Brown County, Illinois Genealogy

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

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

Historical Facts


Brown County is named for who was a Commander-in-Chief of the Army in the early 1800's.

Description
The county was named for U.S. General Jacob Brown, who defeated the British at the Battle of Sackett's Harbor in 1813. The County Seat is Mount Sterling and was founded 1839. It is located in the West-Central area of the state.

Boundary Changes

 * 1 February 1839: -- Brown County was created from Schuyler County. 

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
1939 Some records were lost or damaged when a fire burned the courthouse on March 8.

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:

Cemeteries

 * GenealogyTrails.com. Find or add headstone transcriptions for Brown County Cemeteries.


 * Interment.net has some Brown County Cemetery Records available online.


 * Linkpendium. Has links to several Brown County Cemetery related websites.


 * Epodunk has a list of Brown County Cemeteries. The website provides name of cemetery, address and telephone number when available, Google Map with cemetery marker, and other helpful Internet links.

Census
For information and tips on using and accessing online census records, see Illinois Census.

Federal

 * 1840 federal census of Brown County, Illinois, pub. 200?
 * 1850 Brown County, Illinois federal census, pub. 1983
 * Illinois 1870 census index, Brown County, pub. 1997
 * 1880 federal census, Brown County, Illinois: complete, indexed; pub. 2003
 * Ancestry.com (FI$)
 * heritagequestonline.com (LAR)

State

 * Illinois State Census, 1825-1865 Ancestry.com (FI$)

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, Brown County on page 186.]

Church History and Records
Some additional resources for Brown County, Illinois church recordscan be found in the WorldCat library which can be ordered through interlibrary loan at your local library. Explore how to search the Worldcat Online Catalog.

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 the Western Illinois University (WIU) - search for Brown County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the WIU IRAD Wiki page.

Copies of original records


 * 1837–1853 Circuit Court records
 * 1841–1895 Circuit court fee books IRAD–WIU
 * 1853–1924 Chancery records

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

 * Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing Biographical Sketches of Pioneers and Leading Citizens. Chicago: Biographical Review Pub. Co., 1892. Digital versions at Ancestry ($); Genealogy Trails; Internet Archive; USGenWeb (partial).

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

Online Resources


 * Beginning 1820 Land Patent Search See Illinois Land and Property for more information about this database.
 * 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
 * Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
 * Brown County Federal Township Plats

Abstracts


 * Boyd, Gregory. Family maps of Brown County, Illinois: with homesteads, roads, waterways, towns, cemeteries, railroads, and more. Norman, Oklahoma: Arphax Publishing Company, 2005. Other libraries (WorldCat)


 * 1986 Rockford Map Publishers. Land atlas and plat book, Brown County, Illinois, 1986. Rockford, Illinois: Rockford Map Publishers, 1986. Other libraries (WorldCat)

Copies of original records


 * 1817–1853 Lists of lands subject to taxation

Maps

 * Maps of Illinois (1788-1940)


 * Birds eye view of Mount Sterling, Brown County, Illinois 1869.' Drawn by A. Ruger.

Military History and Records

 * 1943–1950 Military Discharge Record Index IRAD–WIU
 * 1901–1951 Military Discharge Record IRAD–WIU

Civil War
Civil War service men from Brown 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 Brown County.


 * - 3rd Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company G.
 * - 10th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company K.
 * - 16th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 50th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 84th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D.
 * - 119th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D and E.
 * - 137th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company H.

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

Newspapers
For local newspapers, please check local town.

Poorhouses
Brown County Almshouse Registers Index, 1882-1963, courtesy: Illinois State Archives

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 Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Western Illinois University (WIU) - search for Brown County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the WIU IRAD Wiki page.

Online Probate Records


 * 1772 - 1999 Illinois Wills and Probate Records 1772-1999 at Ancestry.com — index and images $
 * 1819 - 1988 at FamilySearch.org — images
 * 1817-1936 An unspecified number of are available at the Family Search Records online database. The collection does not have an every name index, but the images are available to browse and may have indexes within each volume.
 * SAMPUBCO - Index of testators of wills.

