2018 – CELEBRATING ILLINOIS’ 200TH BIRTHDAY!
Logan County was formed February 15, 1839, from Sangamon County by an act of the Illinois General Assembly. In 1841 Logan gained more land from Tazewell County. In 1847 a small part of DeWitt County became part of Logan County, completing the county boundaries as we know them today.
The county was named by Abraham Lincoln, a member of the General Assembly at the time and the prime mover in forming the county, in honor of his friend Dr. John Logan, a well known Illinois pioneer and fellow member of the Illinois General Assembly. Dr. Logan, the father of Civil War General John A. Logan, was a resident of Murphysboro. He was not from Logan County.
Logan County covers approximately 618 square miles of central Illinois. Lincoln is the third and current county seat. Earlier county seats were Postville, later known as Camden, 1839-47, and Mt. Pulaski, 1847-53. The actual Postville courthouse is at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan but a reproduction exists in Lincoln. The Mt. Pulaski courthouse, where Lincoln practiced law on the Eighth Judicial Circuit, still stands on the square in that town. It is one of only two still existing courthouses where Lincoln actually practiced law on the circuit.
Shortly after the records were moved from Mt. Pulaski, the first courthouse in Lincoln burnt [April 15, 1857] destroying all the records that were housed there. Generally, records from the period before the fire Logan became a county in 1839 may be found at the State Archives or at IRAD in Springfield under Sangamon County. The records for 1839-1857 stored in the courthouse were lost. Federal land purchase records were not in the courthouse and still exist. Some deeds and other documents were brought in by the public after the fire. Thus some records for that period may show up in abstracts or legal files. The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society has reconstructed early probate records using historical newspapers.
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NEIGHBORING COUNTY ILGENWEB SITES
Links to all Illinois Counties
Logan County Circuit Court Clerk
GENEALOGICAL & HISTORICAL SOCIETIES, HISTORICAL MUSEUMS
- Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society 217 732-3200
- Logan County Courthouse 217 732-8687
- Lincoln College Museum 217 732-3155 x295
- Mt. Pulaski Township Historical Society 217 792-3719
- Mt. Pulaski Courthouse 217 732-8930
- Elkhart Historical Society 217 947-2238
- Knapp Library/Museum, 101 S. Clinton, Middletown 217 445-2708
- Atlanta Library & Museum, Race Street, Atlanta 217 648-2112
ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES DATABASES — GLOBAL SEARCH
- Marriage Records 1763-1900
- Death Records Before 1916 [limited]
- Death Records 1916-1950
- Earliest Records by County
LISTS OF VETERANS BY WAR FROM STATE ARCHIVES
- War of 1812
- Winnebago War
- Black Hawk War (from state records)
- Mexican War (from state records)
- Illinois Soldiers in the Black Hawk War, 1831-32, and the Mexican War, 1846-8 (The listing is by place of enlistment, not place of residence.)
- Civil War
- Illinois Soldiers in Missouri Units
- Civil War – Navy
- Spanish American War
VETERAN RELATED PAGES ON THIS SITE
- Logan Revolutionary War Veteran Burials
- Black Hawk War
- 4th Regiment, Mexican War
- Civil War
- 106th Regiment, Civil War
- 7th Infantry
- 7th Regiment, Civil War, Reunion
- 1883 Pensioners List
- Quincy Home Admissions
- Veteran Burials Through WWI
CENSUS RECORDS
In addition to the links below, FamilySearch has indexed all censuses as well as the 1855 and 1865 Illinois state censuses. Images may be on FamilySearch or a partner paysite. All the links below are free.
- Index to the 1830 Sangamon Census Images
- 1840 Logan County Census Index
- 1840 Logan County Census Images
- 1840 Census Summary
- 1850 Logan County Census Index
- 1850 Logan County Census Images
- 1855 Logan County State Census
- 1862 Military Census
- 1850 Mortality Tables
- 1860 Mortality Tables
- 1870 Mortality Tables
- 1880 Mortality Tables
HISTORY
- Earliest Settlers
- The Deep Snow 1830-31
- The Meteor Shower of 1833
- The Sudden Freeze 1836
- 1837 Map
- Settlers Before 1840
- Old Settlers Meetings
- A Meeting in Mt. Pulaski
- Township Directories 1878
- County Officers 1839-1878
- Farmers’ Institute 1901
- 1911 Societies
- County Officers 1917
- Agriculture 1917
- Town Histories
- County History
- Old Newspaper Articles
- Newspapers
SCHOOLS
RELIGIONS
PLACES
DOCUMENTS (contributed)
CEMETERIES
LAND
- Original Government Land Records
- Illinois Public Domain Land Records at State Archives
- Logan Township and Section Map
- Section Map Diagram
- Land Purchases by Township
PUBLIC LIBRARIES
- Atlanta Library and Museum, Race Street, Atlanta, IL 61723 [217] 648-2112
- Elkhart Library, 121 E. Bohan, Elkhart, IL 62634 [217] 947-2313
- Lincoln Library, 725 Pekin Street, Lincoln, IL 62656 [217] 732-8878
- Mt. Pulaski Library, 320 N. Washington, Mt. Pulaski, IL 62548 [217] 792-5919
ILLINOIS LINKS
Illinois History Information and Links
GENWEB LINKS
OTHER USEFUL LINKS
All materials contained on these pages are furnished for the free use of individuals engaged in researching their personal genealogy. Any commercial use or any use for which money is asked or paid for any reason is strictly prohibited.
Copyright by Cheryl Rothwell for ILGenWeb
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