Illinois Church Records

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Historical Background
In the decades following statehood, the largest religious groups in Illinois were the Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches. These groups came primarily from the southern states. At the same time, Congregationalists, Lutherans, and members of the Reformed faiths came from the eastern states. Roman Catholics became numerous in Illinois after 1860, especially in the northern industrial areas. Several counties in the northeastern part of the state became havens for Lutheran Scandinavians.

Information Found in the Records
To effectively use church records, become familiar with their content. Click on these links to learn about a specific record type:

Look for online records.
'''Ancestry.com, FindMyPast.com, and MyHeritage.com can be searched free of charge at your local family history center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.


 * Illinois, Select United Methodist Church Records, 1824-2009, ($). Images/index.
 * Illinois, Church Records, 1837-1995, Index and images, incomplete.
 * Illinois, Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield Sacramental Records, 1853-1975, ($) Index and images.

Look for digital copies of church records listed in the FamilySearch Catalog.

 * The Family History Library (FHL) has a substantial collection of original church records and transcripts on microfilm for churches in the United States.
 * Online church records can be listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the state, county, or town.
 * If you find a record that has not yet been digitized, see How do I request that a microfilm be digitized?
 * Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations.
 * To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of United States, STATE.
 * b. Click on Places within United States, STATE and a list of counties will appear.
 * c. Click on your county if it appears.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Click on Places within United States, STATE [COUNTY] and a list of towns will appear.
 * f. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * g. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * h. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

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Consult available finding aids.
These aids generally provide lists of records that are known to exist and information on their location.

Correspond with or visit the actual churches.
Some records are still held in the local churches. Contact the current minister to find out what records are still available.
 * Make an appointment to look at the records. Or ask the minister of the church to make a copy of the record for you.
 * To find church staff available, you might have to visit on Sunday.
 * Ask for small searches at a time, such as one birth record or a specific marriage. Never ask for "everything on a family or surname".
 * A donation ($25-$40) for their time and effort to help you would be appropriate.
 * If the church has a website, you may be able to e-mail a message.
 * See the Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters.
 * Each denomination page offers an online address directory of local churches for that denomination.

Check the church records collections in archives and libraries.
Some church records have been deposited for preservation in government archives or in libraries. Watch for links to digitized, online records offered by the archives. Some archives provide research services for a fee. For others, if you cannot visit in person, you might hire a researcher. -

Correspond with genealogical or historical societies.
Some church records have been given to historical societies. Also, historical societies may be able to tell you where the records are being held. To find a society near you, consult these lists:
 * Society Hill List of STATE Societies

Carefully compare any record you find to known facts about the ancestor
You will possibly find many different people with the same name as your ancestor, especially when a family stayed in a locality for several generations, and several children were named after the grandparents or aunts and uncles. Be prepared to find the correct church records by organizing in advance as many of these exact details about the ancestor as possible:
 * name, including middle name and maiden name
 * names of all spouses, including middle and maiden name
 * exact or closely estimated dates of birth, marriage, and death
 * names and approximate birthdates of children
 * all known places of residence
 * occupations
 * military service details

Carefully evaluate the church records you find to make sure you have really found records for your ancestor and not just a "near match". If one or more of the details do not line up, be careful about accepting the entry as your ancestor. There are guiding principles for deciding how to resolve discrepancies between records that are seemingly close. For more instruction in evaluating evidence, read the Wiki article, Evaluate the Evidence.

Illinois State Archives has collected some early Illinois church records that were given to the Illinois State Library. There is an inventory of church archives (954.012) to be found at the State Library website.

The Family History Library has microfilm of the records and histories of several religious denominations including Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches. To learn what church records are available at the Family History Library go to the FamilySearch Catalog and, at the Place-Names Search, type in the name of the town or county where an ancestor lived. From the list of subjects, choose "Church records" which will indicate what records are available for that locale.

Most church records are scattered and remain in the custody of existing churches. Some, however, have been collected into central repositories, especially those from congregations that have merged or disbanded. To find the existance of records, you may wish to write to the addresses given below to learn where records of an area are located. For churches not listed on this page, see United States Church Records for further information on repositories and collections.

