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Montgomery County, Illinois Genealogy

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

County Facts
County seat: Hillsboro
Organized: February 21, 1821
Parent County(s): Bond, Madison
Neighboring Counties
Bond • Christian • Fayette • Macoupin • Madison • Sangamon • Shelby
See County Maps
Courthouse
Illinois, Montgomery County Courthouse.png
Location Map
Montgomery County Illinois.png
Richard Montgomery

County Information[edit | edit source]

Description[edit | edit source]

Montgomery County was named for General Montgomery, who was an Irish-born Revolutionary War General most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.[1]. The county seat is Hillsboro and the county was organized in 1821. The county is located in the central area of the state.[2]

County Courthouse[edit | edit source]

Montgomery County Courthouse
120 N Main St
Hillsboro, IL 62049
Phone: 217-532-9540
Montgomery County Courthouse

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

Montgomery County, Illinois Record Dates[edit | edit source]

Information for this chart was taken from various sources, often containing conflicting dates. This information should be taken as a guide and should be verified by contacting the county and/or the state government agency.

Known Beginning Dates for Government County Records[3]
Birth* Marriage Death* Court Land Probate Census
1878 1821 1878 1821 1821 1821 1810
*Statewide registration for births and deaths started 1916. General compliance by 1922.

Record Loss[edit | edit source]

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

Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

Populated Places[edit | edit source]

For a complete list of populated places, including small neighborhoods and suburbs, visit HomeTown Locator. The following are the most historically and genealogically relevant populated places in this county:[5]

Cities
Villages
Unincorporated communities
Townships
Historic communities


History Timeline[edit | edit source]

Resources[edit | edit source]

Bible Records[edit | edit source]

Biographies[edit | edit source]

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

Business, Commerce, and Occupations[edit | edit source]

Cemeteries[edit | edit source]

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

Census Records[edit | edit source]

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1830 2,953 —
1840 4,490 52.0%
1850 6,277 39.8%
1860 13,979 122.7%
1870 25,314 81.1%
1880 28,078 10.9%
1890 30,003 6.9%
1900 30,836 2.8%
1910 35,311 14.5%
1920 41,403 17.3%
1930 35,278 −14.8%
1940 34,499 −2.2%
1950 32,460 −5.9%
1960 31,244 −3.7%
1970 30,260 −3.1%
1980 31,686 4.7%
1990 30,728 −3.0%
2000 30,652 −0.2%
2010 30,104 −1.8%
Source: "Wikipedia.org".

Censuses indexes from Montgomery County Genealogical Society Federal Census
Publications are available through the Montgomery County Genealogical Society of the 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1910 Federal Census transcriptions for Montgomery County, Illinois.

State Census 1825 1855

1840 Pensioners

Church Records[edit | edit source]

List of Churches and Church Parishes


Baptist



Lutheran


Presbyterian


  • The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a Montgomery County edition. Church information can be found in the township histories beginning on page 848. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.
  • Perrin, William Henry. History of Bond and Montgomery County. Chicago: O.L. Baskin Historical Publishers, 1882. Internet Archive Digital Online Copy FS Library Film 934970 Item 3FS Library Book 977.38 H2h Begining on page 232 is a history of churches in Hillsboro. Search within township histories, beginning on page 248, for other county church information.

Court Records[edit | edit source]

See Illinois Court Records for more information. Original probate records are usually held by the Montgomery. However, in Montgomery County, the original circuit court case files 1821–1902 are held by IRAD–UIS. See the wiki page IRAD–UIS for more information about these records and how to access them. Probate records include wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records.

Online Court Indexes and Records

  • 1821-1902 Circuit Court Case Files IRAD–UIS. Learn more about using IRAD
  • 1821-1863 Circuit Court Record IRAD–UIS.
  • 1822-1870 Circuit Court Judgement and Execution Files IRAD–UIS.
  • 1822-1862 Circuit Court Judgement Dockets IRAD–UIS.
  • 1837-1856 Circuit Court Dockets IRAD–UIS.
  • 1838-1873 Circuit Court Fee Books IRAD–UIS.
  • 1862-1955 Circuit Court Records, Chancery IRAD–UIS. Chancery court records are usually civil court records and may include family information.
  • No date Circuit Court Judgement Dockets and Claim Registers IRAD–UIS.

