Jo Daviess County, Illinois Genealogy

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United States
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Jo Daviess County

Guide to Jo Daviess County, Illinois ancestry, family history, and genealogy birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

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Jo Daviess County, Illinois
Map
Map of Illinois highlighting Jo Daviess County
Location in the state of Illinois
Map of the U.S. highlighting Illinois
Location of Illinois in the U.S.
Facts
Founded: February 17, 1827
County Seat Galena
Courthouse
JoDaviess County Courthouse.gif
Photo courtesy Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Illinois State Archives
Address Jo Daviess County Courthouse
330 North Bench Street
Galena, Illinois 61036
(815) 777-0161
Jo Daviess County Website


County Organization

Known Beginning Dates for Major County Records[1]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1877 1830 1877 1850 1828 1830 1810
Statewide registration for births and deaths started 1916. General compliance by 1922.

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

Historical Facts

Joseph-Hamilton-Daveiss.jpg

Jo Daviess County is named for Joseph Hamilton Daviess who was a commander during the Battle of Tippecanoe.

Jo Daviess County is located in the Northwest corner of the Illinois border with the Mississippi River and Iowa to the west and Wisconsin to the north.

Description

The county was named for Maj. Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, United States District Attorney for Kentucky, who was killed in 1811 at the Battle of Tippecanoe. The county seat is Galena and the county was organized on 1827. The County is located in the Northwest part of the state.[2]

Boundary Changes

For animated maps illustrating Illinois county boundary changes, "Rotating Formation Illinois County Boundary Maps" (1790-1869) may be viewed for free at the MapofUS.org website.

Prior to County Formation

County Formation and After

For more information see Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties or Jo Daviess County Fact Sheet (Illinois State Archives). For interactive county boundary maps see Illinois County Boundaries, 1790-Present, Illinois Historical Counties

Record Loss

There is no known history of courthouse disasters in this county.

Places / Localities

Populated Places

Apple River | Berreman | Council Hill | Dunleith | Elizabeth | Galena | Guilford | Hanover | Menominee | Nora | Pleasant Valley | Rush | Rice | Scales Mound | Stockton | Thompson | Vinegar Hill | Warren | Ward's Grove | Woodbine [3]

Neighboring Counties

Records and Resources

Biography

  • The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Jo Daviess County edition. This includes a state history section along with a county history and biographies of Jo Daviess County residents. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

Cemeteries

Cemeteries of Jo Daviess, Illinois online and in print
Tombstone Transcriptions Online
TombstoneTranscriptions in Print (Often more complete)
List of Cemeteries in the County
See Illinois Cemeteries for more information

Census

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
190024,533
—
191022,657−7.6%
192021,917−3.3%
193020,235−7.7%
194019,989−1.2%
195021,4597.4%
196021,8211.7%
197021,766−0.3%
198023,5208.1%
199021,821−7.2%
200022,2892.1%
201022,6781.7%
IL Counties 1900-1990

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. FHL 973 X2pc 1840; FHL 2321; digital version at Google Books. [See Illinois, Jo Daviess County on page 187.]

Church History and Records

Church records may give birth, death and marriage information. It is usually best to locate church records with a search at a local level such as the city, town, or village.

  • USGenWeb has links for Jo Daviess County church histories and records, including:


Church of the Brethren

  • 1856, 1862, 1871, 1877, 1882 History of the Waddams Grove Church.... Photoreproduction of original published: Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Pub. House, 1910. Includes a list of members from Stephenson and Jo Daviess counties, Illinois, and nearby Wisconsin counties. FHL book 977.333/W1 K2h


Lutheran

Churches in 1878

Galena The Methodist Church
The First Presbyterian Church
Episcopal Church
The Free German Evangelical Protestant Church
St Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church
First German Presbyterian Church
St Mary's German Catholic Church
African Methodist Episcopal Church
German Methodish Church
The First Baptist Church
The South Presbyterian Church of Galena
[4]

Apple River Methodist
Catholic
Presbyterian

Berreman United Brethren Church

Council Hill

Derinda The Albright Evangelical Church
The First German Lutheran Church
The Second German Lutheran Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church

Dunleith Catholic
Congregational
Presbyterian

Elizabeth Methodist
Presbyterian

Guilford Baptist
Methodist

Hanover The Methodist Episcopal Church
The Presbyterian Church
The United Presbyterian Church

Menominee Catholic

Nora The Nora Methodist Church
Wesleyan Methodist Church
The German Baptist Church

Pleasant Valley Catholic
Methodist
Presbyterian
Winebrenarian
Age-to-Come Adventist Denominations

Rice Methodist Episcopal

Rush

Scales Mound Catholic
The Methodist Church
The German Presbyterian Church

Stockton Stockton Centre Church

Thompson The Salem Methodist Episcopal Church
The German Presbyterian Church

Vinegar Hill Catholic
Methodist Episcopal

Ward's Grove Methodist
Free Will Baptist Church

Warren Methodist
The Free Will Baptist Church
The Presbyterian Church

Woodbine The German Methodist Church [5]

Court Records

Original court records are held in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk. See Illinois Court Records for more information about using court records.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed through the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University - search for Jo Daviess County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the NIU IRAD Wiki page.

Copies of Original Records

Ethnic Research

African American

The following have information concerning African American research.

