Whiteside County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Whiteside County

Whiteside County Organization
Whiteside 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 Whiteside County are kept, see the Whiteside County Courthouse page.

Historical Facts


Whiteside County is named for Samuel Whiteside who was a commander in the War of 1812, a Colonel of the Territorial militia, and Brigadier General during the Black Hawk War. He also served in politics and helped select the site for the State Capitol.

Parent County

 * 1836--Whiteside County was created 16 January 1836 from Jo Daviess and Henry Counties. County seat:  Morrison

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

Neighboring Counties

 * Bureau
 * Carroll
 * Clinton County, Iowa
 * Henry
 * Lee
 * Ogle
 * Rock Island

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 alist of cemeteries in Whiteside County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * Whiteside 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 Whiteside 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.


 * Genealogy Trails has a complete list of local cemeteries organized both by name and township.

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.

Court Records
Copies of original records


 * 1855–1886 Chancery Court 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

Local Histories

 * The City of Sterling has published a short history of Sterling.
 * The Sterling-Rock Falls Historical Society has published a history of Sterling.

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 online, through the Family History 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 Resources


 * 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.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 ($)


 * Whiteside County Federal Township Plats

Copies of original 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

Civil War
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.
 * - 34th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, and K.
 * - 52nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
 * - 93rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
 * - 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and G.
 * - 156th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.

Newspapers and Obituaries

 * 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 Family History 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.

Copies of original records


 * 1839–1931 Probate records, wills, administrators' records, executors' records, guardianship records, inventory records, and probate estate judgement records for Whiteside County probate records are also available in . Click on the browse through images link, select Whiteside County, and select the record type you are interested in.
 * 1839–1922 Estate and other probate records
 * 1842-1922 Will Records IRAD-NIU
 * 1845–1943 Estate and other probate records indexes {{{FHL|270180|item|disp=FHL film 1019833(first of 4 films)}}
 * 1852–1904 Probate records

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.

Family History Center
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.

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site. The following center serves Whiteside County:


 * Sterling Illinois Family History Center 2709 N 16th Avenue Sterling, Illinois 61081 Telephone: (815) 625-1229

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

Public Libraries

 * Albany Public Library District 201 South Main Albany, IL 61230 Telephone: (309) 887-4193


 * Erie Public Library 802 8th Ave. Erie, Illinois 61250 Telephone: (309)659-2707


 * Henry C. Adams Memorial Library 209 West Third Street Prophetstown, IL 61277 Telephone: (815) 537-5462


 * Odell Public Library 307 South Madison Street Morrison, IL 61270 Telephone: (815) 998-2012


 * Rock Falls Public Library District 1007 Seventh Avenue Rock Falls, IL 61071 Telephone: (815) 626-3958


 * Schmaling Memorial Public Library District 501 Tenth Avenue 501 10th Ave. PO Box 125 Fulton, IL 61252 Telephone: (815) 589-2045


 * Sterling Public Library 102 West Third Street Sterling, IL 61081 Telephone: (815) 625-1370

Vital Records
See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois.

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 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 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 Family History 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 Records

 * 1839-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index at Illinois State Archives; Index

Death Records
Copies of original Death Records


 * 1871–1891, 1908–1918 Corner's record


 * 1892–1908 Coroner's record


 * 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates at Illinois State Archives; Index

Additional Resources
Additional resources for Whiteside County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the, and the topic pages of the Family History Library catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Web Sites

 * Whiteside County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Whiteside County, Illinois (Genealogy Trails)
 * Whiteside County, Illinois (Genealogy Trails)