Scott County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  Scott County

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

Historical Facts
Scott County was established on February 16, 1839 from a portion of Morgan County. It's territory was first part of Illinois County, created by Virginia in 1783. In 1787 this sparsely settled county became part of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio River. In 1790 present day Scott became part of St. Clair County which was one of the initial counties located in Indiana Territory when it was formed in 1800. In 1809, that county became part of the new Illinois Territory and Scott county's territory moved through several county organizations as the population of Illinois began to expand rapidly: first Madison in 1812; next Greene in 1821; and as the last step before becoming its own county it became part of Morgan in 1823. This very rural county retains much the look it had during it's early days. See the diagram of the county's derivation at the Scott County ILGenWeb Project


 * Scott County was formed 16 February 1839 from Morgan County.
 * Named after Scott County, Kentucky through influence of emigrants from that county.

Parent County

 * 1839--Scott County was created 16 February 1839 from Morgan County. County seat:  Winchester

Boundary Changes

 * No known changes

See an interactive map of Illinois boundary changes.

Populated Places
Cities: Winchester

Towns: Naples Villages: Alsey. Bluffs. Exeter. Glasgow. Manchester

Precincts: Alsey. Bloomfield. East Winchester. Exeter. Glasglow. Manchester. Merritt. Naples. North Bluff. North Winchester. Oxville. Point Pleasant. Sandy. South Bluffs. South Winchester

Unincorporated Community: Riggston

Neighboring Counties

 * Greene
 * Morgan
 * Pike

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 Scott County and links to the information for the individuals buried there.


 * Scott 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.


 * Scott County Cemeteries in the Rootsweb site has many cemeteries listed and some have a list of people buried in those cemeteries. The give coordinates, section, township, and range. If there is a township name, that is also listed.


 * 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 Scott 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.


 * The Scott County website of ILGenWeb has many pages of information on the county's cemeteries at www.pikecoilgenweb.org/index.php.

Census

 * 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, Scott County on page 188.]


 * 1850 Census


 * Index: 1850 Census of Scott County, IL at Rootsweb– Free; index


 * 1850 Mortality Schedule


 * 1850 Scott County Mortality Schedule at Rootsweb– Free; alphabetical


 * 1860 Census


 * 1860 Census of Scott County, IL at Rootsweb– Free; index


 * 1860 Mortality Schedule


 * 1860 Scott County Mortality Schedule at Rootsweb – Free; Alphabetical


 * 1870 Census


 * 1870 Census of Scott County, IL at Rootsweb – Free; Index


 * 1870 Mortality Schedule


 * 1870 Scott County IL Mortality Schedule at Rootsweb – Free; Alphabetical


 * 1880 Mortality Schedule


 * 1880 Scott County IL Mortality Schedule at Rootsweb — Free; Alphabetical

Church Records
A few resources referring to Scott County church and their records have been found on the internet.


 * See Linkpendium. For references to various church related sources.
 * WorldCat has Scott County church directories for 196? and 1979
 * Records for 1891 to 1900 of the Presbyterian Church in Wincester are available through the Family History Library.

Major denomination in Scott County, Illinois include Evangelical Denominations, Catholic Church, American Baptist Churches, Assemblies of God, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Evangelical Lutheran Church, United Methodist Church. To see more about the churches by town, Click here.

Timeline of early churches of Shelby County: Historic sketch and biographical album of Shelby County, Illinois : embellished with portraits of well-known residents of Shelby County, Illinois. Reprint. (Salem, Massachusetts : Higginson, [2001?], Originally published: Shelbyville, Ill. : The Wilder Pub. Co., 1900).


