Featuring The Randolph County Genealogical Society

From time to time, The Backstory Blog will feature regional research facilities and organizations. The Randolph County Genealogical Society was founded in 1990. Their research library in Steeleville, Illinois is open on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and by special appointment. The library is open to the public and its usage is free of charge.  No appointment is needed.

Randolph County, Illinois was organized in 1795 from St. Clair County and the Northwest Territory. Its history is rich and full with the first European settlement at Kaskaskia occurring in 1703. Americans began arriving in the region in the 1770s when it was part of Virginia. The region became part of the Northwest Territory in 1779.  By the county’s formation in 1795, it encompassed most of what later became southwestern Illinois. By 1809, Randolph County encompassed most of what is now deep southern Illinois. In 1812, Gallatin and Johnson Counties were formed from Randolph and enveloped much larger regions than their current boundaries would indicate. From Gallatin and Johnson, additional counties were formed. So - if you have an ancestor who lived in Illinois before statehood in 1818, it is very possible they were in Randolph County at one time! Please remember that when doing genealogical research, one must do consider the evolution of county and state boundaries in order to properly locate appropriate sources.

The research facility of the Randolph County Genealogical Society includes many types of records, including birth, marriage and death certificates, church records, census records from 1807 to 1930 (1940 is being worked on) and a large variety of pictures. They not only feature Randolph County but they have a room of "other counties in Illinois" and a room of "other states.” The Society will answer research requests and sells publications as well. They have almost 100 publications on their publication list currently with two books that will be ready for publication later this year. I noted several with early court records, divorces, and county commissioner’s records which would be helpful to someone with very early Illinois ancestry. The Society meets on the second Monday of each month at 2:00 for the board meeting and the regular meeting follows

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The society library is at 13 Westwood Drive in Steelville. Phone number is 618-965-3705. Information:

E-mail – rcgs1990@frontier.com

Website: https://www.rcgsillinois.org – new website with information being added

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rcgsil.org/