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Vermilion County History and Information
County History | Court Records | Vital Records | CENSUS Records | TAX Records | Military Records | Church & Cemetery |
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Vermilion County Facts

Vermilion County was created on January 18, 1826 (Laws, 1826, p. 50) and was formed from unorganized land (Edgar County). Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Edgar County (1823–1826), Clark County (1819–1823), Crawford County (1816–1819), Edwards County (1815–1816), Madison County (1812–1815), St. Clair County (1801–1812) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1803).

The County was named for the Vermilion River, the principal branches of which flow through the county. The County Seat is Danville . Prior County Seats was Courts held at the home of James Butler and Asa Elliott [temporary designation](1826–1827) and Danville (1827-Present). See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Vermilion County are Iroquois County (north), Benton County, Indiana (northeast), Warren County, Indiana (east), Vermillion County, Indiana (east), Edgar County (south), Douglas County (southwest), Champaign County (west), Ford County (northwest).

Vermilion County Townships include Blount (Formed as Fremont from Newell and Pilot on September 8, 1856; name changed from Fremont to Blount on September 14, 1857), Butler (Formed from Middle Fork on June 13, 1864), Carroll, Catlin (Formed from Danville and Union in March 9, 1858), Danville, Elwood, Georgetown, Grant (Formed as Lyon on September 10, 1861; name changed from Lyon to Grant on April 1, 1862), Jamaica (Formed from Catlin, Sidell and Vance in 1890), Love (Formed from Elwood in June, 1902), McKendree (Formed from Georgetown between 1910 and 1920), Middle Fork, Newell (Name changed from Richland on June 13, 1851), Oakwood (Formed from Vance, Pilot and Catlin on March 10, 1868), Pilot, Ross (Name changed from North Fork on June 13, 1851), Sidell (Formed from Carroll on December 11, 1866), South Ross (Formed from Ross on June 13, 1927), Vance (Name changed from Union on June 13, 1851) Townships

  1. A township named Trickels Grove was authorized in 1851, but when the electorate failed to organize, it was attached to Middle Fork.
  2. The township of Prairie City was formed from Middle Fork on February 6, 1856; the name was changed to Patton on September 14, 1857; it is now part of Ford County. Other townships created from Patton include Drummers Grove (created in September, 1858) and Stockton (created on March 15, 1859). They are also part of Ford County, which was created on February 17, 1859.

Cities, Towns and Communities include Danville, Hoopeston, Georgetown, Alvin, Belgium, Bismarck, Catlin, Fairmount, Fithian, Henning, Indianola, Muncie, Oakwood, Potomac, Rankin, Ridge Farm, Rossville, Sidell, Tilton, Westville, Unincorporated towns: Armstrong, Batestown, Central Park, Cheneyville, Clarence, Collison, East Lynn, Hegeler, Hillery, Jamaica, Olivet. Extinct towns: Conkeytown, Denmark, Franklin (see Bismarck), Gilbert (see Alvin), Johnsonville, Munroe, Myersville (see Bismarck), Shepherd's Town, Watkins Grove (sometimes called Watkins Glen), Weaver City (see Ambia, Indiana)

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Records at the Vermilion County Courthouse

See Also Illinois Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information. Some records lost or damaged in a fire on 1872

The Official County website is located at http://www.co.vermilion.il.us/. All departments below at located at the Vermilion County Courthouse, 6 N. Vermilion, Danville, IL 61832-5879 , unless a different address is listed below. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

   Vermilion County Circuit Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1826 and Court Records from 1826 and is located at the address above. Phone Number: (217) 431-2540
   The Clerk of the Circuit Court, commonly known as the Circuit Clerk, is the keeper of the files and records of the Circuit Court.  The Circuit Clerk works at the direction of Circuit Court, Appellate Court and Supreme Court of Illinois and is mandated to follow and enforce the laws of the State of Illinois.  The Circuit Clerk's Office processes all documents in criminal law, chancery, support, probate, adoption, juvenile, drainage, local improvement, mental, small claims, traffic, ordinance violations, prepares appeals to the higher court, issues passports, summons jurors, tax deeds and handles approximately ten million dollars in costs, fines, restitution, investments and support each year.  The Office also issues summonses, writs, attachments, subpoenas and all other tasks as mandated by the courts.

