Madison County, Illinois Genealogy

United States &gt; Illinois &gt; Madison County

County Courthouse
The County Of Madison County Board Office 157 North Main Street Suite 165 Edwardsville, IL. 62025

The County Clerk has records as follows:


 * births from 1860
 * marraiges from 181
 * deaths from 1878

Madison County's government web site has a page specifically explaining how to request records for genealogical research.

The Clerk of Circuit Court has divorce, probate and other court records.

Parent County

 * 1812--Madison County was created 14 September 1812 from St. Clair County. County seat: Edwardsville

Neighboring Counties

 * Bond
 * Clinton
 * Jersey
 * Macoupin
 * Montgomery
 * St. Charles County, Missouri
 * St. Clair
 * St. Louis County, Missouri

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

Cemeteries
Illinois cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.


 * Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried. Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone.  May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.


 * Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Madison County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * Madison 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.


 * The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries in Madison County. Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Madison 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.

The Cemeteries of Madison County, Illinois are documented in sixteen volumes of cemetery and tombstone inscription books prepared by the Madison County Genealogical Society. All sixteen volumes are available on-line at the Illinois Digital Archive. The volumes are organized by township, and are fully text searchable.

Census
Elsie Wasser's transcriptions of the Illinois State Census for 1845, 1855, and 1865 for Madison County are available on the Illinois Digital Archive site as part of the Madison County Genealogical Resources collection.

Land
A Gazetteer of Madison County, Containing Historical and Descriptive Sketches... published in 1866 by James T. Hair covers the geography and history of Madison County from the 1600's, and includes a directory of residents as of 1866.

Local Histories
The Madison County Genealogical Society publication A Complete Surname Index to the History of Madison County, Illinois is available on-line at the Illinois Digital Archive as part of the Madison County Genealogical Resources collection. A fully-digitized copy of the original book, The History of Madison County, Illinois with Biographical Sketches of many Prominent Men and Pioneers, published in 1882 by W.R. Brink and Company, Edwardsville, Illinois, is available at HeritageQuest Online.

Newspapers
Search the Illinois Newspaper Project (INP) database for a listing of historic newspapers available for Madison county.

The Edwardsville Spectator(1819-1826) is available on-line at genealogybank.com. Ancestry.com has some issues of the Edwardsville Intelligencer from 1869-1977.

Web Sites

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