 * 1825 Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church was the pioneer church of the county begune by itinerant preachers. Their first building in 1830 was perhaps the first built in the county.
 * 1832 - Baptists who were known as the Church of Christ organized in Shelbyville and Ash Grove. Other congregations were organized in the mid- to late-1800s on other communities in the county
 * 1839 - Walnut Grove Presbyterian Church
 * 1843 - Shelbyville Church
 * 1850 - St Paul's Reformed Church in Shelbyville
 * 1860 - West Okaw Church in Prairie Home were basically Presbyterian
 * 1860 - Baptist in Shelbyville. It was the second Vaptist congregation in the county but did not claim to be connected to the Baptist group organized in 1832.
 * 1867 - First Presbyterian Church of Tower Hill
 * 1867 - Presbyterian Church of Moweaqua
 * 1875 - Aftican Methodist Episcopal (M.E. Church) in Shelbyville

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

Land and Property
BLM GLO Records. Search original land patents for Scott 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.

IRAD holdings


 * Deed records 1839 to 1874

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.

Records at the Family History Library


 * Deeds 1839 to 1897; index 1888 to 1901

Military

 * Civil War 1861–1865 Civil War service men from Scott 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 Scott County.


 * - 27th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B
 * - 28th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C
 * - 33rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F
 * - 61st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F
 * - 91st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G


 * Other Civil War records may be locate to help you with your ancestors.
 * – Civil War Discharge Papers at RootsWeb – Free; Alphabetical


 * Spanish-American War 1898


 * – Volunteer Soldiers of '98 and '99 at Rootsweb – Free; History, biographical sketches.

Naturalization and Citizenship
IRAD Holdings


 * Natutalization Records, Circuit Court 1859 to 1904
 * Naturalization Records, County Court 1864 to1906

Newspapers and Obituaries

 * Newspaper and Other Articles of Genealogical Interest to Scott County Researchers at Rootsweb – Free; Incomplete

County Courthouse
County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for Scott County are kept, see the Scott County Courthouse page.

Vital Records
Marriages were first recorded in Scott County in 1839--when the county was organized. The early marriage records may or may not contain the marriage application (which would contain parent names). Birth records were first recorded in Scott County in 1860; deaths were first recorded in 1877. It was not until 1916 that the recording of births and deaths became mandatory. These vital records are available through the Scott County Clerk/Recorder, 35 East Market St., Winchester, IL 62694. Phone: 217.742.3178.

Birth Records
IRAD Holdings


 * Birth Certificates 1880 to 1900
 * Birth Records 1877 to 1903
 * Birth Records Index 1877 to 1903
 * Birth Afftdavit Records, Chidren of Civil War Casualties 1861 to 1875

Published abstracts:


 * Early Births Registered in Scott County, Illinois (1850s-1860s), courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois
 * Births During 1900: Scott County, Illinois, courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois

Marriage Records
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, for Scott County 1839 to 1900

IRAD Holdings


 * Marriage License Applications 1876 to 1900
 * Marriage Licenses 1876 to 1927
 * Marriage Records 1839 to 1914
 * Marriage Record Index 1839 to1945

Published abstracts:


 * Scott County, Illinois Marriages Groom Index 1900 - 1915, courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois
 * Scott County, Illinois Marriages Bride Index 1900 - 1915, courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois

Death Records
Index to Illinois Death Certificates, 1916–1950

IRAD Holdings


 * Death Records 1877 to 1913
 * Death Record Index 1877 to 1913

Published abstracts:


 * Scott County, Illinois Deaths 1878 - 1903, courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois
 * Scott County Patient Deaths at the Illinois State Hospital (1910s-1930s), courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois
 * WWII Deaths from Scott County, Illinois, courtesy: Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois

Web Sites

 * Scott County - ILGenWeb/USGenWeb
 * Scott County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * Scott County, Illinois Resources (Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois) Extensive Atlases, Cemetery, Census, Directories, Local Histories, Military, Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Records, Vital Records
 * Scott County, Illinois Resources (Researching Your Roots in Central Illinois) Extensive Atlases, Cemetery, Census, Directories, Local Histories, Military, Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Records, Vital Records