   Vermilion County Recorder has Land Records from 1826 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (217) 431-2604
   The County Recorder of Deeds serves the people of County by receiving, filing and maintaining all records related to real property in our county. These documents range from all types of conveyance deeds, mortgages, releases and assignments, property liens, as well as, assorted federal, state and local liens. The Recorder’s office is responsible for the recordation and storage of plats of subdivision, land surveys and monument records. Many other types of miscellaneous documents are recorded, such as; foreign birth certificates, foreign marriage licenses, and military discharge paperwork to name a few.

   Vermilion County Clerk has Birth / Death Records from 1877 and Marriage Records from 1826 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (217) 431-2607
    The County Clerk maintains records and issues certificates of vital statistics (birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates) for the entire County.

Search Online Click Here to Search Illinois Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Court Records by clicking the link below:

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Vermilion County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Illinois

Search Online Click Here to Search Illinois Birth, Marriage & Death Records! - Birth, marriage, and death records are connected with central life events. They are prime sources for genealogical information. Look also for baptism, christening, and burial records in this collection.

Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records, 605 W. Jefferson St., Springfield, IL 62702-5097. It can take up to 6 weeks to get a vital record from Illinois.

A number of resources are available for individuals doing genealogical research using vital records filed in the state of Illinois. Births and deaths before January 1, 1916 and marriages before January 1, 1962 are recorded only in the office of the county clerk where the event occurred. Most county clerks have indexes to the records that are prior to 1916 that are available for the purpose of genealogical research. These indexes generally provide the name, date and place of occurrence and are located in county courthouses located throughout the state. Although self-service access to the indexes is generally permitted, the law limits physical access to the individual records to the clerk's staff. When you locate a record from the index, it will be necessary for the clerk to pull the record for you once you have paid the appropriate search fee. Please check with the county clerk for fees and policies on reviewing indexes.

  • Birth, Death Certificates: The Division of Vital Records and Statistics maintains birth, death and marriage records that occur in Illinois from 1916 to the present.
    • Cost: Initial search and one certified copy or certification of the record or No Record Statement is $17.00 (long) or $10.00 (uncertified) per certificate by mail.
      Make your check or money order payable to "Illinois Department of Public Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. The cost of each record includes a ten-year search if the exact date or place of event is not known. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep check amount for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
    • In Person: In-person orders can be dropped off for mail out within two business days at the Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Records office, 605 W. Jefferson St., Springfield, on Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., excluding holidays. (Large volume orders may take longer.) PLEASE NOTE: the person requesting the record will be asked to show a valid picture identification card.
    • Processing Time: 6 weeks when ordered by MAIL [application for birth records, application for death records] or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
  • Marriage & Divorce Certificates: The Division of Vital Records also maintains an index of marriages & divorces from 1962 to the present. Copies of the marriage & divorce records are available from the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the marriage license was obtained or divorce was granted. Fees vary.
    • Cost: $5.00. Make your check or money order payable to "Illinois Department of Public Health". Enclose a business-size self-addressed envelope. The cost of each record includes a ten-year search if the exact date or place of event is not known. If no record is found or no copy is made, state law requires that we keep $5.00 for a searching fee. Please do not send cash in the mail.
    • Processing Time: 6 weeks when ordered by MAIL or 2-5 Days when you order ELECTRONICALLY
  • Order Online: You can also order Order Electronically and get the certificates within 2-5 days by ordering below
    Birth Certificates
         		Death Certificates
         		Marriage Certificates
         		Divorce Records

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Vital Records by clicking the link below:

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Vermilion County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records

Search Online Click Here to Search Illinois Voter Lists & Census Records! - Few, if any, records reveal as many details about individuals and families as do government census records. Substitute records can be used when the official census is unavailable.

  Countywide Records: Federal Population Schedules that exist for Vermilion County, Illinois are 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930. Other Federal Schedules to look at when researching your Family Tree in Vermilion County, Illinois are Industry and Agriculture Schedules availible for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. The Mortality Schedules for the years 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880.There are free downloadable and printable Census forms to help with your research. These include U.S. Census Extraction Forms and U.K. Census Extraction Forms.

