Macon County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Macon County

Macon County Information
Macon 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 Macon County are kept, see the Macon County Courthouse page.

Historical Facts


The county is named after U.S. Senator Nathaniel Macon (1758-1837).

Parent County

 * 1829--Macon County was created 19 January 1829 from Shelby County. County seat: Decatur

Boundary Changes
See an interactive map of Macon County boundary changes.

Neighboring Counties

 * Christian
 * DeWitt
 * Logan
 * Moultrie
 * Piatt
 * Sangamon
 * Shelby

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


 * Macon 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 Macon 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.

Court Records

 * Macon County Jail, 1930 Index of Prisoners, courtesy: Blacksheep Ancestors.

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

Land and Property
BLM GLO Records. Search original land patents for Macon County from the Govenment Land Office (GLO) or Eastern States Office. Some searches include images of the original warrants. All search results include the patant details needed for requesting copies of the land entry files at the National Archives. The GLO is the custodian of millions of land title documents. The General Land Office Automated Records Project is responsible for making these important documents available to the public.

Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales. The Illinois State Archives has an online index to the records of Public land sales held by the State Archives. The indexes are by purchasers name and by legal description. This is a statewide collection with nearly 550,000 land sales fro 54740 square miles.

Land records that include Bond County 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.
 * "U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796 to 1907:" Records of Illinois are among the 13 states included in this set. It includes images of the land patents which contain the information necessary for ordering the complete case files from the National Archives. This appears to be the same information that is online at the Federal Land Office site http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.
 * Sheldon, Theodore. Land registration in Illinois. Chicago: Callaghan Co., 1901. Digital book. Expains the laws regarding land and the land systems used in Illinois. Includes court cases involving land issues. In addition to being on Ancestry, this book is available online at no cost at Internet Archives and Google Books.

Civil War
Civil War service men from Macon 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 Macon County.


 * - 21st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A
 * - 41st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A and E.
 * - 63rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.
 * - 70th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.

Newspapers and Obituaries
Historic

Ancestry.com and NewspaperArchive.com have digitized dozens of historic Macon County newspapers. Cyndi's List provides a detailed list.

Current

The website of the Decatur Herald &amp; Review provides free access to birth and death notices published in the newspaper since 1997.

Probate Records
Original probate records are usually held by the circuit court clerk. Probate records include wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records. Copies of probate records are held at IRAD. Explore how to search IRAD–UIS. The following copies are available at IRAD–UIS and in the Family History Library Catalog:


 * 1830–1872 Probate Case Files Index IRAD–UIS
 * 1830–1972 Estate Files Index
 * 1830–1890 Probate Case Files IRAD–UIS
 * 1830–1885 Estate Files
 * 1847–1916 Probate Will Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1847–1916 Will Records
 * 1860–1960 Probate Inventory Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1873–1939 Probate Administrator's Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1883–1904 Probate Widow's Relinquishment and Selection Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1887–1962 Probate Appraisement RecordIRAD–UIS
 * 1904–1957 Probate Heirship Record IRAD–UIS
 * 1943–1962 Probate Wills IRAD–UIS

In addition, IRAD maintains an online index to


 * Macon County Circuit Court case files, 1829–1861. These records include chancery cases.  Although, not officially probate records, chancery court records may include plaintiffs and defendants in property settlements.

Other abstracted probate records for Macon County can be explored through a subject search of the (Probate Records), (Probate indexes) and WorldCat.

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

The FHC center in Macon County is located in Decatur. Be sure to call and visit its wiki page for hours of service and other information.

Decatur Illinois Family History Center 3955Lourdes Drive Decatur, Illinois 217-845-9396

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site, if you live outside the area.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)
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.

The University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) houses the records for Macon County. The link will help you find and use the records. There address is:

Illinois Regional Archives Depository LIB144 University of Illinois at Springfield Region One University Plaza, MS BRK 140 Springfield, Illinois 62703-5407 217-206-6520

Public Libraries
Barclay Public Library 220 S. Main St. P.O. Box 349 Warrensburg, Illinois 62573 Office 217-672-3621 217-672-8404

They have a wide variety of genealogy and local history resources. They are also digitizing their collection, which can be accessed online and in the library. Be sure to view the Genealogical section on their site.

Marriage
Available through Ancestry.com $:


 * Macon county marriages in "Illinois Marriages 1790 to 1860." The source of this collection is films in the Family History Library's collection
 * Macon County marriages in "Illinois Marriages 1851 to 1900." The source of this collection is films in the Family History Library's collection

Web Sites

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