O'Fallon Illinois Family History Center

The O'Fallon, Illinois Family History Center serves the towns of O'Fallon, Shiloh, Belleville, Fairview Heights, Glen Carbon, Edwardsville, and many more in the surrounding counties of St. Clair, Madison, and Randolph.

Center Contacts and Hours

Location & Map:


 * 255 Fairwood Hills Road, O'Fallon, IL 62269 United States
 * Location Map

Email: [mailto:il_ofallon@familyhistorymail.org il_ofallon@familyhistorymail.org]

Phone: 217-606-7809

'''Open Hours: We are open Mon-Thur 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Evening and Saturday by appointment only. Please call or email us at [mailto:il_ofallon@familyhistorymail.org il_ofallon@familyhistorymail.org] or use the Book Now feature on our Facebook page.'''

We will be closed for Thanksgiving 23-25 Nov 2022; for Christmas 21 Dec 2022-3 Jan 2023; and for all Federal Holidays.

Please be mindful of the weather. During times of inclement weather, it's a good idea to call before visiting the center.

Find us on Facebook

Staff Training Meetings
Staff Training is currently on hold.

Staff Training Meetings Handouts

Person Search vs. Record Search

FamilySearch Classes
The center occasionally holds classes for those users of FamilySearch who would like help in finding their ancestors, finding and adding sources, and going beyond the resources of FamilySearch. If you are interested in attending a class, email us at [mailto:il_ofallon@familyhistorymail.org il_ofallon@familyhistorymail.org]. We will contact you to set up a time that will be convenient.

Handouts & Guides
(Library Resource Materials for Staff &amp; Patrons)

Family Tree
Adding Photos to Family Tree (Revised 3/12/2020)

Adding Stories to Family Tree (Revised 8/14/2018)

Adding and Attaching Sources to Family Tree (Revised 02/22/17)

Family Tree (Revised 10/2/2018)

Fixing a Looping Pedigree in Family Tree (10/18/2013)

Merging Duplicate Records in Family Tree (1/3/2017)

RecordSeek for Recording Sources in Family Tree(9/4/2018)

Search Tools in Family Tree (9/30/2015)

Searching with FamilySearch (Revised 8/28/2018)

Web Indexing (4/10/2018)

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Research

 * England Websites (1/26/2015)
 * Descendancy Research (Revised 3/20/2018)
 * Finding Ancestors Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki (Revied 2/15/2017)
 * FamilySearch Catalog (Revised 6/12/2019)
 * FamilySearch Genealogies and Books (4/18/2018)
 * Finding Ancestors Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki(8/28/2019)
 * Finding Female Ancestors (1/6/2019)
 * Finding My Missing Cousins (Descendancy Research)(8/28/2019)
 * British Research Using GRO Indexes (new 12/15/2017)
 * Google (Revised 1/25/2017)
 * Great Research Sites (10/14/2017)
 * How Names are Spelled (12/2/2018)
 * Pioneer Ancestors (Revised 3/27/2018)
 * Research Log - Internet Searches (5/14/2014)
 * Search Tools in Family Tree (9/30/2015)
 * Searching with Family Search (Revised 1/2/2017)
 * State Census Records (12/9/2018
 * US Census Records (4/28/2015)
 * US Church Records (12/16/2018)
 * US Record Finder (5/13/2014)
 * Using the Red Book(10/28/2018)
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Technical

 * Creating Fan or Other Charts with TreeSeek.com (9/23/2017)
 * Creating a GEDCOM File (3/23/2020)
 * Register for or Recover an LDS Account (Revised 8/21/2018)
 * Using Dropbox (10/18/2013)
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Miscellaneous
Ancestry.com Overview (Revised 1/30/2019)

Findmypast Overview (Revised 1/29/2019)

MyHeritage.com Overview (Revised 2/28/2018)

Web Indexing(4/10/2018)

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Forms
Family Group Sheet

Pedigree Chart

Research Log

Research Log - Internet Searches

Research Survey Sheet

U.S. Census Headings (1790-1930)

U.S. Census Headings (1940)

U.S. Record Selection Table

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Maintained by: Kathy Nevin, FHC Director

Last modified: 6/17/2020

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog: This center has access to the FamilySearch Catalog. However, the last day for ordering microfilm was August 31, 2017 and has been replaced with online access to digital images of the world's historic records. This allows FamilySearch to service more people around the globe, faster and more efficiently. See Finding Digital Images of Records on FamilySearch.org and Frequently Asked Questions.
 * Small collection of research aids, resources, and genealogical books are shelved in this center. This includes The Compendium of American Genealogy, St. Clair Co. Marriages 1775-1905, various cemetery records, and other resources from St. Clair Co. as well as resources from other counties in Illinois, and other states.
 * A large microfiche collection, organized into two categories: locality &amp; surname. This collection includes many research aids as well as records from England, Germany, and various US states.
 * There is also an extensive microfilm collection, again organized into locality &amp; surname categories. There are quite a few German Church Records and local Illinois records on microfilm. We have Clinton County Marriages, Naturalizations, Births, Deaths and Wills; St. Clair County Naturalizations; and various other records from other counties and states.

Databases and Software

 * FHC Portal This center has access to the Family History Center Portal page which gives free access in the center to premium family history software and websites that generally charge for subscriptions. These premium websites include, but are not limited to, the following:


 * 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
 * Access Newspaper Archive
 * Alexander Street Press - The American Civil War
 * Ancestry.com
 * Findmypast
 * Fold3.com (Previously known as Footnote.com)
 * MyHeritage
 * Puzzilla.org

Hardware and Equipment

 * Eight computer stations for research are available to the patron.
 * Two printers
 * One copy machine
 * Film/fiche reader/printer are also at the patron's disposal.

Staff Research Specialties

 * List available of volunteers willing to help translate records from German.
 * For help getting started with research or using the Family History Center resources, please contact Kathy @ 618-830-5943.

Resources in the Local Area
The Belleville Public Library houses a genealogy collection. They have microfilm of Belleville and East Saint Louis newspapers, and an index to the obituaries from the newspapers.

Links
O'Fallon, Illinois

St. Clair County, Illinois

Online Illinois Death Records &amp; Indexes

Illinois Vital Records

Online Help for German Research

Belleville Public Library

Matricula (church registers (mostly books of birth, marriage and death) from various European countries (currently Austria, Germany, Poland and Serbia).

Volunteer at the Center
We welcome ALL volunteers, with or without experience. The best way to learn is by doing. We'll help you get started and before you know it, you'll be helping someone else.

If you would like to be a volunteer at the Family History Center, please call (618) 628-7066 for more information.