  See Also Statewide Records that exist for Illinois

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Census Records by clicking the link below:

  • Vermilion County, Illinois Census Books at Amazon.com

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Vermilion County Maps & Atlases

   Genealogy Atlas has images of old American atlases during the years 1795, 1814, 1822, 1823, 1836, 1838, 1845, 1856, 1866, 1879 and 1897 for Ohio and other states.

  You can view rotating animated maps for Illinois showing all the county boundaries for each census year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries. You can view a list of maps for other states at Census Maps
   You can view rotating animated maps for Illinois showing all the county boundary changes for each year overlayed with past and present maps so you can see the changes in county boundaries.

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Maps. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Maps by clicking the link below:

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Vermilion County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Illinois

Search Online Click Here to Search Illinois Military Records! - Military and civil service records provide unique facts and insights into the lives of men and women who have served their country at home and abroad.

   The uses and value of military records in genealogical research for ancestors who were veterans are obvious, but military records can also be important to re-searchers whose direct ancestors were not soldiers in any war. The fathers, grandfathers, brothers, and other close relatives of an ancestor may have served in a war, and their service or pension records could contain information that will assist in further identifying the family of primary interest. Due to the amount of genealogical information contained in some military pension files, they should never be overlooked during the research process. Those records not containing specific genealogical information are of historic value and should be included in any overall research design.

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Military Records by clicking the link below:

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Vermilion County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

   The first known tax authorization in Illinois fell under the jurisdiction of the Territory of the United States North West of the River Ohio. The tax was based on every hundred acres of unimproved uncleared prairie or wood land, divided into three classes based on quality of earth surface and soil. The rates were thirty, twenty, and ten cents, to be paid annually. Property with delinquent taxes was sold at public auction. There do not appear to be any surviving tax records from this territorial period.

Beginning with statehood, tax records form a large part of county archival material. The 1819 laws provided the first taxation process, imposing taxes on land, bank stock owned, slaves and indentured negroes or mulattoes, plus a poor tax. The tax was collected by the county with income divided between the county and state. Taxpayers lists were eliminated in 1824, and in 1825 a county road tax and school taxes were enacted.

Original and microfilmed tax records at Illinois Regional Archives Depositories include taxable land lists, assessors books, railroad tax books, road tax records, and collectors books, the earliest record dated 1817. Other county tax records are located in county seats.

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

  • Vermilion County, Illinois Tax Books at Amazon.com

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Vermilion County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Illinois Genealogical Addresses

   The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be more generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

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Vermilion County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Illinois

Search Online Click Here to Search Illinois Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

   There are many churches and cemeteries in Vermilion County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Vermilion County Tombstone Transcription Project.

Despite the early Catholic missionaries in Illinois, their church had almost totally disappeared from the state by the time of the American Revolution. Later migration of English-speaking Catholics reestablished the church in the state. In 1850 the largest religious denomination in Illinois was the Methodists. Baptists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Congregationalists followed. Episcopalians had organized in the state in 1835, the Disciples of Christ were in Illinois prior to 1830, and the Lutherans grew in numbers with the German and Scandinavian emigration of the 1840s.

   The Genealogical Society of Utah and the Daughters of the American Revolution have compiled cemetery records for the state of Illinois. Soldiers' Burial Places in State of Illinois for Wars 1774-1898 is available on thirty-one reels of microfilm from the FHL. Local genealogical societies may have information and possible printed records of cemeteries in their locale.

Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

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Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Search Online Click Here to Search Illinois Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

   When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Vermilion County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Vermilion County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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County History

Vermilion County is named after the Vermilion River, which courses through it. The river was named “Vermilion” after the bluffs above it, which are a red color of earth.

The county has been under the flags of France, as part of New France, from 1682 to 1763, then transferred to Great Britain after the French and Indian War for 15 years until it changed hands again, this time to the colonies after the Revolutionary War when the area was ceded to Virginia and was known for a time as “the Illinois County of Virginia.”

The existence of saline springs in the county proved to be a strong attraction to early white men, and were mentioned as early as 1801, when Joseph Barron, an interpreter fluent in a number of Native American languages, stated in an affidavit that he was present at the “Vermilion Salines” that year. The production required 100 gallons of water for one bushel of salt and proved to be profitable from the first run 1822 to 1829, when salt became less expensive and the venture was no longer economical.

