Illinois, DeKalb County Land Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1836 to 1927.

This collection contains digital images of deed books, grantor indexes, and grantee indexes from the courthouse in Sycamore, Illinois. This collection is being published as images become available.

For a list of records by categories and dates currently published in this collection, select the Browse.

Record Content
The records usually contain the following information:


 * Names of interested parties
 * Date of transaction
 * Legal description of the property
 * Monies exchanged
 * Details of the transaction
 * Names of witnesses

How to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know


 * The name of your ancestor
 * Some other identifying information such as the approximate transaction date or location of the property

Search the Collection
To search the collections ⇒Select "Browse" link in the initial search page ⇒Select "Record Category" ⇒Select "Record Type, Volume, and Year Range" which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Make a photocopy of the deed, or extract the genealogical information needed.

These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example:


 * Use the residence and names of the parents to locate church and census records.
 * Occupations listed can lead you to other types of records such as employment records or military records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Search for the land transactions of a couple and their children. The parents may have sold or given property to a son or daughter. Such transactions confirm relationships that might not be found in other records.
 * Search for records of people in the county who shared a surname. These may have been the couple’s parents, uncles, or other relatives. Your ancestor may have been an heir who sold inherited land that had belonged to parents or grandparents.
 * To find later generations, search the land records a few years before and after a person’s death. Your ancestor may have sold or given land to his or her heirs before death, or the heirs may have sold the land after the individual died. For daughters, the names of their husbands are often provided. For sons, the given names of their wives may be included. Heirs may have sold their interest in the land to another heir even though the record may not indicate this. Continue this process for identifying each succeeding generation.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Some counties were subdivided or the boundaries may have changed. Consider searching neighboring counties as well since that courthouse may have been more convenient for the person.
 * One deed does not usually give sufficient information about a couple and their children. A careful study of all deeds for the person or the family will yield a richer return of information.
 * For each parcel of land owned, you should obtain two documents:


 * 1) The deed that documents when ownership transferred to the individual or the family and
 * 2) The deed that documents when ownership was transferred to someone else.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?

 * Check for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Websites
DeKalb County Illinois Free Public Records

Related Wiki Articles
Illinois Land and Property

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
Citations for individual image records are available for this collection. Browse through images in this collection and click on the "Show Citation" box: Illinois, DeKalb County Land Records, 1838-1927

When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information published in FamilySearch.org Historical Record collections. Sources include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.