Non-Denominational
Ruth E. Browning abstracted names and events from The Christian Messenger and created an every– name index. The Christian Messenger was a religious newspaper during the 1800's which included "letters with information about the churches, obituaries, death notices, names of subscribers, letters from preachers, etc." The information abstracted from this newspaper came from numerous counties in Illinois.

For more information on "The Restoration Movement" of the 1800's see the wikipedia article "Restoration Movement."

Baptist
American Baptist Historical Society 1106 South Goodman Street Rochester, NY 14620 Phone: (716) 473-1740

The American Baptist Historical Society in Rochester, New York, is national in scope, though records in the archive cover primarily the eastern United States. The records are mostly statistical in nature. They may have some information about ministers and missionaries, but they may have little more than lists of lay members. Any records of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths were kept by the choice of the minister, not by mandate of the church. The departing minister may or may not have left his records with the church or a succeeding minister.


 * The Ministerial Directory of the Baptist Churches in the United States of America. Oxford, Ohio: Ministerial Directory Co., 1899. Digital version at Google Books. This 1899 directory of Baptist ministers lists biographical details about many ministers born or serving in the state:


 * Smith, Justin A. A History of the Baptists in the Western States East of the Mississippi, Philadelphia : American Baptist Publication Society, 1896. Ancestry.com ($) Digital version at Google Books.

The website of Primitive Baptist Churches in Illinois have prepared guides for genealogists who wish to learn about their religious ancestors, see, for example: Church and Family History Research Assistance for Gallatin County, Illinois Primitive Baptists.

Disciples of Christ
History of the Disciples of Christ in Illinois, 1819-1914 (1915) is available online.

Episcopal
There was little Episcopal activity early in central and southern Illinois, but a church was organized in Chicago in 1824. Some records are kept at the Historiographer's office, Episcopal Diocesan Center, 821 South Second St. in Springfield, Illinois 61704. See the Episcopal Church Wiki page for further information on a National level.

Lutheran
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA Archives) 8765 West Higgins Road Chicago IL 60631-4198 Phone: (800) 638-3522 or (773) 380-2700 Fax: (773) 380-1465

The ELCA Archives (formerly known as the ALC Archives or Archives of the American Lutheran Church) is the central archive for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States. If a church unit is still active, the archives will help locate its records. If a church has been disbanded, its records will be located in the archives. The archives will accept genealogy requests by mail. It has microfilm copies of records for many congregations, which can be borrowed for a small fee. A partial list of church records in the archive collection is listed in:


 * ALC Archives. ALC Congregations on Microfilm. Dubuque, Iowa: The Archives, 197–?. The records are arranged by state and city of congregation. Fiche 6330690 includes Illinois.

A bibliography of Illinois Lutheran Church Records and Histories can be found at The Genealoger.com Lutheran Genealogy.

Mennonite
Illinois Mennonite Historical and Genealogical Society 675 State Route 116 Metamora, IL 61548-7732 Phone: (309) 367-2551

The Library collection includes holdings in genealogy and Anabaptist history for research.

Methodist
Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference United Methodist Church Historical Society 1211 North Park Street Bloomington, Illinois 61701 Phone: (309) 828-5092, ext. 227

The Illinois Great Rivers Conference UMC Historical Society was recently created through the merger of the Southern and the Central conferences and its records cover central and southern Illinois as well as records of some disbanded congregations. Members of the staff will do some searching of those records for a small fee.

Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary Attn: Archives 2121 Sheridan Road Evanston, Illinois 60201 Phone: (847) 866-3909

The Archive of the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary houses the records of the Northern Illinois Conference of the Evangelical Methodist Church. In addition to records of disbanded churches, it has records of many Scandinavian congregations. The archive has no direct phone line, so you will need to make inquiries by mail. Selected records of the archive have been microfilmed and are in the Family History Library collection.

Find-A-Church gives a listing of Methodist churches in Illinois arranged by town and city.

Presbyterian
Prior to 1815 there were not many Presbyterians who came to Illinois and established their first church at Sharon in 1816. They cooperated closely in mission work with the Congregationalists in Illinois.. To learn more about where to write for records, see the Presbyterian Church Wiki page.

