Ave. Oglesby, Illinois 61348 Telephone: (815) 883-3619 The library has local history books.


 * Peru Public Library 1409 11Th St. Peru, IL 61354 Telephone: (815) 223-0229 Their Local History and Genealogy collection includes yearbooks, city directories, maps, and books of local interest.


 * Reddick Public Library District 1010 Canal St. Ottawa, IL 61350 Telephone: (815) 434-0509 Their Illinois Room offers photos and documents related to Ottawa and LaSalle County.


 * Robert W. Rowe Public Library District 120 E. Si Johnson Avenue P.O. Box 358 Sheridan, IL 60551 Telephone: (815) 496-2031 The library is developing a local history collection of historical maps, obituaries, and other items.


 * Utica Public Library District Mill &amp; Grove Streets Utica, IL 61373 Telephone: (815) 667-4509 Join with their history club to categorize photographs and memorabilia related to the Utica area.

LaSalle County Historical Society Museum Library
Staff-assisted research is available in their collections of military records and histories, biographies, and Illinois Michigan Canal books.


 * LaSalle County Historical Society Museum Canal and Mill Streets P.O. Box 278 Utica, IL 61373 Telephone: (815) 667-4861

Societies
La Salle County Genealogy Guild 115 West Glover Street Ottawa, Illinois 61350 Telephone Number: 815-433-5261 Website Hours: M, S 9am - 4pm Other days by Appointment

The LaSalle County Genealogy Genealogical Guild has posted online indexes to county marriages (by both bride and groom), death certificates, obituaries, probate records, and burials. Onsite they hold original probate files, microfilm of early newspapers, and many other resources.

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

Birth Records
Copies of Original Birth Records


 * 1843-1890 Index to Delayed Birth Certificates IRAD-NIU
 * 1843-1890 Delayed Birth Certificates IRAD-NIU
 * 1858–1940 Birth &amp; stillbirth certificates, [one for 1941]
 * 1877–1891 Birth records and indexes
 * 1877-1890 Birth Record Index IRAD-NIU
 * 1877-1890 Birth Records and Certificates IRAD-NIU

Marriage Records
Copies of original Marriage Records


 * 1831–1925 Marriage licenses
 * 1831–1926 Marriage records and indexes
 * 1831-1916 Marriage Records and Licenses IRAD-NIU
 * 1831-1915 Marriage Record Index IRAD-NIU

Online Resources


 * The La Salle County Genealogy Guild has online indexes to marriage records (by both bride and groom) and death certificates.
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 at Illinois State Archives; Index
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810–1934 at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index

Death Records

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

Copies of original Death Records


 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * 1877–1940 Index to death records
 * 1877–1915 Death records
 * 1877–1922 Death Certificates
 * 1877-1940 Death Certificate Index IRAD-NIU
 * 1877-1916 Death Record and Certificates IRAD-NIU
 * 1910-1915 Death Certificates, Coroner's IRAD-NIU
 * 1916-1941 Death Certificates, Stillbirths IRAD-NIU

Additional Resources
Additional resources for LaSalle County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the, and the topic pages of the FamilySearch Catalog. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche may be available for viewing at Family History Centers. 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

 * LaSalle County, IL History, Records, Facts and Genealogy
 * LaSalle 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.
 * LaSalle County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * LaSalle County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)