St. Clair County, Illinois Genealogy

United States Illinois  St. Clair County

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

Parent County
1790--St. Clair County was created 27 April 1790 from the Northwest Territory. County seat: Belleville

Record Loss
Declaration and Naturalization papers issued by the Circuit Court before 1906 were destroyed, with one exception. About 60 original naturalization papers for men whose surname began with "G" survived. This court's record also survived and consists of a sequence number, the name, and the court term the declaration or naturalization took place.

Places / Localities
The comprehensive list in St. Clair County Research and Resources: A Genealogist's Guide serves as a companion to other place names in the county shown in Adams' Illinois Place Names (Springfield, Ill: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989).

To see a list of places in St. Clair County, click on [Show], in the bar above. The preceding list of places includes incorporated cities and towns, unincorporated towns and communities, and place names that may have been used in family histories. Some have well-organized records and even have web sites. Some are simply social communities with no official records, but which may be referenced in small-town newspapers. The list is provided to help researchers identify localities within the county. As records or histories of these localities are identified, a page will be added for each of these place names.

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

Cemeteries
One of the best places to start St. Clair County cemetery searches is:


 * Cemeteries of St Clair County Illinois Among those online are 23,000+ burials in Walnut Hill Cemetery, Belleville, and a surname index to burials in more than 140 smaller to medium sized cemeteries throughout the county. Courtesy: St. Clair County Genealogical Society.

The Illinois Cemeteries page provides general explanations of the following online St. Clair County cemetery resources:


 * The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has burial records for Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery and other Veterans Affairs National Cemeteries around the country.

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, St. Clair County on page 188.]

1870 Agricultural Census www.stclair-ilgs.org/1870ag1.htm

1930 Federal Census by surname www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilstclai/1930a-z.htm

Church
Baptist, Lutheran, the former Evangelical and Reformed, United Church of Christ (many translated from German), and other published church registers www.stclair-ilgs.org/stcpub.htm#church

Catholic
FamilySearch has made parish records from 40 Belleville Diocese Catholic churches in St. Clair County available for free online (requires free registration). The records include first communions, confirmations, marriages, and deaths:


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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

 * LDS Ward and Branch Records: Belleville, East St. Louis

Methodist Episcopal

 * History of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, Belleville, 1840-1998 with surname index to records www.stclair-ilgs.org/bvmethch.htm

Court
Declaration and Naturalization Papers filed in various St Clair courts: explained, indexes availability, record locations www.stclair-ilgs.org/natl.htm

Cahokia
Early records of courts that met at Cahokia in the late 1700s have been published:


 * Alvord, Clarence Walworth. Cahokia Records, Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, Volume II, 1778-1790. Publisher's bookstore.

Chancery Court

 * St. Clair County Circuit Court Chancery Case Files Index, 1815-1870 (courtesy: Illinois State Archives)

Circuit Court

 * Circuit Court Case Files 1819-1840 St. Clair County, Illinois (courtesy: St. Clair County Genealogical Society)

Land
A list of dozens of St. Clair County Grants Claimed in 1798 is available online, courtesy: Genealogy Trails.

Local Histories
Biographical sketch indexes:  www.stclair-ilgs.org/stchome.htm


 * Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of St Clair County. Chicago: Munsell Pub. Co., 1907. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Portrait and Biographical Record of St. Clair County, Illinois: Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, Together with Biographies and Portraits of All the Presidents of the United States. Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1892. Digital version at Ancestry ($).
 * Stevens, Thomas Wood. The Book of Words of St. Clair County Pageant. Belleville, Ill.: n.p., 1914. Digital version at Ancestry ($).

Military
Historical information about White County soldiers of the Black Hawk War, Civil War, Mexican War, Revolutionary War, and War of 1812 may be found in:


 * McLean County, White County, Will County Genealogical Records. Evanston, Ill.?: Illinois Society, D.A.R.?, 1945?. Digital version at Ancestry ($).


 * Civil War Civil War service men from St. Clair 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 St. Clair County.


 * - 43rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, G and H.
 * - 59th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
 * - 70th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.