Archdiocese of Chicago
Archives of the Archdiocese of Chicago Joseph Cardinal Bernadine Archive and Record Center Attn: Assistant Research Archivist 711 West Monroe Chicago, Illinois 60661 Phone: (312) 831-0711 The diocese includes the counties of Cook and Lake  The telephone number of the Archive and Record Center accesses a voice mail menu. Selecting the "reference" option allows a caller to place a request for genealogical research. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of parish records from the Archdiocese of Chicago to 1915. These may be accessed by typing Chicago, Illinois at the Place-names Search of the library catalog. Once at the list of subjects for Chicago, choose "Church records."

Diocese of Belleville
Diocese of Belleville 222 South Third Street Belleville, IL 62220 Phone: (618) 277-8181 The diocese includes the counties of: Alexander, Clay, Clinton, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Marion, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, Saline, St. Clair, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, and Williamson

Many of the Catholic Church records in the Belleville Diocese are available online through FamilySearch in the collection. These records are also available at the St. Louis County Library and the Belleville Public Library.

The book A Time of Favor: The Story of the Catholic Family of Southern Illinois by Betty Burnett contains a great deal of historical context that will help genealogists better understand their ancestors' lives.

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Ilinios Belleville Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Diocese of Joliet
Diocese of Joliet 425 Summit St. Joliet, IL 60435 Phone: (815) 722-6606 The diocese includes the counties of: DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Kendall, and Will. The 1859 records of St. Anne’s Church, which stood in what is now Richton Park, along with the two Mission churches of St. James in Strassburg and St. Boniface in Monee, are included in this Diocese's records.

Diocese of Peoria
Catholic Diocese of Peoria 419 NE Madison Avenue Peoria, IL 61603 Phone: (309) 671-1568 The diocese includes the following counties: Bureau, Champaign, DeWitt, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, LaSalle, Livingston, Logan, Marshall, Mason, McDonough, McLean, Mercer, Peoria, Piatt, Putnam, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren and Woodford.

Diocese of Rockford
Diocese of Rockford 555 Colman Center Drive P.O. Box 7044 Rockford, IL 61108 (815) 399-4300 The diocese includes the counties of:Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Kane, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago.

Diocese of Springfield
Diocese of Springfield Catholic Pastoral Center 1615 West Washington St. P.O. Box 3187 Springfield, Illinois 62708-3187 Phone: (217) 698-8500 The diocese includes the counties of: Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Clark, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Greene, Jasper, Jersey, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Menard, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Scott, and Shelby.

The Drouin Collection
Early U.S. French Catholic Church Records, 1695-1954 ($) (Ancestry).

This database contains the French Catholic parish records from the United States. It is the U.S. part of the U.S. and French-Canadian Drouin Collection. It includes the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Pennsylvania. For more details on these records and the rest of the Drouin Collection see "The Drouin Collection: Six Databases"

The types of records include baptisms, marriages, and burials as well as confirmations, dispensations, censuses, statements of readmission to the church, and so on. They are written mainly in French, as well as English, Latin, and Italian.

When searching this database, be creative in the spellings when searching for an ancestor. The French language has many possible spellings for names and there are always indexing errors as well.

Missions
Many early missions were established by religious denominations to serve the Indians, including:


 * Abnaki Mission
 * Kaskaskia Mission (1674)

Society of Friends - Quaker
University of Illinois University Library Illinois History and Lincoln Collections 322 Library, 1408 W. Gregory Drive Urbana, Illinois 61801 Phone: (217) 333-1777 Email: ihlc@library.illinois.edu The Illinois Historical Survey at the University of Illinois holds the main body of records for meetings in Illinois with the earliest records beginning in 1828. Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Records, 1828-2011.Includes 85 volumes.

Records may also be found at the Lilly Library in Richmond, Indiana Lilly Library, Earlham College Archives 801 National Road West Richmond, Indiana 47374-4095 Phone: (765) 983-1287 Friends Collection and College Archives

Online database for Illinois Quaker records is found at Ancestry.com ($)

See Outfitters.com for further information on Quakers in Illinois.

Websites

 * Church Angel lists churches in Illinois by cities and towns.

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Illinois Belleville Catholic Church Records (FamilySearch HIstorical Records)