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Contact Me! – Home Select Page Will County Illinois Genealogy What’s New? Biography of Oren W. Arnold of Joliet, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios | 0 Comments Oren W. ARNOLD, groceries and provisions, Joliet; firm of Arnold & Bowen; born in Orleans Co., N.Y., July 12, 1835, where he attended school until 10 years of age; he emigrated with his parents to Joliet in the winter of 1845; in the spring following, he removed... Biography of James R. Ashley of Joliet, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios | 0 Comments James R. ASHLEY, Secretary Joliet Wire Fence Co., Joliet; was born in Lewis Co., N. Y., in February, 1825; in 1837, his father came West with his family and settled in Plainfield, Will Co., Ill. He was a minister in the Baptist Church: and labored many years for the... Biography of Morgan Ashley of Lockport, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios | 0 Comments Morgan ASHLEY, farmer; P. O. Lockport; was born in Lewis Co., N. Y., Jan. 29, 1818; at the age of 17, he left the East and came West to Illinois, settling in Plainfield; here he remained two years, and then moved north of the village one mile, to a farm, remaining six... Biography of J. B. Austin of Gooding’s Grove, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios | 0 Comments J. B. AUSTIN, farmer, Sec. 11; Gooding's Grove, P. O.; was born in Ontario Co., N.Y., July 4, 1824; he lived with his parents up to the age of 14, when he came with his uncle, Ira AUSTIN, to this county in 1838, who settled near Gooding's Grove P. O., and lived with... Biography of E. D. Avery of Joliet, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios | 0 Comments E.D. AVERY, attorney at law, Joliet (firm of Fithian & Avery); was born in Oneida Co., N.Y., Feb. 2, 1846; the following year, 1847, his parents removed to Illinois, settling on a farm in Lisbon, Kendall Co.; his father is a well-known fruit-grower and nurseryman... https://www.frankfortlibrary.org/research/genealogy/obitindex/Welcome to the If you have access to any genealogical and/or historical information regarding Will County, own or have access to reference books to do look-ups, or have information to post to this site, your submission would be appreciated. – Any public domain material: birth records, death records, cemetery listings, early settlers, family histories, military records, obituaries, old newspaper articles, town histories, photos, etc., would be appreciated. Our Purpose These pages are a part of the ILGenWeb Project. They provide a resource for genealogists searching in Will County, Illinois. You can post queries about surnames you are researching, see who else might be researching the same names as yourself, ask volunteers to do reference look-ups, volunteer to do reference look-ups, and get information on searching in Will County. My name is Dennis Partridge, and I am currently the host of Will County, you can contact me here , if you have any questions. I do not live in Will County, nor Illinois, but I will attempt to answer your research questions or point you in the direction of somebody who can. Will County now has local representation… actually, we got several in the form of the Will Grundy Genealogical Society ! They will be assisting me by providing more direct answers in response to questions, comments and queries concerning your research in Will County. About the County Elks Parade August 17 1909 Joliet Illinois Will County is located in northeastern Illinois, south of Cook County. The county seat is in Joliet, Illinois which is located approximately 40 miles southwest of Chicago on the Des Plaines River. The county received its name from Dr. Conrad Will, a member of the first Constitutional Convention and a member of the Illinois Legislature until his death in 1835. In the year 1836, January 12th, Will County was formed from Cook County and Iroquois County and included besides its present area, the part of Kankakee County, Illinois lying north of the Kankakee River. Will County lost a small area when Kankakee County, Illinois was organized in 1852, but since then its boundaries have been unchanged. It is divided into 24 townships: Channahon, Crete, Custer, Du Page, Florence, Frankfort, Green Garden, Homer, Jackson, Joliet, Lockport, Manhattan, Monee, New Lenox, Peotone, Plainfield, Reed, Troy, Washington, Wesley, Wheatland, Will, Wilmington, and Wilton. From the 1854 US Gazetteer WILL, a county in the E. N. E. part of Illinois, bordering on Indiana, has an area of 1236 square miles. It is intersected by the Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers, branches of the Illinois. The surface is generally level, and destitute of timber, excepting small groves. The soil is very fertile, and much of it is under cultivation. The soil of the prairies is a deep, sandy loam, adapted to Indian corn and grass. In 1850 the county produced 527,903 bushels of Indian corn; 230,885 of wheat; 334,360 of oats; 32,043 tons of hay, and 319,054 pounds of butter. It contained 14 churches, 3 newspaper offices; 3472 pupils attending public schools, and 200 attending other schools. Quarries of building stone are worked near the county seat. The Des Plaines river furnishes water-power. The county is intersected by the Illinois and Michigan canal, by the Chicago branch of the Central railroad, the Chicago and Mississippi, and by the Chicago and Rock Island railroad. Named in honor of Conrad Will, for many years a member of the Illinois legislature. Capital, Joliet. Population, 16,703. Will County Genealogy Biographies Cemeteries Census Coal Mining Court Records Families – Family Group Sheets History – Churches, Cities/Towns, Newspapers, Photos, Schools Along Old Sauk Trail Churches Cities/Towns History of Will County, Illinois, 1878 Monee Township Newspapers Past & Present of Will County, 1907 Photographs Reed Township Schools ca 1906 Results of Examination of Will County Seventh and Eighth Grade Pupils The History of Joliet Series , by John Whiteside, The Herald News Land Links Maps Military Search NARA Obituaries Frankfort Public Library Obituary Index The database currently holds over 5,000 records. They are working towards finishing the indexing of their historical newspapers while the Frankfort Area Historical Society is actively entering more records to reflect more recent deaths. WWII Records for Will County Resources/Research Tools – Queries/Mailing List Vital Records includes obits USGenWeb Archives Will-Grundy Genealogical Society ILGenWeb Statewide Projects ILGenWeb Adoptable Counties Search USGenWeb Illinois Archives Project Be sure to visit our neighboring counties: Cook DuPage Grundy Kane Kankakee Kendall Lake Co IN The USGenWeb Project has grown into a national volunteer effort providing a website for each county in the US. – This project began in 1996 in Kentucky and continues to grow daily. – Volunteers coordinate the collection of materials and oversee the contents of their county pages.- The Will County IL page is affiliated with the ILGenWeb Project and the USGenWeb Project. Special thanks to former Will County Coordinators: Ted Cash, 1998-2007; Deb Vieau Haines 2007-2014 Last Update: Jun 25, 2019 @ 5:02 pm EST Will County Coordinator : Dennis Partridge Local Representation: Will Grundy Genealogical Society Search for: Affiliations Subscribe to Will County Enter your email address to subscribe to this website and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 57 other subscribers Email Address Subscribe Recent Posts Biography of Oren W. Arnold of Joliet, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios Biography of James R. Ashley of Joliet, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios Biography of Morgan Ashley of Lockport, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios Biography of J. B. Austin of Gooding’s Grove, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios Biography of E. D. Avery of Joliet, Illinois May 8, 2018 | Bios Recent Comments Ford heights April 5, 2020 on History of Crete Illinois Paula M Scheiwe March 16, 2020 on History of Crete Illinois Paula M Scheiwe January 13, 2020 on Extractions from the Churchbook of the German United Evangelical Zion Church Lin...