Whiteside County, Illinois Genealogy

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



Description
The county was named for General Samuel Whiteside, an Illinois officer in the War of 1812 and Black Hawk War. The county seat is Morrison and the county was organized on January 16, 1836. The County is located in the North West area of the state.

County Courthouse
Whiteside County Courthouse 200 E Knox St Morrison, IL 61270 Phone: 815-772-5170 Whiteside County Courthouse

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

Populated Places
For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:

Census Records
 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, Whiteside County on page 188.]

Church 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.  List of Churches and Church Parishes
 * FamilySearch Places

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

Online Court Indexes and Records
 * 1855-1886 Chancery Court records
 * 1872-1886 Jail Registers IRAD-NIU

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups
 African Americans
 * African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records
 * Illinois African-American Resource Guide by the Illinois State Archives describes what records are at the State Archives with an online method for ordering records.
 * African-American Resources for Illinois

Land and Property Records
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 FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD – Northern Illinois University|NIU IRAD Wiki page. Online Land Indexes and Records
 * 1832-1870 Land patent record IRAD-NIU
 * 1839-1855 Land patent record
 * 1855-1871 Swamp Land Record IRAD-NIU
 * 1855-1883 Swampland record
 * 1865 Special bounty war tax judgments
 * 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 ($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
 * Whiteside County Federal Township Plats

Local Histories

 * History of Sterling Township.
 * The Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society has published a history of Sterling.

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)
 * FamilySearch Places: Map of cities and towns in this county - How to Use FS Places

Military Records
 Civil War Regiments. Civil War service men from Whiteside 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 Whiteside County.
 * - 8th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company C
 * - 13th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and G
 * - 34th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, and K
 * - 52nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F
 * - 93rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F
 * - 140th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies A, B, and D
 * - 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and G
 * - 156th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G

Naturalization and Citizenship
Online Naturalization Indexes and Records
 * 1800-1998 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1856-1991 Illinois, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1856-1991 at Ancestry - index and images ($)

Newspapers

 * 1800s-1999 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-1999 at Ancestry, index ($)
 * The Digital Archives of the Sterling Public Library has published more than 65,000 digital newspaper pages online for a number of local newspapers including Daily Gazette (2007), Evening Gazette (1887-1892), The Great Northwestern Fair (1884), Republican and Gazette (1861), Sauk Valley Sunday (2007), Sterling Daily Gazette (1917-1951), Sterling Evening Gazette (1894-1906), Sterling Gazette (1866-2007), Sterling Republican Gazette (1861-1865), Sterling Standard (1872-1928), The Sterling Times (1854), and Telegraph (2007).
 * The Sterling Public Library has published an index to the Sterling Daily Gazette that includes "births, engagements, marriages, marriage licesnse, birthdays, wedding anniversaries, divorces, obituaries, retirements, and individual accomplishments."

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 FamilySearch Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see theNIU IRAD Wiki page.

Online Probate Indexes and Records
 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry ($) — index and images
 * 1819-1988 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Images only
 * 1839-1922 Estate and other probate records
 * 1842-1922 Will Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1845-1943 (*) at FamilySearch Catalog
 * 1852-1904 Probate records

Vital Records
Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Whiteside County Clerkwhile 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 website of the Whiteside County Clerk explains how to order birth, marriage, and death records. The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through online databases, the FamilySearch Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Whiteside County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

Marriage

 * 1587-1959 Illinois, United States Marriages at Findmypast, index ($)
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHertitage ($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index
 * 1810-1940 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1839-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index at Illinois State Archives; Index
 * Genealogy Trails History Group has an index for marriages online for Whiteside County.

Death

 * 1749-1999 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1850-1880 at FamilySearch — How to Use this Collection; Index and images
 * 1850,1860,1870,1880 U. S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 at Ancestry ($) These include the deaths occurring twelve months before the census was taken.
 * 1871-1891, 1908–1918 Coroner's record
 * 1892-1908 Coroner's record
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 at Illinois State Archives - index; Also at: MyHertitage ($)
 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives - index
 * 1916-1950 Illinois Deaths, 1916-1950 at MyHeritage - index ($)
 * 1951-1971 Illinois Death Certificates, 1951–1971 at Illinois State Archives - index

Archives
 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 Whiteside 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

FamilySearch Centers

 * Davenport Iowa FamilySearch Center
 * Sterling Illinois FamilySearch Center
 * Clinton Public Library - Lyons Branch - an affiliate library
 * Geneseo Public Library - an affiliate library
 * Lee County Historical and Genealogical Society - an affiliate library
 * Polo Public Library - an affiliate library

Libraries
Albany Public Library District 201 South Main Albany, IL 61230 Telephone: (309) 887-4193 Erie Public Library 802 8th Ave. Erie, IL 61250 Telephone: (309)659-2707 Website Henry C. Adams Memorial Library 209 West Third Street Prophetstown, IL 61277 Telephone: (815) 537-5462 Website Odell Public Library 307 South Madison Street Morrison, IL 61270 Telephone: (815) 998-2012 Website Rock Falls Public Library District 1007 Seventh Avenue Rock Falls, IL 61071 Telephone: (815) 626-3958 Website Schmaling Memorial Public Library District 501 Tenth Avenue 501 10th Ave. PO Box 125 Fulton, IL 61252 Telephone: (815) 589-2045 Website Sterling Public Library 102 West Third Street Sterling, IL 61081 Telephone: (815) 625-1370 Website

Societies
Lyndon Historical Society 405 4th St W Lyndon, IL, 61261-0112 Phone: 815-778-4962 Email:[mailto:lyndonareahistoricalsociety@yahoo.com lyndonareahistoricalsociety@yahoo.com] Facebook Website Morrison Historical Society 202 East Lincoln Highway Morrison, IL 61270 Phone: 815-772-3013 or 815-772-4558 Prophetstown Area Historical Society 304 Washington St Prophetstown, IL 61277 Phone: 815-537-2224 E-mail:[mailto:jag1939@thewisp.net jag1939@thewisp.net] Facebook Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society 1005 East Third Street Sterling, IL 61081 Phone: 815-622-6215 Facebook Website Tri-Township Heritage House 306 Lime St Albany IL 61230
 * (covers Albany, Garden Plain, Newton Twps.)

Websites

 * Whiteside ILGenWeb
 * Whiteside County IL Genealogy
 * Whiteside County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Whiteside County, Illinois (Genealogy Trails)
 * – The FamilySearch catalog contains descriptions and access information for all genealogical materials (including books, online materials, microfilm, microfiche, and publications) in their collection.  Use Historical Records to search for specific individuals in genealogical records.