Copies of original records


 * 1839–1923 Probate Related records
 * 1844–1964 Probate record indexes
 * 1844–1922 Probate records
 * 1849–1936 Administrator's records
 * 1850–1967 Probate fee books IRAD–WIU
 * 1869–1928 Executor's Records, vol. B–E
 * 1869–1927 Wills
 * 1873–1963 Will packets index
 * 1873–1963 Will packets
 * - Probate Index

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Brown County probates may be found in the Illinois,Brown– Probate recordstopic 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.

Repositories
Inventory of the county archives of Illinois, no. 5, Brown County (Mt. Sterling), Historical Records Survey; pub. 1938

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

Family History Center
There are over 4500 Family History Centers in more than 80 countries offering public access to genealogical records from all over the world. Family History Centers provide patrons with access to over a billion online records and approximately 2.5 million circulating microfilms. Centers are staffed by local volunteers who are eager to provide genealogical research assistance. Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in Brown County. To find the nearest Family History Center, check out the Family Search Centers page on the FamilySearch.org website.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD-WIU)
IRAD is a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories managed by the Illinois State Archives, housing 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.Western Illinois University houses the records for Brown County.

Public Libraries
Brown County Public Library District 143 West Main Street Mt. Sterling, IL 62353 Telephone: 217-773-4723

Versailles Branch Library 112 West 2nd Street Versailles, IL 62378 Telephone: 217-225-3102

Societies
Brown County Historical Society 200 South Congress Rushville, IL 62681 Facebook

Versailles Area Genealogical and Historical Society 113 W. First Street Versailles, IL 62378 Telephone Number: 217-225-3401 E-mail: [mailto:vaghs83@yahoo.com vaghs83@yahoo.com] Website

Taxation

 * 1817–1853 Lists of lands subject to taxation

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 Brown 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 Western Illinois University (WIU) - search for Brown County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

General

 * 1959 Brown County, Illinois Marriages and Deaths

Births
Copies of Original Birth Records


 * 1830–1900 Birth certificates
 * 1854–1895 Birth record index IRAD–WIU
 * 1865–1895 Birth record index
 * 1877–1895 Birth record IRAD–WIU
 * 1901–1904 Birth Records

Marriages

 * Hoffman, Laurie. Early Marriages -- Brown County Illinois 1839 - 1850, courtesy: ILGenWeb

Copies of original Marriage Records


 * 1839–1850 Marriages
 * 1839–1951 Marriage record index
 * 1839–1995 Marriage record index IRAD–WIU
 * 1839–1951 Marriage record IRAD–WIU
 * 1868–1951 Marriage licenses IRAD–WIU
 * 1886–1951 Marriage licenses

Online Resources


 * 1587-1959 - Illinois, United States Marriages at FindMyPast — index $
 * 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
 * 1790–1860 Illinois Marriage indexfound at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1805-1985 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1810–1934 at FamilySearch — index and images. :
 * 1833-1889 at FamilySearch — index
 * 1839 Brown County, IL 1839 Marriages found at USGenWeb Archives Illinois.
 * Brown County Marriage Records found at USGenWeb Archives Illinois.

Deaths
Copies of original Death Records


 * 1877–1915 Death record IRAD–WIU
 * 1877–1945 Death record index IRAD–WIU
 * 1877–1915 Deaths
 * 1878–1945 Deaths index

Online Resources


 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950
 * Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916
 * 1850-1880 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1850–1885 U.S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 found at Ancestry.com (free)

Additional Resources
Additional resources for Brown births, marriages and deaths 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.

Websites

 * Brown County ILGenWeb
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Community on Google+
 * Illinois Genealogy Network Group on Facebook
 * Brown County IL Genealogy
 * Brown County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)