Researching McLean County Ancestors

The McLean County Circuit Clerk and County Clerk’s offices have many of the records you seek.  Some of the records can be found for free and others require a $25 search fee.

Birth, Death, and Marriage records are kept at the McLean County Clerk’s Office located in the Government Center (115 E. Washington St., Bloomington, IL  309-888-5187) across the street from the Law and Justice Center.  https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/1049/Certified-Copies-of-Vital-Records

The  County Clerk’s website,     “Genealogical record fees are $20 for birth, $18 for marriage, and $25 for death. This includes the search and the first copy. Each additional copy of the same search is $10. If the record is searched and not found, the original fee still applies. If you are uncertain of the year, a time frame is still required to conduct the search. The fee for the initial copy applies for the first 5 years searched, and the additional copy fee applies for each additional 5 years searched. If the record is located, one genealogical copy will be provided. You may request a record in person, through the mail, or online.”

Probate records are kept at the McLean County Circuit Clerk’s office located in the Law and Justice Center (104 W. Front St., Bloomington, IL  309-888-5301).  https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/80/Circuit-Clerk

The Circuit Clerk’s office does not charge a search fee, but does not conduct searches without a date.

DETAILS BELOW ON HOW THE MCLEAN COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY CAN HELP YOU !

Birth Records:

Multiple Search Methods should be employed.

 Free online search:               The County Clerk’s office offers an online birth index search for years 1860-1915.  https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/212/Genealogical-Research  This is one way to hopefully insure a record exists before you pay the $20. This online search engine does not give all the information that is available from resources available from TMCGS.

TMCGS offers multiple publications to help with you search for birth records:

Birth Records Index: -Available from TMCGS. Seven volumes organized by year and then alphabetical capturing all relevant information from the original written entry. This is more complete than the free search available via the Clerk’s website.

Sample Record  “Smith, Jerome”

Free County Website output:  “Book S9; Page 520.  Birthday: 1863”

TMCGS Birth Index Vol 1:  “S Book 9, Pg. 520.  Birthday: March 4, 1863”

In this instance, our alphabetical index provided the birth date and the free website index did not.

These seven volumes may be purchased thru our Publications store or may be accessed for free by joining the society.

 Copies of County Clerk’s Birth  Books:  Our society has digitized many of the birth books that are in the clerk’s office.  You can conduct you own search and take as long as you like.  These digitized records are not for sale and are only available to members thru the website.  These are photos of the original handwritten pages showing all available information.  Keep in mind that Illinois did not require recording birth records until 1917 so the records were created as people reported Births.  For example, a doctor may report all births in the prior three months.  This entries would be made after reports made much sooner, so the dates jump around.  Allow some time for searching.

Marriage and Death Records:

Choices are limited to paying the clerk for a search or if you join TMCGS, you can search digital copies of the  indexes and license books at your leisure.  They are available to members.  You can screen shot the license to make your own digital copy.

Probate Records: 2 places to look

McLean County Circuit Clerk:

Original Wills, Probate, guardian, etc. files are held by the McLean County Circuit Clerks office at the Law and Justice Center (104 W. Front St., Bloomington, IL  309-888-5301).  Most of the records are at this location while some are stored off site.  Offsite records are retrieved once per week.

Cameras are prohibited in the Courthouse.  You may not take photos of the documents, but the staff will make copies for you.

To find files of interest:

In person, you may ask for a search to be made if you have a name and date of death.  The staff will check the index sources (card files, books – depends on year) and see if a file exists for your relative.  They will then look for the associated Box and Case which holds the documents.  You may examine the documents and request copies if you wish.  (Current Fee is $2 for first page, $.50 per page for next 19 pages, and $.25 for additional pages).  Most invoices are under $15.00.

Online, you may request a search as above with a name and year of death.  There is no charge for the search.  Send an email to civil_probate@mcleancountyil.gov  requesting the search.  The response if found will be an invoice for copies of the file.  After you pay the invoice (billing is done thru a third party, so there is a small card processing fee), you will be emailed copies of the documents in .pdf form.  The charges are the same per page as above.

The staff will not do a search based upon surname only or without a year of death.

To find if records exist by surname, you may utilize the book indexing McLean County Probate files from 1831-1946 published by The McLean County Genealogical Society (TMCGS.ORG).  This book is surname indexed and provides Box and Case file numbers used by the Circuit Clerk’s office.  It is easy to check different spellings of names or see if relatives have records in McLean County as well.

You may use information from the book to submit requests to the Circuit Clerk’s office – citing Box No, Case No., Name, Date.  This is easier on staff and also widens the search.

          The book is available thru the online bookstore of TMCGS.ORG for $25.  OR

           You may visit the Genealogy Library at the McLean County Museum of History (200 N. Main Street, Bloomington) where a copy is available.  OR

           You may join TMCGS ($20 for annual membership).  All publications are free to members.  You will be able to download a copy after joining – as well as many other publications on birth, death, marriage, and history.  Join at tmcgs.org.

Illinois Secretary of States IRAD Library in Normal:

Naturalization Records:

TMCGS Research:

       We are happy to help you in your search to find your McLean County ancestors. Please send an email request to mcgs.research@gmail.com    Your request for assistance should include as much information as you have about the person/family for whom you are searching. Do you know the area in McLean County where your ancestor lived?  If so, that would be helpful in conducting a search. Family Group Sheets and/or a link to your ancestry.com tree (if you have one) are also helpful: they help avoid duplication of research and provide guidance in the search for your ancestors, especially where the surname is common in this county.