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United States Illinois Kendall County

	Illinois Online Records

Kendall County, Illinois
Map
Location of Illinois in the U.S.
Facts
Founded:	February 19, 1841
County Seat	Yorkville
Courthouse
Photo courtesy Illinois Regional Archives Depository, Illinois State Archives
Address	Kendall County Courthouse 111 W. Fox Street Yorkville, IL 60560 630-553-4104 Kendall County Website

County Organization

Kendall County's civil records start the following years:

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

Historical Facts

Amos kendall.jpg

Kendall County is named for Amos Kendall who was a journalist and statesman and served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.

Boundary Changes

Prior to County Formation

• 1790-1801 - Kendall part of Knox County and the Northwest Territory
• 1801-1812 - Kendall part of St. Clair County
• 1812-1815 - Kendall part of Madison County
• 1815-1816 - Kendall part of Edwards County
• 1816-1819 - Kendall part of Crawford County
• 1819-1821 - Kendall part of Clark County
• 1821-1823 - Kendall part of Pike County
• 1823-1825 - Kendall part of Fulton County
• 1825-1831 - Kendall part of Putnam County
• 1831-1841 - Some of Kendall part of LaSalle County
• 1836-1841 - Some of Kendall part of Kane County

County Formation and After

• 1841 - Kendall County created from LaSalle and Kane counties

For more information see Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties or Kendall County Fact Sheet (Illinois State Archives). For interactive county boundary maps see Illinois County Boundaries, 1790-Present, Illinois Historical Counties, or Illinois County Maps and Atlases.

Record Loss

Places / Localities

Populated Places

Neighboring Counties

• DeKalb
• DuPage
• Grundy
• Kane
• LaSalle
• Will

Records and Resources

Biography

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

Cemeteries

Illinois cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.

• Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried.  Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone.  May give obituaries, names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.

• Find A Grave also gives a list of cemeteries in Kendall County and links to the  information for the individuals buried there.

• Kendall Co. IL USGenWeb Tombstone Project usually gives the names of the deceased in alphabetical order by last name with birth and death dates plus any remarks. 

• Illinois Cemeteries by county.

• The Family History Library Catalog lists some records of cemeteries in Kendall County.  Some of the books or others may be on Google Books or available at public libraries.

• ePodunk list of Kendall County cemeteries gives the names of the cemeteries in the county with a link to more information such as address, phone number, and web site.

Census

Church History and Records

Church records may give birth, death and marriage information. It is usually best to locate church records with a search at a local level such as the city, town, or village.

• USGenWeb's Kendall County Church Records provides a bibliography of Kendall County Church histories, a directory of Kendall County churches, and links to several compiled church records.

• Search WorldCat to identify a library near you which holds books of compiled church records for Kendall County.

• Dickson, Elmer George. The Ministers & Priests of Kendall County, Illinois. Chico, California: E. Dickson, 1992. WorldCat 44171342; FHL film 1698079 Item 7; book 977.3263 K2d

Court Records

Ethnic Research

African American

The following have information concerning African American research.

•  African American Research (US) has more information about the kinds of records

• Illinois State Archives pamphlet on African American Research describes what records are at the State Archives with an online method for ordering records.
• African-American Resources for Illinois

Genealogy

History

Land and Property

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

The following abstracts and copies of original records may be accessed online or through the Family History Library.

Copies of original records

• 1841–1926 Deed records FHL film 1403516 (first of 16 films)
• 1841–1892 Grantor index FHL film 1403532
• 1841–1891 Grantee index FHL film 1403533

Abstracts

• Family Maps of Kendall County, Illinois (2005) plats the land of many nineteenth-century Kendall County residents. The publisher's bookstore includes a free online surname index. FHL Book 977.3263 E7b

Online Resources

• 1800s-Present - Use the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Land Patent Index to obtain original federal land transfer records including homestead, military warrants, and cash entry patents. These records help a research establish location and lead to National Archives' records which may include genealogical information. Earlier land transfer records are housed at the National Archives.

• 1800s-Present - Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales from Illinois State Archives also provides an index to federal land sales.

• Land Records Kendall County, Illinois at ILGenWeb includes indexes to federal lands sales, and the 1859, 1870, 1922, and 1941 plat maps of Kendall County.

• 1796–1907 U.S. General Land Office Records found at Ancestry.com ($)

• 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 ($)

• Kendall County Federal Township Plats

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Kendall County land and property may be found in the FHLC, FHLC–map indexes and FHLC–maps. Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Maps

Military

War of 1812

Dickson, Elmer George Kendall County veterans of the Civil, Mexican & Spanish-America wars and the War of 1812 (Chico, California: E. Dickson, c1993) pages 39 FHL Book 977.3263 M2

Civil War

Civil War service men from Kendall 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 Kendall County.

- 4th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company C (Also known as Dollins' Cavalry Company).

- 15th Regiment, Illinois Cavalry, Company I.

