Gallatin County was created on September 14, 1812 (By Proclamation, Territorial Record of Illinois, p. 26) and was formed from Randolph County. Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Randolph County (1801–1812) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1809).
The County was named for Albert Gallatin, a statesman and financier, Representative in Congress from Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and Minister to France and England. The County Seat is Shawneetown . Prior County Seats was Shawneetown (1812–1827), Equality (1827–1848) and Shawneetown (1848–Present). See also County History for more historical details.
Gallatin County Townships include Asbury, Bowlesville (Name changed from Saline on January 19, 1891), Eagle Creek, Equality, Gold Hill, New Haven (Name changed from Reno on July 9, 1894), North Fork (Name changed from Elba on January 19, 1891), Omaha (Name changed from Bear Creek on January 19, 1891), Ridgway (Name changed from Fillingim on March 18, 1891), Shawnee Townships
Cities, Towns and Communities include Equality, Junction, New Haven, Old Shawneetown, Omaha, Ridgway, Shawneetown
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.
The Official County website is located at N/A . All departments below at located at the Gallatin County Courthouse, Lincoln Boulevard, PO Box 550, Shawneetown, Illinois 62984-0249 , unless a different address is listed below. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.
Gallatin County Circuit Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1814 and Court Records from 1813 and is located at the address above. Phone Number: (618)
269-3140 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.
Gallatin County Recorder has Land Records from 1813 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (618)
269-3025 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.
Gallatin County Clerk has Birth / Death Records from 1877 and Marriage Records from 1813 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (618)
269-3025 The County Clerk maintains records and issues certificates of vital statistics (birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates) for the entire County.
Below is a list of online resources for Gallatin County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Court Records by clicking the link below:
Illinois Immigration & Emigration Records - Immigration records help the family historian to understand the movements of their ancestry as they relocated to different parts of the world.
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.
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
Below is a list of online resources for Gallatin County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Vital Records by clicking the link below:
Search the Social Security Death Index for FREE - Search over 82 million death records and get genealogical information crucial to your family research. New content added weekly! Most comprehensive SSDI site online!
Research Death records In The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of historical Illinois newspaper articles about deaths. Search for local articles about an old family friend that died many years ago or a celebrity that committed suicide. Historical newspapers contain a wealth of information about the deceased.
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.
Below is a list of online resources for Gallatin County Census Records. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Census Records by clicking the link below:
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 Gallatin County Maps. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Maps by clicking the link below:
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 Gallatin County Military Records. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Military Records by clicking the link below:
Southern Claims Commission from the State of Illinois (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 (The National Archives): View, Print Copy & Save Original Documents in NARA publication M246 include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.
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 Gallatin County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Tax Records by clicking the link below:
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 Gallatin County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:
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Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Southern Illinois University, c/o Special Collections, Morris Library – 6632 , Carbondale, IL 62901-6632; Telephone: (618) 453-3040. Map and Directions. Covers the following counties: 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.
Hours: Monday – Friday, except state holidays 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mail requests should be sent to the address above. However, the depository is located on McLafferty Road one-third mile south of its intersection with Chautauqua Street — not in Morris Library. Visitors unfamiliar with Carbondale may wish to call the depository for directions.
Illinois State Library, 300 South 2nd Street, Springfield, IL 62701-1796; Phone: (217) 785-5600
Illinois
State Historical Library, Old State Capitol, Springfield, IL 62701 County histories, plat books, census indexes, cemetery indexes, city material,
family and association files, microfilmed newspapers, manuscripts, and photographs
are located beneath the restored old state capitol between 5th and 6th streets
and Washington and Adams streets.
Illinois Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
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.
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.
Below is a list of online resources for Gallatin County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:
Find Obituaries in The World's Largest Newspaper Archive at NewpaperArchive.com! - Find thousands of Illinois obituaries to help you research your family history. Search for a Illinois newspaper obituary about your ancestor or a celebrity. Begin your search today and find death notices and funeral announcements printed in newspapers from Illinois.
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 Gallatin County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Gallatin County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Illinois Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
The village of Shawneetown was the first settlement on the eastern side of Illinois, founded by Michael Sprinkle in 1800. It was built near Half Moon Lick, a natural salt spring, which had previously attracted Native Americans and a French fort. A land office was established in the town in 1814, two years after Gallatin County was formed, and the state's first bank was opened by John Marshall in 1816. The Marquis De Lafayette visited Shawneetown on his American tour in 1825, demonstrating the town's prominence. A long-standing legend is that a delegation from the newly-chartered village of Chicago visited Shawneetown in 1833--the date varies--and was told that Chicago was too far away from Shawneetown to ever amount to anything. Other versions place the loan rejection just after the Chicago Fire of 1871, but no evidence supports this historic myth.
The Second Bank of Illinois, an imposing sandstone structure boasting 5 Doric columns, was built in 1840 at a cost of $86,000. Besides river commerce and agriculture, coal and iron ore mining were major industries. The salt industry fueled the county's early economy, and led to the growth of Equality, located near Lower Lick in the southern portion of the county. Special provisions in Illinois law allowed slaves to provide most of the labor in the salt-making operation, and for many years the home of salt and land baron John Crenshaw has been a tourist attraction as the Old Slave House, where runaway slaves and unfortunate free blacks were held before being sold in Kentucky or Tennesee. (The home closed to tourists in September, 1996 and the owners are threatening to auction the contents if the State of Illinois refuses to purchase the property.) Equality served as county seat from 1827 to 1847.
Some prominent early Gallatin County names were Logsdon, Posey, Wilson, Brinkley, Wargel and West. Prominent journalist Robert Green Ingersoll moved to Shawneetown in 1836. Many of the early settlors are buried in Westwood Cemetery, located between Old and New Shawnee.
Several factors led to the decline of Gallatin County: The closure of the salt works in 1873, improvements in rail transportation, the decline of immigration to Southern Illinois, the depletion of nearby resources, and most especially, major floods of the Ohio River, most recently in 1898, 1913, and 1937. The great flood of 1937, which paralyzed much of the midwest, inundated the earthen levy started in 1859 and improved after every subsequent flood, and destroyed most of the records in the Gallatin County Courthouse, even though they had been carried to the second floor for safety. The misery caused by the winter flood was too much: Most of the town moved to higher ground, creating the current city of (New) Shawneetown and the decaying village of Old Shawneetown, consisting of a few taverns, the two bank buildings, and about 350 residents attracted by the town's outlaw reputation.
The first bank building was moved off the levy and restored by the Gallatin County Historical Society in 1974, while the State of Illinois seems to hope that the second bank will fall in before it can be restored.
To the north of Shawneetown, Irish families, led by General Michael Kelly Lawler, established Pond Settlement around 1820, and later Ridgway, built along the railroad right-of way and now the county's second city. Ridgway, home of Blevins Popcorn Company, proclaims itself "Popcorn capital of the world" each September during the annual Popcorn Day festival.
Gallatin County currently is home to approximately 8000 residents in its 324 square miles. Some former county settlements were Gold Hill, Bowlesville, Saline Mines, Crawford, Doherty, Dorsey Valley and Elba. Tiny New Haven and Omaha exist on the northern border of the county near White County, and Junction is located on the southern section. The history of the county is the subject of a beautiful mural in the Gallatin County Courthouse in Shawneetown. A revised county history was published in 1986, edited by Lucille Lawler, and includes several entries for the following names: Winters, Abell, Moye, Vickery, Spivey, Skaggs, Sheets, Downen, Skates and Rister.
