Researching McLean County Births

 

Sources of Information

 

I.  McLean County Clerk -$30 for Birth Search – https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/84/County-Clerk

The clerks office has the official records of McLean County.  An online Birth Index search is available for years 1860-1915 (except for V-Z).  The office has been putting information on cards and still has V thru Z to go.  The Index provides information from the Birth Registry, but sometimes things are left out  (number of child, middle names, etc).    The link is here for the online search:

https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/Birth

https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/212/Genealogical-Research

The office charges $30.00 for a birth record search, and includes the first copy.  If no records are found, the fee still applies

II. Free Searches here – we have copies of the McLean County Birth Registry so you can search from home at no cost

Below are .pdf copies of Vol 1 and Vol 2 of McLean County Birth Registry. All files are .pdf and will open in a new tab.

 

III.  Free copies of Birth Index cards here –  Surnames A – E.

They are not listed alphabetically, so you must look thru all the A’s to find an A Surname.  We had a limited number of the volumes on microfilm in our Genealogy Library at the McLean County Museum of History.  These cards often provide more information than the free online search available from the Clerk’s website.  We are digitizing them as we have funds to do so.  Please consider a donation.

 

II.  McLean County Birth Registry  1878 – 1887 (Volumes  I and II) – free searches

Volume I of the McLean County Births Registry begins February 11, 1878 with ?? Adams, a white female born in Chaney Grove as the second child of the mother.  Nationality and birthplace of the father, Farmer John Adams are unknown.  The mother was Lavina Belle Brewer Adams (age 24) who was born in McLean County, Illinois.  The medical attendent was James L. Ballard of Saybrook, Illinois.

This give a sample of the information provided in the McLean County Birth Registry.

We are happy to provide for your research a copy of Volume I which is labeled 1877-1881.  This volume is broken into 6 parts as they are data intensive.  Look thru a wide range of dates as some births were entered late, so the entries are not necessarily in the order of birth.  Some are entered months or years after the fact.

Volume 2 begins in 1884 and ends in 1887.

All files are .pdf and will open in a new tab.

The McLean County Clerks site has a good index for finding birth information and you are encouraged to look there first.  The link to their site is:

McLean County Clerk: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/84/County-Clerk

 

Birth Registry Volume I    1877 – 1881 

 Volume begins 1878 and entries go out to 1884

Volume is split into 6 large files below

 

Births Vol I_A – Letter A (1878) thru F (1879)

Births Vol I_B – Letter F (1879) thru M (1878)

Births Vol I_C – Letter M (1878) thru V (1879)

Births Vol I_D – Letter V (1879) thru F (1882)

Births Vol I_E – Letter F (1882) thru N (1884)

Births Vol I_F – Letter O (1881) thru Z (1884)

Volume I_A begins with A, but later in Volume I_D another section beginning with the letter A begins.  You will need to check both alphabetical sections of Volume I.

Birth Registry Volume II    1884 – 1887

 Volume begins 1884 and entries go out to March 1887

The volume is split into two large files accessed below

 

Last Name A Thur M <Click Here>

Last Name Mc thur Z <Click Here>

Birth Registry Volume 6    1897 – 1902

330 Pages – check the back after WXYZ for some pages of corrections and late entries (out of alphabetical order)

Click in this box to open in a new window

 

III.  Birth Index Cards – Not in alphabetical order

 

Last Name A

Last Name C

Last Name E

Last Name B

Last Name D