News from Crawford County
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Neighboring Counties
Clark
Cumberland
Jasper
Lawrence
Richland
Knox Co., IN
Sullivan Co., IN
Vigo Co., IN
ILGenWeb State Folks
State Coordinator:
Sandy Bauer
Asst State Coordinator:
Morgan Johnson
Asst State Coordinator:
Cheryl Rothwell
Local Resources
Addresses:
Crawford County Courthouse
County Clerk's Office
1 Courthouse Square
P.O. Box 602
Robinson, IL 62454
Phone: 618.546.1212
Crawford County Historical Society
408 S. Cross St. (Former Schmidt Clinic)
P.O. Box 554
Robinson, IL 62454
Membership: $20/yr. We do have a small library, however hours are limited. It is suggested if
coming into town to visit the Robinson Library first as it has a very good genealogy room, and then
make an appointment to visit the Historical Society Library. Hours are currently Saturday and Sunday
afternoons 2-4 p.m.
Eastern Illinois Regional Archives Depository
Searchable online databases through the
Illinois State Archives
Booth Library
Eastern Illinois University
600 Lincoln Avenue
Charleston, IL 61920
Phone: 217.581.6093
Hours: M-F (except state holidays) 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
This repository holds:
- Birth and Death from 1877 to 1915
- Marriage records from 1817 to 1916
- A registered copy of any of the above is $2, if certified then $5. IF you for some reason need 5 or more certified copies of the same person, notice I said same person, then the first is $5 and others are $2. IF you need lookups of more than 10 names, they will charge $10 and the price of copy. The dates end at 1915 for the general public. However the library happens to have a copy of the death index from the state starting from 1916 to 1966. More info, including downloadable forms for ordering these records can be obtained from the County Clerk's website
- Taxable Land Lists from 1817 to 1851
- Circuit Court records from 1817 to 1958 from the Clerk of Court's Office.
- The Depository holds the County Recorder's Office records for:
- Deeds from 1817 to 1958
- Military Discharge records from 1919 to 1958
- Plat Records from 1882 to 1957
- Swamp Land Records from 1854 to 1867 - The Sheriffs Office supplied Jail Registers from 1922 to 1960.
- The County Superintendent of Schools Office provided:
- School records from 1916 to 1943
- School Land Sale Records from 1834 to 1852
- Treasurers Statements from 1834 to 1858
- Trustees Minutes from 1866 to 1854 - The Board of County Commissioners Minutes are available from 1816 to 1875.
- Survey Records from 1850 to 1934 came from the Surveyor's Office.
- From the Probate Court comes:
- Appraisement records from 1845 to 1849
- Estate Inventory records from 1911 to 1958
- Probate Dockets from 1849 to 1894
- Probate records from 1849 to 1958
- Will records from 1818 to 1956 - The city of Robinson supplied City Ordinance Records from 1887 to 1913.
- Marriage Licenses can be obtained from Crawford County Courthouse for a cost of $2 per record at P. O. Box 602, Robinson, IL 62454
Robinson Public Library
606 N. Jefferson
Robinson, IL 62454
Phone: 618.544.2917
Hours: M-Th 10 am - 8 pm; Fri 10 am - 5:30 pm; Sat 11 am-5:30 pm
The library staff do not have the time to do research or lookups. Their collection includes newspapers on microfilm
for Crawford and surrounding counties, they are not let out nor are they interlibrary loaned. You may however order
newspapers from the IL State Historical Society. One of these is The Robinson Argus. Another paper, the Constitution,
is one of the oldest continuous newspapers in the state of IL. It is put out by the Robinson Daily News. They take
material out of the Daily and put together the Constitution, with a few other articles, for a weekly. The library
has a wonderful genealogy room full of information for researchers.
Some people feel they need to go to a city in the area where their ancestors lived to do any research. Some go to Palestine. Although many of our early pioneers lived in the Palestine, Hutsonville, Morea, and Flat Rock areas, the research should still be done in Robinson. Hutsonville has a little branch library of the Robinson Library as well as Flat Rock, and Oblong, but there is little if no research material in these places. Palestine has some research material and is willing to help but you will find the same material and a whole lot more at Robinson. If you arrive at Robinson, go to the library first and not the courthouse as the library has a wealth of courthouse records already gleaned by the Genealogy Society.
Division of Vital Records - for birth/death records after 1916
State Dept. of Public Health
605 West Jefferson St.
Springfield, IL 62702
Phone: 217.782.6553
Fax: 217.523.2648
LDS Family History Center
1940 N. Old Hwy 41
Vincennes, Indiana
Phone: 812.882.4022
Hours: T, Th 9 am -1 pm, 4:30 pm -8:30 pm; TempleReady by appointment.
Closed: 1.5 weeks over Christmas & New Years.
Other sites of interest in the county:
Oblong Oil Field Museum
Has large oil field machinery dating from the early 1900s, as well as pictures and miscellaneous items pertaining
to the county's rich oil history.
Hutsonville Historical Society
10953 E. 1825th Ave.
Hutsonville, IL 62433-2005
Maintains a cluster of original log cabins built in the county.
Fife Opera House
Built in the early 1900s, it had a theatre on the second floor and many theatre troops came to entertain
the residents in Palestine.
This page last updated on March 18, 2022.