Kane County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Kane County

Parent County

 * 1836--Kane County was created 16 January 1836 from LaSalle County. County seat:  Geneva
 * The Illinois General Assembly, established the borders of Kane County January 16, 1836, as: "...Commencing at the northeast corner of Township No. 42 north, Range No. 8 east of the third principal maridian and running thence south to the southeast corner of Township No. 37, in the range aforesaid; thence west to the southeast corner of Township No. 37, Range No 2 east of the third principal meridian; thence nort with the range line between 2 and 3 to the northern boundary line of Township No. 42; thence east along said line to the place of beginning, shall constitute a county to be called Kane." Commemorative, Biographical

Boundary Changes

 * 1837 -- Kane County lost the area that is now DeKalb county.
 * 1841 - Kane County lost the southern 3 townships to Kendall County.

Record Loss
1890 -- Courthouse destroyed by fire, March 13, 1890. The records of the recorder's office, the county clerk, and the circuit clerk were locked in fire-proof vaults and were not damaged.

Townships
Aurora | Batavia | Big Rock | Blackberry | Burlington | Campton | Dundee | Elgin | Geneva | Hampshire | Kaneville | Plato | Rutland | St. Charles | Sugar Grove | Virgil

Cities and Towns
Algonquin (partly in McHenry county | Aurora (partly in DuPage, Kendall and Will counties) | Barrington Hills | Bartlett (mostly in DuPage and Cook counties) | Batavia (partly in DuPage county) | Big Rock | Burlington | Campton Hills | Carpentersville | East Dundee | Elburn | Elgin (partly in Cook county) | Geneva | Gilberts | Hampshire | Hoffman Estates (mostly in Cook county) | Huntley (partly in McHenry county) | Kaneville | Lily Lake | Maple Park (partly in DeKalb county) | Montgomery (partly in Kendall county) | North Aurora | Pingree Grove | St Charles | Sleepy Hollow | South Elgin | Sugar Grove | Virgil | Wayne (partly in DuPage county) | West Dundee

Communities
Allens Corners | La Fox | Mooseheart | Plato Center | Starks | Wasco

Neighboring Counties

 * Cook
 * DeKalb
 * DuPage
 * Kendall
 * McHenry
 * Will

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 Kane County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * Kane 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 of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.


 * ePodunk list of Kane 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.

Census
Federal

State


 * 1865 State Census was indexed by the Kane County Genealogical Society.
 * The census index was published in The Index to the Kane County, Illinois, 1865 State Census. Geneva, IL: 2000.
 * The index is available in the Master Every Name Index located at the Kane County Genealogical Society. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilkcgs/mast_name_index.html

Church
LDS Ward and Branch Records


 * Aurora
 * Batavia

Circuit Court

 * Kane County Circuit Court Case Files Index, 1836-1870 (courtesy: Illinois State Archives)
 * Kane County Circuit Court Docket Index 1881-1884 (courtesy: Genealogy Trails)

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

 * There are 5 county histories in 6 volumes.
 * The Past and Present of Kane County, Illinois. Chicago: LeBaron and Company, 1878.
 * Commemorative, Biographical and Historical Record of Kane County, Illinois. Chicago: Beers, Leggett &amp; Co., 1888.
 * Biographical Record of Kane County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1898.
 * Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County edited by Newton Bateman, et.al. Chicago: Munsell Publishing Company, 1904
 * History of Kane County, Illinois. Volumes I &amp; II by R. Waite Joslyn &amp; Frank W. Joslyn. Chicago: The Pioneer Publishing Company, 1908.
 * The indexes for all 5 Kane County histories (6 volumes) are part of the Master Every Name Index located at the Kane County Genealogical Society. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilkcgs/mast_name_index.html

Military

 * Civil War Civil War service men from Kane 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 Kane County.


 * - 42nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
 * - 52nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, D, H, I and K.
 * - 55th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 58th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, G, and I.
 * - 89th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies E and K.

Naturalizations
Naturalization facts for Kane County, Illinois:


 * 4 courts processed naturalizations in Kane County: the Aurora Court, the Kane County Court, the Elgin Court and the Kane County Circuit Court.
 * 1965 - all records were moved to the Kane County Circuit Court.
 * 162 volumes of records exist at the Kane County Circuit Court
 * 1853 – earliest record
 * 1954 – latest record
 * 40,000+ Declarations and Final Papers were processed
 * 2000 pages of extracted information were developed by the Kane County Genealogical when they indexed the naturalizations for the Kane County Circuit Court in the 1980s.
 * 4 indexes were developed: Applicant index, Spouse index, Child index and Witness index
 * All indexes are available in the Master Every Name Index located at the Kane County Genealogical Society. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilkcgs/mast_name_index.html

Newspapers
An on-line index of Elgin area newspaper articles from the Courier News &amp; Daily Herald is available on the Gail Borden Library website.

Probate

 * In 1993 the Kane County Circuit Court microfilmed the Probate and Guardianship packets and gave the original packets to 12 county historical societies.
 * The Circuit Court retained a copy of the microfilm.
 * 36,000 Probate and Guardianship packets were distributed.
 * Dates started in the late 1830s and included some as late as the 1970s.
 * Index to Kane County, Illinois, Probate and Guardianship Records Located in Local Historical Societies was published in 2003 by the Kane County Genealogical Society and can be found in genealogical library collections.
 * The index is part of the Master Every Name Index located at the Kane County Genealogical Society. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilkcgs/mast_name_index.html

Taxation

 * Kane County, Illinois 1848 Personal Property Tax List transcribed by Joseph Kearns. Kane County Genealogical Society, 1984.
 * The index is available in the Master Every Name Index located at the Kane County Genealogical Society. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilkcgs/mast_name_index.html

Birth

 * 1877-1915 Birth index -
 * 1855-1900 Births -

Web Sites

 * USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
 * Elgin Genealogical Societyis a great gateway to sites to aid researches to this area.
 * Kane County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Kane County Genealogical Society covers records from the whole county.
 * Kane County Genealogical Society covers records from the whole county.