Naturalizations
East St. Louis City Court Naturalizations Papers (1874-1906), courtesy: Illinois State Archives.

Several St. Clair County courts issued declaration and naturalization papers. An index to the first 3 of 19 volumes (1906-1945) has been made available for free online:


 * Index to Declarations and Naturalizations, Circuit Court 1906 - c1945, St. Clair County, Illinois, courtesy: St. Clair County Genealogical Society.

"An important find in this particular record collection is that all the Volume 3 document sets were filed in St Clair County Circuit Court convened in East St Louis, not the county seat at Belleville, presumably because of the sheer number of residents there and for their convenience."

Pre-1906 naturalizations have suffered heavy record loss, see Record Loss.

Newspapers
Vital Records

Newspaper columns provide more than just vital statistics on area residents. Obituaries include kinship links, sometimes with out-of-state residency for surviving family. Online indexes to obituaries from The Belleville News Democrat 1994-2007, Freeburg Tribune 1904-1939, and Millstadt Enterprise 1897-1949 are available (courtesy: St. Clair County Genealogical Society). An every-name index during the war period 1917 - 1921 is also available for the Lebanon Advertiser.

Poor Houses

 * St. Clair County; County Farm Board Record Index, 1874-1879, courtesy: Illinois State Archives.

Private Papers
Bertille Brand Klein kept a diary or "news book" of her daily life in Hecker, Illinois from January 1930 (age 15 1/2) until December 1939 (age 25). She mentions many local family names with some birth and death dates. Her granddaughter Angie Kelly is digitizing this valuable resource. Visit Tillie's Tales to read this interesting journal (work in progress).

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

Public Libraries
{| class="FCK__ShowTableBorders" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="6" width="100%" border="0"
 * valign="top" width="35%" | Archives and Genealogy Department of the Belleville Public Library 121 E. Washington St. Belleville, IL 62220 (618) 234-0441 Hours: Mon-Thu 9am-8pm, Fri-Sat 9am-5pm
 * valign="top" | Major holdings include the microfilmed St Clair County probate case files and record books filed in the various courts from the late 1700s to circa 1964 (wills, guardianships, estates); marriage registers 1807-1919, deaths registers 1878-1943 and proofs of death back to 1843; and grantor-grantee indexes to circa 1905, all of which are part of the acquisitions and collections of the St Clair County Genealogical Society. Virtually all extant newspapers published in the county and on microfilm (1840s - present) are on location in the Archives. Obituary indexes from nearly all issues have been compiled, including those from the East St. Louis Journal 1863-1979, and editions of various Belleville papers beginning 1840, the Freeburg Tribune 1904-1999, and Marissa Messenger 1887-1985.  A wide variety of news articles are abstracted from East St Louis and Belleville newspapers through 1940 including civil and religious events, pioneers, the everyday to prominent citizen, village and city growth and business, disease, catastrophies, social events, and so forth.
 * valign="top" | Major holdings include the microfilmed St Clair County probate case files and record books filed in the various courts from the late 1700s to circa 1964 (wills, guardianships, estates); marriage registers 1807-1919, deaths registers 1878-1943 and proofs of death back to 1843; and grantor-grantee indexes to circa 1905, all of which are part of the acquisitions and collections of the St Clair County Genealogical Society. Virtually all extant newspapers published in the county and on microfilm (1840s - present) are on location in the Archives. Obituary indexes from nearly all issues have been compiled, including those from the East St. Louis Journal 1863-1979, and editions of various Belleville papers beginning 1840, the Freeburg Tribune 1904-1999, and Marissa Messenger 1887-1985.  A wide variety of news articles are abstracted from East St Louis and Belleville newspapers through 1940 including civil and religious events, pioneers, the everyday to prominent citizen, village and city growth and business, disease, catastrophies, social events, and so forth.

Vital Records
Vital Statistics Extracted From the Belleville (Ill.) Daily Advocate 1927 - 1954 More than 132,000 vital statistics derived from the Belleville (Ill.) Daily Advocate 1927 - 1954 constitute this database.

Web Sites

 * St. Clair County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)
 * St. Clair County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)