McLean County, Illinois Genealogical Records Information

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McLean County History and Information

McLean County Facts

McLean County was created on December 25, 1830 (Laws, 1830, p. 31) and was formed from Tazewell and unorganized land (Tazewell County). Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in: Eastern Part [Shelby County (1827–1830), Fayette County (1821–1827), Clark County (1819–1821), Crawford County (1816–1819), Edwards County (1815–1816)], Western Part [Tazewell County (1827–1831), Peoria County (1825–1827), Sangamon County (1821–1825), Bond County (1817–1821)], Madison County (1812–1817), St. Clair County (1801–1812) and Knox, Northwest Territory (1790–1801).

The County was named for John McLean, a pioneer lawyer, Territorial judge, first Representative in Congress from Illinois (1818), and United States Senator (1824–1825). The County Seat is Bloomington (1831-Present, Named Blooming Grove until 1831). Prior County Seats was ?. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to McLean County are Woodford County (northwest), Livingston County (northeast), Ford County (east), Champaign County (southeast), Piatt County (south), DeWitt County (south), Logan County (southwest), Tazewell County (west).

McLean County Townships include Allin Name changed from Mosquito Grove on March 4, 1867), Anchor Formed from Cropsey), Arrowsmith Name changed from Pleasant on May 17, 1858), Bellflower Name changed from Prairie on May 17, 1858), Bloomington, Blue Mound, Cheyney’s Grove, Chenoa, City of Bloomington Formed from Bloomington), Cropsey, Dale, Danvers, Dawson Originally named Lee; changed to Padua on May 17, 1858; then changed to Dawson), Downs Name changed from Savanna on May 17, 1858), Dry Grove, Empire Name changed from Le Roy on May 17, 1858), Funk’s Grove, Gridley, Hudson, Lawndale, Lexington, Martin, Money Creek, Mount Hope, Normal, Old Town, Randolph, Towanda, West Name changed from Kickapoo on May 17, 1858), White Oak, Yates Formed as Union from Chenoa on June 5, 1862; name changed from Union to Yates) Townships

Cities, Towns and Communities include Anchor, Arrowsmith, Bellflower, Bloomington, Carlock, Chenoa, Colfax, Cooksville, Danvers, Downs, Ellsworth, Gridley, Heyworth, Hudson, Le Roy, Lexington, McLean, Normal, Saybrook, Shirley, Stanford, Towanda

The McLean County Official Government Website
Map of McLean County and its civil and congressional townships
The History of McLean County Towns
McLean County, Illinois History Books at Amazon.com
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Records at the McLean 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 June 19, 1900

The Official County website is located at http://www.mcleancountyil.gov/. All departments below at located at the McLean County Law and Justice Center, 104 W. Front Street, P.O. Box 2400, Bloomington, IL 61702-2400 , unless a different address is listed below. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

McLean County Circuit Court Clerk has Probate Records from 1831 and Court Records from 1831 and is located at the address above. Phone Number: (309) 888-5340
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.

McLean County Recorder has Land Records from 1831 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (309) 888-5170
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.

McLean County Clerk has Birth / Death Records from 1877 and Marriage Records from 1831 and is located at the courthouse. Phone Number: (309) 888-5190
The County Clerk maintains records and issues certificates of vital statistics (birth certificates, death certificates, and marriage certificates) for the entire County.

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 McLean County Court Records. Email us with websites containing McLean County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
McLean County, Illinois Court Books at Amazon.com
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.

McLean County Vital 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 McLean County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing McLean County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

McLean County, Illinois Tax Books at Amazon.com

McLean 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 McLean County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing McLean County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Lexington Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc., Lexington (Covers Livingston, McLean & Woodford Counties)
McLean County Genealogical Society, Normal
McLean County Historical Society, Bloomington
Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Illinois State University, 2016 Warehouse Road, Campus Box 1520, Normal, IL 61790-1520; Telephone: (309) 452-6027. Map and Directions. Covers the following counties: Champaign, DeWitt, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston, Logan, Marshall, McLean, Piatt, Tazewell, Vermilion, Woodford. Hours: Monday – Friday, except state holidays 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Local Illinois Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
National Archives - Great Lakes Region(Chicago), 7358 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, Illinois 60629-5898; 773-948-9001; E-mail: chicago.archives@nara.gov (Maintains retired records from Federal agencies and courts in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.)
General Information Leaflet
Illinois State Archives, Norton Building, Capitol Complex, Springfield, IL 62756; TELEPHONE: (217) 782-4682, Fax: (217) 524-3930; HOURS: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
The Illinois State Historical Society, 210 1/2 S. Sixth, Springfield, IL 62701-1503; Phone: (217)525-2781, Fax: (217)525-2783, [EMAIL]
Illinois State Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 10195, Springfield, IL 62791; Phone: (217) 789-1968, [EMAIL]
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.
Illinois Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

McLean County Church & Cemeteries

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 McLean County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the McLean 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 McLean County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing McLean County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

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 McLean County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing McLean County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Sites on USGenweb: [ McLean County ] [ Illinois ] [ Main Page ]
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McLean County, Illinois Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

The accumulation of valuable material for this work has already been so large that only a brief historical mention of the county can be given, or can be expected. McLean County is situated very near the geographical center of the State of Illinois, and in area is the largest county in the state, comprising 1,154 square miles. It ranks third in population, having about 65,000 inhabitants, and is only excelled by Cook and La Salle Counties. In material development and production of soil, it unquestionably stands first. Its American settlers are principally from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Kentucky, the Ohioans outnumbering those from any one of the other States. The bulk of the foreign population, which is not large, is made up about equally of Germans and Irish, while there are some from England, Scotland, and France.