Directories[edit | edit source]

Emigration and Immigration[edit | edit source]

Ethnic, Political, and Religious Groups[edit | edit source]

African Americans

Funeral Homes[edit | edit source]

Genealogies[edit | edit source]

Guardianship[edit | edit source]

Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]

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

Online Land Indexes and Records

  • 1796-1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry ($)
  • 1821-1958 Deed Index
  • 1821-1958 Deed Record
  • 1837-1868 School land sale
  • 1865-1874 Swamp lands sale
  • 1821-1848 Taxable lands
  • IRAD–UIS land holdings for Montgomery County. Search for Montgomery County. Records include: Explore the IRAD–UIS wiki page for more information about how to use IRAD.
  • BLM GLO Records. Search original land patents for Montgomery County from the Govenment Land Office (GLO) or Eastern States Office. Some searches include images of the original warrants. All search results include the patent details needed for requesting copies of the land entry files at the National Archives. The GLO is the custodian of millions of land title documents. The General Land Office Automated Records Project is responsible for making these important documents available to the public.
  • Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales. The Illinois State Archives has an online index to the records of Public land sales held by the State Archives. The indexes are by purchasers name and by legal description. This is a statewide collection with nearly 550,000 land sales fro 54740 square miles.
  • Illinois Public Land Purchase Records This record extract includes over 538,000 land sales from the 19th Century. Each entry includes the purchaser's name, purchase date, number of acres, price per acre, and in some cases the purchaser's sex and residence. Available at www.ancestry.com ($)
  • 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 Archive.
  • Illinois County Land Ownership Maps and Atlases

Local Histories[edit | edit source]

Maps and Gazetteers[edit | edit source]

Sangamon CountyChristian CountyShelby CountyFayette CountyBond CountyMadison CountyMacoupin CountyIL MONTGOMERY.PNG
Click a neighboring county
for more resources


Migration[edit | edit source]

Military Records[edit | edit source]

Civil War
Regiments. Civil War service men from Montgomery 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 Montgomery County.

- 1st Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company E
- 3rd Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company L
- 7th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company D
- 9th Regiment, Illinois Infantry (3 months, 1861), Company H
- 9th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H
- 70th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C
- 91st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company A
- 117th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company B
- 119th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K
- 126th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D and F
- 143rd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Companies C and H

Military Soldiers Indexed from Montgomery County Genealogical Society.

- 1st Provisional Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia (Union), Company B
:- 14th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company G
:- 14th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company H
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company A
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company B
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company C
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company D
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company E
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company F
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company G
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company H
:- 67th Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Milita (Union), Company I
:- 6th Regiment, Missouri Infantry (Union), Company H
:- 9th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company C
:- 9th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company D
:- 9th Regiment, Missouri State Militia Cavalry (Union), Company L
:- 1st Regiment, Enrolled Missouri Militia Cavalry (Union), Company C

Naturalization and Citizenship[edit | edit source]

Online Naturalization Indexes and Records

Newspapers[edit | edit source]

Obituaries[edit | edit source]

Obituary Index at Montgomery County Genealogical Society for years 1980-1981 and 1984-2020. Online obituary request form included.

Other Records[edit | edit source]

Periodicals[edit | edit source]

Probate Records[edit | edit source]

Original probate records are held by the Montgomery. Probate records include wills, inventories, settlements, and guardianship records. See the Illinois Probate wiki page for more information about these records. Copies of probate records are held by IRAD–UIS. See the Wiki article IRAD–UIS more information about these records and how access them. Additional copies are held by the FamilySearch Library.

