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Census
Federal
U.S. federal censuses for Lee County are 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900,
1910, 1920, and 1930. In 1830 Lee County was part of Jo Daviess County, which
covered northern Illinois. Indexes are available for the 1820,
1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses. A soundex index is available on microfilm for
the 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses.
Territorial and State
Territorial and state censuses were also taken in 1810, 1818, 1820, 1825,
1830, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1855, and 1865. The 1810, 1818, 1825, 1830, 1835,
and 1840 censuses have been indexed and published. Some earlier residents
were also listed in the 1807 Indiana territorial census, which is indexed.
Court Records
Lee County Clerk
The County Clerks offices has vital records, (birth, marriage and death)
land, tax, and military registration forms.
Lee County Circuit Clerk
The Circuit Clerk's office has civil and criminal case records, probate and
estate files, divorce records, and naturalization records. Not all of these
are open to the public. Probate, estate, wills, divorce, and naturalization
records are areas of focus for genealogists. There is an index of the Lee
County estate records at the Family Tree Center. The naturalization records
are being scanned and indexed, (see Naturalization).
City Directories
Dixon has directories dating back to 1869. The Family Tree Center's
collection consists of these years: 1868, 1878, 1890, 1896, 1898, 1900,
1906, 1908, 1912, 1914, 1916, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1936,
1938, 1940, 1942, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965,
1967, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1985, and 1989.
The Major County History Books
1881 County History, Hill Co.,
Old Settlers list
from the 1881 history
1892 Portrait & Biographical,
List of surnames
for the 1892 history
1904 History of Lee County, by Bardwell
1914 History of Lee County, by Stevens Vol. 1 & 2
1918 Early Lee County, by William D. Barge
2000 Biographies of the Citizens of Lee
County Illinois,
by Lee County Genealogical Society,
Index 2004 Biographies of the Citizens of Lee County
Illinois,
by Lee County Genealogical Society,
Index
Lee County Histories Index
The Lee County Genealogical Society has created an
every name index of
25 Lee County town and county histories. Listed below are the books that are
included in this index. This one index, contains over 107,000 entries.
100 Years of the Methodist Episcopal
Church
1881 County History, Hill Co.
1892 Portrait & Biographical Record of Lee County
1904 History of Lee County, by Bardwell
2000 Biographies of the Citizens of Lee County Illinois
2004 Biographies of the Citizens of Lee County Illinois
Ashton
Biography of a Country Town, Becker
Compton
Dixon, by George Lamb
Early Lee County, by William D. Barge, 1918
Green River Ordinance Plant
Historical Yearbook 1976
History of Harmon
History of Steward, 1970
History of Melugins Grove
History of Steward, 1905
Lee Centennial
Memories of Franklin Grove
Ohio Centennial
Paw Paw Centennial
Recollections of the Pioneers of Lee County
Story of Dixon & Palmyra, 1830-1880
Sublette
Indexes
The Family Tree Center has indexes of: County death and marriage records,
cemetery (by cemetery or alphabetic), Histories Index, an index of 25 Lee
County and town histories, newspaper, some plat book and census. The Lee
County Genealogical Society continues to index other items, please check for
the newest additions.
Land & Property
The land records for Lee County start when the county was formed in 1839.
Any record previous to 1839 would be in the county that the property was in
at the time. The land records are located in the County Clerk's office in
the Old Court House. Lee County uses the tract system for land records.
Grantor/grantee books are also available. The Lee County Genealogical
Society does not do land record searches.
Maps & Plat Books
There are a number of maps for Lee County, mostly they are in plat book
form. Plats available at the Family Tree Center, 1863, 1872 (indexed), 1900,
1915, 1921 (indexed), 1935, 1947, 1949, 1955. The 1956, 1958, 1960, 1965,
1972, 1979-80, 1988, are all indexed.
Naturalization
The Lee County Circuit Clerk's Office holds the naturalization records of
Lee County. They are in the process of scanning the records. When the
process has been completed, the Lee County Genealogical Society will be
indexing these records.
Newspapers
The earliest newspaper for this area was the Dixon Telegraph which started in May 1851.
The Family Tree Center has newspaper indexes for the Telegraph 1851 to present, Amboy Journal 1856-1880, Amboy New 1882-1886. Indexing is
ongoing, please check to see if additional indexes have been added. Dixon
Public Library has an index of the Telegraph 1851-1947. Other libraries may
also have indexes.
The majority of newspapers for Lee County are available on
microfilm. The following libraries all have film collections.
Dixon Public Library: Telegragh 1851 to present. Note
that the Civil War period of the Telegraph is not available. Some of the
early Amboy newspapers.
Pankhurst Memorial Library, (Amboy): Journal
1856-1913, and News, 1882-present.
Family Tree Center: Telegraph 1851-2006, Amboy
Journal 1856-1913, Amboy News 1882-1994, Paw Paw News 1874-1876, Lee County
Times 1882-1959 (published in Paw Paw), Dixon Daily Leader 1914, Dixon Daily
Star 1904-1909, Dixon Daily News 1909-1914, Dixon Star 1898-1920, Dixon Sun
1873-1892, Dixon Weekly Sun 1894-1898, Ashton Gazette 1873-2008, West
Brooklyn News 1910. More film is being added so check
with center for other titles.
Historical Society: Telegraph and Amboy
Obituaries
There is a collection from the Dixon Telegraph at the Family Tree Center
from 1994 to present. Newspaper indexes also list obituaries and death
notices.
Probate Records
Probate records are court records containing information on matters
involving estates and the guardianships of minors. The probate records are
in the Circuit Clerk's Office in the Courts Building.
Vital Records
County Birth and Death Records
The County Clerk's Office has birth records that start in 1856 and death
records that start in 1877. People did not always register births and
deaths, so it is possible that you may not find your ancestor's birth or
death recorded. But there are other sources for that information, such as:
cemetery records, death and marriage records, and newspapers. The state of
Illinois did not require birth or death certificates until 1916.
Marriages
The Lee County Clerk's office has marriage records that start in 1839.
Couples would sometimes get their marriage license in one county and marry
in another. This practice was stopped, but I don't know when.
Divorces
In the early 1800's, the legislature and the circuit courts granted
divorces. Circuit or city courts have handled most divorce proceedings. |