If space would permit we should like to go back and dwell at length on the Aboriginal occupation, the French possession, the British conquest in 1703, and to the time when Gen. George Rogers Clark, representing and under the authority of the then great commonwealth of Virginia, came out and captured this entire region from the British. It would be pleasant to trace the history of this country through the various changes, as it was known after the last conquest under the name of the Illinois County, and later on when it was called the Northwestern Territory, and afterward as. the Territory of Indiana, and follow it along from 1809, when it became the Territory of Illinois, and in 1818, when it became one of the bright stars in the American Republic. During all these varied changes, and under all these governmental authorities, the territory now embraced by McLean County took its part, and was an important factor. It was not, however, until 1822, that this particular portion of the State of Illinois was actually settled by the white man. It is not to be supposed that this was the first visitation of the white man, for undoubtedly events occurred here in which the white man took part' long before this period. It is believed that the French and Indians had many camp-fires together, in the beautiful groves that abound in this county, when on their way from Lake Michigan to Cahokia and Kaskaskia; and the early Indian traders and hunters had their stations about here, for the early settlers frequently found clearings in the woods. It was in this region also, that Gen. Hopkins' army became involved in its expedition against the Indians of the Illinois and Wabash Rivers, many of whom had participated in the Chicago massacre.

John Hendrix and family were the first settlers in the territory now embraced by the county, they locating at what is known as Blooming Grove in the spring of 1822. Hendrix was soon joined by John W. Dawson and family. Blooming Grove seemed to be an attractive spot to the earliest settlers, for they all located about it. The spring of 1823 found the Orendorff families, William and Thomas, John Benson and W. H. Hodge in neighborly proximity to the settlers of 1822. This year Gardner Randolph settled at what was subsequently known as Randolph's Grove. In the spring of 1824, Absalom and Isaac Funk and William Brock made a settlement at what is now called Funk's Grove. They were soon joined by others, among whom were the Stubblefield family. So rich and fair a region of country lying in the wake of emigration, when once known and opened to settlement could not otherwise than be rapidly populated.

The territory now known as McLean has been under the jurisdiction of different counties. The year previous to the State's admission into the Union, it was under the control of Crawford County. In 1819, after the admission, Clark County had jurisdiction. The first settlers, however, owed their allegiance to Fayette County, which was organized in 1821, and extended northward as far as the Illinois River. It was subsequently attached to Tazewell County, and was under its jurisdiction when the county of McLean was organized by an act of the Legislature, approved Dec. 22, 1830. It was named in honor of John McLean, twice elected United States Senator from Illinois.

When the settlers first came in the Indians were quite numerous, mostly belonging to the Kickapoos, Delawares and Pottawatomies, the Kickapoos having the largest number. Most of these left before the end of the year 1829, though at the breaking out of the Black Hawk War in 1832, there was a sufficient number of Indians in this section to cause considerable uneasiness among the people.

The early settlers of McLean County found plenty of wild game here, such as deer, turkeys, wolves, and the smaller birds. They were generally good hunters, and their guns supplied for their families what the markets of the present day furnish. The pelts of the wild animals were to the pioneers an important article of commerce, as they furnished the means, in absence of ready cash, of supplying the wants of domestic life. Beeswax and honey were also a valuable commodity in those early days.

They did not have to contend in this section of the country, as they did elsewhere, with hostile Indians, but they had foes almost as dreaded in malarial diseases, and prairie fires. One carried off hundreds of persons, while the other destroyed crops and homes. But as improvements multiplied and the laud became cultivated and drained, these enemies to the people disappeared. It was not many years before the pioneers found themselves in the midst of a populous and cultivated community. Schools and churches had been established, cities founded, railroads constructed, and civilization and culture, with all their attractive features, possessed the land.

In many respects McLean is one of the finest and foremost counties in the State. It is free from the severities of winter which afflict the more northern counties, and free from the oppressive heat that is experienced in the southern ones. About one-ninth of the surface is covered with groves, which afford shade and add beauty to the landscape. Like all portions of the Mississippi Valley, the surface inclination is toward the southwest. It is moderately rolling, free from extreme flatness as well as from abrupt changes, which makes it exceedingly easy of tillage. Its summit elevation is about 220 feet above Lake Michigan, and about 795 feet above the ocean. The country is well supplied with running water by the incipient streams that contribute to the formation of the Sangamon, Vermilion, Mackinaw and Kickapoo Rivers and Sugar Creek. Good water is found in all parts of the county at reasonable depths, and in the northern part are many fine springs. Extensive coal beds underlie the surface formation, from which a good article of marketable coal is obtained. The soil is unsurpassed in its fertility, and is adapted to the raising of all kinds of cereals, yet more attention is given to stock-raising, the value of which exceeds that of any county west of the Alleghenies.

The educational facilities of McLean are unexcelled by any county in the State. In addition to her public schools, which are superior, she has two distinguished institutions of learning, the reputation of which has extended far and wide. These are the Illinois Wesleyan University located at Bloomington, and the State Normal University [now Illinois State University]. Another institution located at Normal is the Soldiers' Orphans' Home. The buildings of these institutions are ornamental in their architecture, and are commodious and substantial.

The Indians and the wilderness have passed away, living now only in history, or in the memories of the pioneers who yet remain. In their stead are well cultivated farms and fine cities, peopled with an intelligent population, and surrounded by the arts and refinements of an advanced civilization. Those by whose wisdom and industry this change has been produced, can contemplate with commendable pride, the grand transformation. Taking a retrospective view of the past, and contemplating the present, the contrast of the two periods comes vividly upon the mind. Before them to-day, resting in quiet grandeur, is a fair civilization, with happy homes basking beneath the sunlight of culture and domestic peace ; before them to-day is a complete social and political society, standing out in bold relief, radiant with the bright light of Christianity, fostered by American institutions and shining resplendent with American freedom.

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