Online Probate Indexes and Records

School Records[edit | edit source]

Social Security Records[edit | edit source]

Tax Records[edit | edit source]

Vital Records[edit | edit source]

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded since 1877 are kept by the Montgomery County Clerk while those recorded after 1916 are kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health with a copy to the County Clerk. A limited number of births were recorded between 1862 and 1877. Original marriage records are kept by the County Clerk from 1821 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 FamilySearch Catalog as a subject search, and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the University of Illinois Springfield(UIS) - search for Montgomery County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the Wiki article IRAD - University of Illinois at Springfield.

Birth[edit | edit source]

  • 1862-1915 Birth records index at Montgomery County Genealogical Society. Online index.
  • 1862-1957 Birth Certificates IRAD–UIS search for Montgomery County. Explore how to search IRAD–UIS.
  • 1877-1918 Birth Record Index IRAD–UIS search for Montgomery County. Explore how to search IRAD–UIS.
  • 1918-1928 Birth Records (Litchfield) IRAD–UIS search for Montgomery County. Explore how to search IRAD–UIS.

Marriage[edit | edit source]

Death[edit | edit source]

Montgomery County does not have death records included in the pre-1916 statewide death index.

Divorce[edit | edit source]

Research Facilities[edit | edit source]

Archives[edit | edit source]

Listed below are archives in Montgomery County. For state-wide facilities, see Illinois Archives and Libraries.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)
IRAD is a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories managed by the Illinois State Archives, housing 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 University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS) houses the records for Montgomery County. The link will help you find and use the records. The address is:

Illinois Regional Archives Depository
Room 144
University of Illinois at Springfield Region
One University Plaza
Springfield, Illinois 62703-5407
Phone: 217-206-6520

FamilySearch Centers[edit | edit source]

FamilySearch Center and Affiliate Library Locator map - search for local FamilySearch Centers or Affiliate Libraries

  • FamilySearch Centers provide one-on-one assistance, free access to center-only databases, and to premium genealogical websites.
  • FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries have access to most center-only databases, but may not always have full services normally provided by a FamilySearch center.

Local Centers and Affiliate Libraries

Libraries[edit | edit source]

Listed below are libraries in Montgomery County. For state-wide library facilities, see Illinois Archives and Libraries.

Doyle Public Library District
109 S O'Bannon
Raymond, IL 62560

Farmersville-Waggoner Public Library District
210 South Cleveland Street
Farmersville, IL 62533

Hillsboro Public Library
214 School Street
Hillsboro, IL 62049
Website

Litchfield Carnegie Public Library
400 N. State
Litchfield, IL 62056
Website
Genealogical collection is housed in the Jackson–Walker Genealogy Room. Holdings include the Walter Sanders collection. Records include cemetery listings, local county and town histories, city directories and plat books, family histories, church histories, marriage and death records and many other useful genealogy tools.

Nokomis Public Library
22 South Cedar Street
Suite 2
Nokomis, IL 62075

Witt Township Memorial Library
18 North Second Street
Witt, IL 62094

Museums[edit | edit source]

Societies[edit | edit source]

Listed below are societies in Montgomery County. For state-wide genealogical and historical societies, see Illinois Societies.

Montgomery County Genealogical Society
PO Box 212
334 Historic Old Route 66 North
Litchfield, IL 62056-0212
Email: info@mcgsil.com
Facebook
Website
Online sources for births, marriages, deaths, cemeteries, census, land records, military records, wills, churches, schools, cemetery locations, maps.

Historical Society of Montgomery County Illinois
904 S Main St.
Hillsboro, IL 62049
Facebook

Websites[edit | edit source]

Research Guides[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Richard Montgomery www.wikipedia.org
  2. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Montgomery County," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_County,_Illinois 04/19/2017.
  3. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002), Montgomery County, Illinois. Page 192-199 At various libraries (WorldCat); FS Library 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.
  4. ↑ Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America, 10th ed. (Draper, Utah: Everton Pub., 2002).At various libraries (WorldCat); FSC Book 973 D27e 2002.
  5. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Montgomery County, Illinois," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_County,_Illinois, accessed 20 March 2020.
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This table contains the dates the local or state government began recording in the county or county equivalent. Use substitute records for earlier dates. If you believe there is an error, email us at wikisupport@familysearch.org.

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