The saline springs were also the site of the first settlement, made by Seymour Treat in 1819, along with the Beckwith and Whitcomb families. James Butler, from Ohio, followed in 1820 and settled in the Catlin area; within a few years, the settlement grew to encompass several families and became known as “Butler’s Point”. About the same time, the southern area of the county also attracted an early settler named Henry Johnson, who built a cabin approximately two miles west of Georgetown; this area later became known as “Johnson's Point.” The southern portion of the county soon became populated with a number of cabins and small settlements. The majority of those coming to Vermilion County originated in the American South and left because of their opposition to slavery.

Perhaps not surprisingly, a number of early settlers were of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, many of whom founded the settlement of Vermilion Grove, which is not only one of the oldest settlements in the county but also the site of the second school in the county.

1800s

  • 1809 - The Illinois Territory is formed.

1810s

  • 1818 December 3 - Illinois is admitted to the Union.
  • 1819 November - Salt Springs becomes the first European settlement in what is to become Vermilion County.

1820s

  • 1826 January 18 - Vermilion County is created.
  • 1826 March - The county is divided into two townships, Carroll in the south and Ripley in the north.
  • 1826 - James Haworth plats the town of Georgetown.
  • 1827 January - Salt Springs, at the mouth of the North Fork of the Vermilion River, is made the county seat.
  • 1827 January 31 - The future site of Danville is identified as the new county seat.
  • 1827 April 10 - Lots in the new town of Danville go on sale.
  • 1827 May - Post office at Danville opens in the home of Amos Williams.
  • 1828 - Post office at Georgetown opens.

1830s

  • 1833 - Champaign County is founded to the west, taking a strip ten miles wide from the west side of Vermilion County.
  • 1833 - Iroquois County is founded to the north, and Vermilion County is extended by 6 miles on the north side.
  • 1835 - Daniel Beckwith (after whom Danville was named) dies of pneumonia following a horseback ride from Washington.
  • 1837 - The town of Franklin is founded near the future site of Bismarck, but only lasts a few years.
  • 1838 September 17-20 - The Potawatomi Trail of Death camps at Sandusky Point near what became the town of Catlin.
  • 1839 - Post office at the future site of Rossville opens.

1840s

  • 1843 - The town of Myersville is founded near the future site of Bismark.

1850s

  • 1851 - Vermilion County is divided into eight townships: Danville, Georgetown, Elwood, Carroll, Ross, Middlefork, Newell (first called Richland), and Pilot.
  • 1851 - B. E. Conkey founds Conkeytown.
  • 1856 - Blount Township is created.
  • 1857 - Mann's Chapel is constructed south of the future site of Rossville.
  • 1858 - Catlin Township is created.
  • 1858 - Abraham Lincoln gives a speech in Danville at the home of Dr. William Fithian (now the Vermilion County Museum) while campaigning for U.S. Senator against Stephen A. Douglas.

1860s

  • 1862 - Grant Township is created.
  • 1862 - The town of Rossville is founded.
  • 1864 - Butler Township is created.
  • 1866 - Vance Township is created.
  • 1866 - Josiah Hunt and Guy Merrill plat the town of Catlin.
  • 1867 - Sidell Township is created.
  • 1868 - Oakwood Township is created.

1870s

  • 1870 September - Danville High School is established.
  • 1871 - The town of Hoopeston is founded.
  • 1872 - Construction on the Pumpkin Vine Railroad begins, to carry coal from south of Covington, Indiana to the Bismarck area.
  • 1872 - The town of Gilbert is founded south of the future site of Alvin.
  • c. 1873 - The town of Bismarck is founded.
  • 1873 - William P. and E. A. West lay out the town of Westville.
  • 1875 - The town of Alvin is founded at a new railroad intersection just north of Gilbert, supplanting the earlier town.

1880s

  • 1883 - The Danville Public Library is formed.

1890s

  • 1897 - An Old Soldiers' Home is established on the southeast side of Danville.
  • 1899 - Jamaica Township is created.

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