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Macon County, Illinois
Map
Location of Illinois in the U.S.
Facts
Founded:	January 19, 1829
County Seat	Decatur
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Illinois State Archives
Address	Macon County Courthouse 253 East Wood Street Decatur, Illinois 62523 217-424-1305 Macon County Website

This Illinois-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it. While this page is under construction, may we suggest Cyndi's List.

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).^[1]

Parent County

• 1829--Macon County was created 19 January 1829 from Shelby County.
  County seat:  Decatur ^[2]

Boundary Changes

See an interactive map of Macon County boundary changes.

Record Loss

Places / Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Christian
• DeWitt
• Logan
• Moultrie
• Piatt
• Sangamon
• Shelby

Records and Resources

Biography

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 records of cemeteries in Macon County.  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.

Census

Church Records

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 University of Illinois at Springfield - search for Macon County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the UIS IRAD Wiki page.

Copies of Original Records

• 1829-1904 Circuit Court Case Files including Criminal Files IRAD-UIS
• 1830-1848 Circuit Court Record IRAD-UIS
• 1831-1848 Court record, Vol. A-B FHL Film 985764
• 1857-1871 Justice of the Peace Dockets IRAD-UIS
• 1831-1866 Circuit Court Execution Files IRAD-UIS
• 1869-1869 Circuit Court Dockets, Common Law IRAD-UIS
• 1872-1934 County Court Record IRAD-UIS
• 1878-1881 Circuit Court Cockets IRAD-UIS
• 1883-1892 County Court Dockets IRAD-UIS
• 1893-1910 County Court Judgment Record IRAD-UIS
• 1893-1906 Insanity and Conservator's Record IRAD-UIS
• 1893-1910 Insanity Dockets IRAD-UIS
• 1895-1926 Insanity Record IRAD-UIS
• 1899-1909 County Court Dockets, Criminal IRAD-UIS
• 1900-1933 County Court Miscellaneous Record IRAD-UIS

Abstracts

• 1831-1838 Hauffe, Jean Parks Abstracts of Macon County, Illinois Circuit Court records, book A, 1831- 1838 WorldCat 901305; FHL Book 977.358 P2m

Online Resources

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

Ethnic Research

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

Genealogy

History

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.

Maps

Military

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.

- 7th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company I.

- 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.

Naturalization

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 & 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 FHL Films 983279
• 1830–1890 Probate Case Files IRAD–UIS
• 1830–1885 Estate Files FHL Films 983280 First of 113 Films
• 1847–1916 Probate Will Record IRAD–UIS
• 1847–1916 Will Records FHL Films 983273–983278
• 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 FHLC (Probate Records), FHLC(Probate indexes) and WorldCat.

Repositories

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.

Social Groups Online

Societies

Taxation

Vital Records

Birth

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

Death

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
• Macon County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

References

1. ↑ "Nathaniel Macon", Wikipedia.
2. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, UT: Everton Publishers, 2002), 196. (FHL Collection Ref Book 973 D27e 2002). WorldCat entry.