Illinois Genealogy Resources
Illinois Regional Area Depositories (IRAD)
The State Archives administers a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD) to manage the archival records of local governments. Local governments which have transferred records to the regional depositories include counties, townships, municipalities and school districts.
Located on seven state university campuses, regional depositories house and service those records of local governments which have been appraised as having long-term values and have been transferred to the Archives' custody. County records include:- county board proceedings files and meeting minutes
- records of births, deaths and marriages
- land deeds, mortgage and tax sale records
- assessors' and collectors' tax books
- poll books and voter registers
- naturalization records, including declarations of intent
- probate records, including wills and will records, case files, administrators' and executors' records, guardianship records, and inventory and appraisement records
- civil and criminal court case files, chancery court case files (including divorces), docket books and court proceedings, and insanity proceedings and records
- coroner's inquest records and inquest files
- miscellaneous county records, including almshouse/county home records and jail registers.
Township, municipal, and school records include township meeting minutes, highway commissioners' minutes, school trustees' minutes, pupil registers, school land sale records, city council proceedings files and meeting minutes, ordinance records and city election records.
A special part of IRAD's holdings are from the City of Chicago which includes nearly 35,650 previously unknown documents that predate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In addition to these City Council proceedings files of 1833 through 1942, holdings include plats, atlases, and Sanborn Maps. Other Chicago records include election registers for 1888, 1890 and 1892 and ordinance records spanning 1837 to 1916.
Search the IRAD Local Governmental Records Database on-line. Researchers may search the IRAD holdings by county, by title or by depository or by any combination of these fields.
Local governmental records in the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) system are also listed in: A Summary Guide to Local Governmental Records in the Illinois Regional Archives, Second Edition (1999), 265 pp. The guide is made up of two parts: one listing local governmental records in IRAD by county and the other listing them by title. This publication is updated periodically. (Bailey, Robert E. A Summary Guide to Local Governmental Records in the Illinois Regional Archives. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Archives, Office of the Secretary of State, 1992.)
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Records in the Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD)
- Records at Eastern Illinois University
Booth Library
600 Lincoln Avenue
Charleston, IL 61920
Telephone: 217-581-6093EIU Region includes: Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, Moultrie, Richland, Shelby, Wabash, and Wayne counties.
- Records at Illinois State University
Milner Library
Campus Box 8900
Normal, IL 61790-8900
Telephone: 309-452-6027ISU Region includes: Champaign, DeWitt, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingstron, Logan, Marshall, McLean, Platt, Tazewell, Vermilion, and Woodford counties.
- DeWitt County Coroner's Inquest Files Index (1924–1977)
- Livingston County Probate Case Files Index (1837–1958)
- Logan County Circuit Court Criminal Case Files Index (1857–1945)
- McLean County Probate Record Index (1834–1934)
- Vermilion County Coroner's Inquest Files Index (1908–1956)
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Woodford County Almshouse Registers Index (1868–1957)
- Records at Northeastern Illinois University
Ronald Williams Library
5500 N. St. Louis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625-4699
Telephone: 773-442-4506NEIU Region includes: Cook County and City of Chicago.
- Records at Northern Illinois University (NIU)
NIU Regional History Center
Founders Memorial Library
Room 400
DeKalb, Illinois 60115
Telephone: 815-753-1807
NIU Region includes: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, JoDaviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will, and Winnebago counties.
- Carroll County Birth Certificates Index (1877–1913)
- JoDaviess County Almshouse Registers Index (1846–1938)
- Kane County Circuit Court Case Files Index (1836–1870)
- Lake County Circuit Court Case Files Index (1840–1898)
- Ogle County Almshouse Register Index (1878–1933)
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Ogle County Naturalization Papers (County Court) Index
(1872–1906)
- Records at Southern Illinois University
c/o Special Collections
Morris Library - 6632
Carbondale, IL 62901-6632
Telephone: 618-453-3040
SIU Region includes: Alexander, Clinton, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, St. Clair, Saline, Union, Washington, White and Williamson counties.
- Records at the University of Illinois at Springfield
University Library
1 University Plaza, MS BRK
140
Springfield, IL 62703-5407
Telephone: 217-206-6520
UIS Region includes: Bond, Cass, Christian, Fayette, Greene, Jersey, Macon, Macoupin, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Sangamon and Scott counties.
- Records at Western Illinois University
University Library
1 University Circle
Macomb, IL 61455
Telephone: 309-298-2716
WIU Region includes: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Know, McDonough, Mercer, Peoria, Pike, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark and Warren counties.
- Adams County Almshouse Register Index (1873–1898)
- Brown County Almshouse Registers Index (1882–1963)
- Fulton County Circuit Court Case Files Index (1825–1876)
- Mercer County Almshouse Register Index (1859–1948)
- Peoria County Probate Case Files Index (1825–1887)
- Rock Island Probate Case Files Index (1834–1899)
- Stark County Almshouse Register Index (1868–1941)