Difference between revisions of "Stephenson County, Illinois Genealogy"

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United States Illinois Stephenson County

Guide to Stephenson County Illinois genealogy. Birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, family history, and military records.

	Illinois Online Records

Stephenson County, Illinois
Map
Location of Illinois in the U.S.
Facts
Founded:	March 4, 1837
County Seat	Freeport
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Illinois State Archives
Address	Stephenson County Courthouse 15 North Galena Avenue Freeport, Illinois 61032 (815) 235-8289 Stephenson County Website

Stephenson County Organization

Stephenson 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 Stephenson County are kept, see the Stephenson County Courthouse page.

Historical Facts

Stephenson county is named for Colonel Benjamin Stephenson, who served as a colonel in the War of 1812 in the Illinois Militia. He also served as adjutant general of the territory in 1813.

Parent County

• 1837--Stephenson County was created 4 March 1837 from Jo Daviess and Winnebago Counties.  County seat:  Freeport ^[1]

Boundary Changes

See an interactive map of Stephenson County boundary changes.

Record Loss

Places / Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• Carroll
• Green County, Wisconsin
• Jo Daviess
• Lafayette County, Wisconsin
• Ogle
• Winnebago

Records and Resources

Biography

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

• Stephenson 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.

• The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries in Stephenson County. Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.

• ePodunk list of Stephenson 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.

• Genealogy Trails offers links to databases of burials for several Stephenson County cemeteries.

• ComPortOne provides a list of Stephenson County cemeteries and provides links for additional information for some cemeteries.

Census

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.

• Genealogy Trails' site for Stephenson County has a list of many churches with links to photos and other information.

• USGenWeb offers a list of churches in Stephenson County.

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

Methodist

• 1853–1971 Basswood United Methodist Church–includes membership records, baptisms, marriages, and death records for Richland, Lena, Jewells Prairies, and Rusch (or Rush) Creek of the Galena District. FHL film 1928182 Item 6

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 copies of original records may be accessed through the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at Northern Illinois University - search for Stephenson County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the NIU IRAD Wiki page.

• 1893-1907 Insanity Dockets IRAD-NIU

Ethnic Research

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

Genealogy

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 Stephenson County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD - Northern Illinois University NIU IRAD Wiki page.

Online Resources

• 1800s-Present - Use the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land Patent Index to obtain original federal land transfer records including homestead, military warrants, and cash entry patents. These records help a research establish location and lead to National Archives' records which may include genealogical information. Earlier land transfer records are housed at the National Archives.

• 1800s-Present - Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales from Illinois State Archives also provides an index to federal land sales.

• 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found 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. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)

• Stephenson County Federal Township Plats

Abstracts

• Family Maps of Stephenson County, Illinois (2008) plats the land of many nineteenth-century Stephenson County residents. The publisher's bookstore includes a free online surname index. FHL Book 977.333 E7b

Copies of Original Records

• 1837-1962 Deed Records IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

• 1837-1938 Deed Index IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Stephenson County land and property may be found in the FHLC and FHLC–maps. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Maps

Military

Civil War

Civil War service men from Stephenson 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 Stephenson County.

- 11th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A.

- 14th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company I.

- 15th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company G.

- 26th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies B and H

- 71st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B.

- 90th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company I.

- 92nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, F and G.

- 93rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D and G.

- 142nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company F.

- 146th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.

- 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.

Naturalization

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 Stephenson County residents as well as residents from surrounding counties. The Rock Island Public Library provides free access to this resource at its library.
  

Probate Records

• 1848-1859, 1864-1865, 1868-1879 Miscellaneous Probate Records IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

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 Stephenson County are kept, see the Stephenson County Courthouse page.

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 Stephenson County:

Freeport Illinois Family History Center
1716 S Forest Rd.
Freeport, Illinois 61032
Telephone: (815) 232-3310

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 Stephenson 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

The following Stephenson County libraries have collections of specific interest to genealogists.

Freeport Public Library
100 East Douglas Street
Freeport, IL 61032
Telephone: (815) 233-3000
Their Frances Woodhouse History Room offers resources for Stephenson County and the town of Freeport as well as a searchable online collection of photographs.

Social Groups Online

Societies

Taxation

Vital Records

See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois.

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Stephenson County Clerk while those recorded after 1916 are kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health with a copy to the County Clerk. Original marriage records are usually kept by the County Clerk from the establishment of the county to the present. Original divorce records are generally in the office of the Circuit Court Clerk.

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

General Online Resources

FamilySearch Books Online

Birth Records

• 1855-1903 Birth Certificates IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
• 1940-1976 Delayed Birth Certificates IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

Marriage Records

• 1763-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900
• 1837-1926 Marriage Licenses IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

Death Records

• 1850,1860,1870,1880 U. S. Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 at Ancestry ($) These include the deaths occurring twelve months before the census was taken.
• 1878-1913 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 at Illinois State Archives; Index
• 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives; Index
• 1878-1954 Death Certificates IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)
• 1878-1915 Death Certificates, Stillbirths IRAD-NIU; search for Stephenson County Records. (Learn more about IRAD.)

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Stephenson County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the Illinois, Stephenson – Vital Records, and the Illinois, Stephenson – Vital Records - newspapers topic pages of the Family History Library catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Web Sites

• Family History Library Catalog
•  Stephenson County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

References

1. ↑ The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America,10th ed. (Draper, UT:Everton Publishers, 2002).