Genealogy

Handcock, Nora I. Allenheads Lead Miners in America. History with the names of Miners that went to America in 1849, on the ship The Guy Mannering. Picture of the ship included. Many headed for Galena, or Rockford Illinois, Jamestown, San Francisco, Irish Hollow, one family moving on to Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Names of Miners, Samuel and Maria Vickers, Jacob Nattrass, Joseph & Phoebe Reed, John and Hannah Graham, Thomas and Maria Chatt, the Reed and Lee families, John & Ann (followed later) Hewitson, Thomas Foster, George Philipson, William Dawson, Thomas Noble, Jacob Peart, Henry Bell, Andrew Muir, John and Ann Lee, John Stevenson. Dates 1832-1870 and is found in the Northumberland & Durham Family History Society Journal, vol.37 no.4, pages 28-30, Family History Library Ref. 942.8 B2jo, vol. 37 no.4

History

Land and Property

Original land records are held in the office of the County Clerk . See Illinois Land and Property for more information about using land records.

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed online, through the Family History Library or the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University - search for Jo Daviess County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the NIU IRAD Wiki page.

Copies of Original Records

  • 1825-1901 Deed Index IRAD-NIU
  • 1828-1902 Deed Record IRAD-NIU
  • 1828-1942 Jo Daviess County, Illinois miscellaneous records, 1828-1942. {{FHL|839379|item|disp=FHL Film 2132379
  • 1829-1902 Deeds FHL Film 1579645 Items 1-3 First of 46 films
  • 1852-1855 Swamp Land Record IRAD-NIU
  • 1853-1883 Applications and proof of preemption purchases of railroad land, Civil War discharges, and other records, 1853-1883. FHL Film 1602733 item 5 – 1602734 Including list of swamp lands, with township maps, estray records and stallion's register.

Abstracts

  • 1893 North West Publishing Company, Plat book of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, 1893 (Salt Lake City, Utah:Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1988.) FHL film 1421855 item 5
  • 1986 Rockford Map Publishers, Land atlas and plat book, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, 1986 (Rockford, Illinois : Rockford Map Publishers, c1986.) Other Libraries; FHL Book 977.3343 E7j

Online Resources

Maps

Grant CountyLafayette CountyDubuque CountyJackson CountyStephenson CountyCarroll CountyIL JO DAVIESS.PNG
About this image
Click a neighboring county
for more resources


Military

Civil War

Civil War service men from Jo Daviess 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 Jo Daviess County.

- 12th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company F.
- 12th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company F.
- 15th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.
- 17th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company F.
- 19th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
- 21st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and H.
- 45th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, B, C, D and E.
- 90th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.
- 96th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, E, F, H, I, and K.
- 118th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.
- 136th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company I.
- 140th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company C.
- 142nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies B and E.
- 153rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (1 year, 1865), Company D.

Naturalization

Online Records

Newspapers and Obituaries

Newspaperarchive.com ($) has historical newspapers available on-line. Their database has Freeport City newspapers from the late 1800's and early 1900's that covered local news on residents from Jo Daviess County. The Rock Island Public Library provides free access to this database at its library.

Poorhouse

JoDaviess County Almshouse Registers Index, 1846-1938, courtesy: Illinois State Archives

Probate Records

Online Probate Records


An unspecified number of Jo Daviess County probate records are available in Illinois, Probate Records, 1819-1970.

An Index to Estates and Wills 1829 to 1875 are available online, courtesy: ILGenWeb

Repositories

County Courthouse

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

Family History Center

Family history centers provide one-on-one assistance and free access to premium genealogical websites. In addition, many centers have free how-to genealogy classes. See family history center for more information. Search the online FHC directory for a nearby family history center. Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States) and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy.

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site. The following center serves Jo Daviess County:

Dubuque Iowa Family History Center
685 Fremont Ave.
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-0233
Telephone: (563) 583-6851

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)

The Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD), managed by the Illinois State Archives, houses the archival records of local Illinois counties, townships, municipalities and school districts. The seven Regional Depositories are housed on state university campuses scattered throughout Illinois.

The Northern Illinois University (IRAD-NIU) holds the records for JoDaviess County. Learn more about finding and using their records.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository
c/o Regional History Center
Founders Memorial Library, Room 400
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
Telephone: (815) 753-1807

Public Libraries

Although there are other public libraries in Jo Daviess County, the Galena Public Library District's Alfred Mueller Historical Collections Room provides collections of particular interest to genealogists.

Galena Public Library District
601 S. Beach Street
Galena, IL 61036
Telephone: (815) 777-0200

Social Groups Online

Societies

Taxation

Vital Records

See also How to order Illinois Vital Records or order electronically online.

The county clerk maintains the following records:

Births- 1877 to present
Marriages-1830 to present
Deaths-1877 to present

Birth

Marriage

Death

Websites

References

  1. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Jo Daviess County, Illinois. Page 192-199 At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL Book 973 D27e 2002; Alice Eichholz, ed. Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, Third ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004), 194-197.
  2. ↑ Genealogy Trails History Group, “Jo Daviess County, Illinois Genealogy and History”, http://genealogytrails.com/ill/jodaviess/ accessed 04/17/2017.
  3. ↑ The History of Jo Daviess County Illinois. (Chicago: H F Kett and Company, Times Building, 1878).
  4. ↑ The History of Jo Daviess County Illinois. (Chicago: H F Kett and Company, Time Building, 1878), pp 498-508.
  5. ↑ The History of Jo Daviess County Illinois. (Chicago: H F Ketts and Company, Times Building, 1878), pp 547-611.
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