- 20th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company K.

- 36th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies D, E, F, and I.

- 89th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company H.

- 91st Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company E.

- 127th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Companies A, F, and K.

- 132nd Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company C.

- 141st Regiment, Illinois Infantry (100 days, 1864), Company F.

- 147th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Company C.

Naturalization

Newspapers Obituaries

Probate Records

Repositories

County Courthouse

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

Family History Center

Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States) and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy.

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site.

Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in Kendall County. The following centers are located in surrounding counties. Their wiki pages may supply hours and other information.

Dekalb Illinois Family History Center
675 Fox Avenue
Sycamore, Illinois 60178
Telephone: (815) 895–0702

Joliet Illinois Family History Center
655 Springfield
Joliet, Illinois, 60435
Telephone: (815) 725-8621

Morris Illinois Family History Center
1414 Dupont Ave.
Morris, Illinois 60450
Telephone: (815) 941-4214

Naperville Illinois Family History Center
1320 Ridgeland Road
Naperville, Illinois
Telephone: (630) 505-0233

Ottawa Illinois Family History Center
1377 Adams Street
Ottawa, Illinois
Telephone: (815) 431-0186

Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD)

The Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD), managed by the Illinois State Archives, houses 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 Northern Illinois University (IRAD-NIU) holds the records for Kendall County. Learn more about finding and using their records.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository
c/o Regional History Center
Founders Memorial Library, Room 400
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
Telephone: (815) 753-1807

Public Libraries

The following Kendall County libraries have collections of particular interest to genealogists.

Oswego Public Library District
32 W. Jefferson St.
Oswego, IL 60543
Telephone: (630) 554-3150
Volunteers from the Fox Valley Genealogical Society assist researchers with the Local History and Genealogy Collection at designated times.

Plano Community Library District
15 N. Center
Plano, IL 60545
Telephone: (630) 552-2009
Their Local History collection includes histories, directories, cemetery records, church and school records, and more.

Yorkville Public Library
902 Game Farm Road
Yorkville, IL 60560
Telephone: (630) 553-4354
The library has microfilms of census records and The Kendall County Record newspaper.

Other Repositories

Little White School Museum
Box 23
72 Polk Street
Oswego, IL 60543
Telephone (630) 554-2999
The museum holds records of local interest, including indexes, histories, maps, photos, and more. Check in advance for their limited hours.

Social Groups Online

Societies

Taxation

Vital Records

See Illinois Vital Records for more information about Vital records in Illinois.

Vital records consist of birth, death, marriage and divorce records. Original birth and death certificates recorded until the year 1916 are kept by the Kendall County Clerk while those recorded after 1916 are kept by the Illinois Department of Public Health with a copy to the County Clerk. Original marriage records are usually kept by the County Clerk from the establishment of the county 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 Family History Library and the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) located at the Northern Illinois University (NIU) - search for Kendall County records. For information on how to use IRAD see the IRAD Wiki page.

General

• Kendall County Vital Records at ILGenWeb includes births, marriages, and deaths.

Births

Copies of Original Birth Records

• 1877-1903 Birth Records IRAD-NIU
• 1877-1918 Birth Record Index IRAD-NIU FHL film 1403534 Items 5 - 6

Online Resources

• 1887-1903 Kendall County Birth Records Courtesy USGenWeb Archives Illinois

Marriages

Copies of Original Marriage Records

• 1841-1915 Marriage Records IRAD-NIU FHL film 1403534 Items 1-4
• 1841-1897 Marriage Record Index IRAD-NIU
• 1877-1918 Marriage Record Index IRAD-NIU

Online Resources

• 1841-1900 Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 at Illinois State Archives; Index

• 1841-1915 Kendall County Marriage Records Courtesy USGenWeb Archives Illinois

Deaths

Copies of Original Death Records

• 1877-1903 Death Records IRAD-NIU FHL film 1403535

Online Resources

• 1877-1903 Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 at Illinois State Archives; Index

• 1916-1950 Database of Illinois Death Certificates, 1916-1950 at Illinois State Archives; Index

• 1877-1903 Kendall County Death Records Courtesy USGenWeb Archives Illinois

Additional Resources

Additional resources for Kendall County births, marriages and deaths may be found in the Illinois, Kendall – Vital Records, the Illinois, Kendall – Vital Records - indexes, and the Illinois, Kendall – Vital Records - newspapers topic pages of the Family History Library catalog (FHLC). Copies of records on FHL microfilm and microfiche can be ordered for viewing at Family History Centers. Copies of books found in the FHLC may be found in WorldCat catalog and ordered from your local library through interlibrary loan. Explore how to search the Family History Library Catalog and the Worldcat Online Catalog.

Web Sites

• USGenWeb project. May have maps, name indexes, history or other information for this county. Select the state, then the county.
• Family History Library Catalog
• Kendall County, Illinois Genealogy and Family History (Linkpendium)

References