Ken Staaf, Recorder of Deeds
Winnebago County Administration
Bldg.
404 Elm Street, Room 405
Rockford, IL 61101
Phone: (815) 987-3100
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday - Friday
Land Records, 1836 ... [Also see DeKalb, IL - Regional History Center - IRAD]
- The staff of the Recorder's office cannot do work for you.
They are available for general information only.
- Some of the oldest records, which are on microfilm, may
be difficult to read.
- There are separate grantor and grantee indexes.
- Copies are $.15 per page.
- Also check Illinois Public Land Sales below
Military
Discharge Registers, WWI+
- Only copies returned by the soldiers are available. It
was up to the individual to file.
- Registers are open for research.
- Some incomplete indexes are available.
- No charge for a copy.
Illinois Public Land Sales Link (Public
Domain Land Sales Archive)
Land Sale Research How To (Use back button to
return)
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Helpful
Genealogy Hints for using Land Records:
- The grantee is the buyer.
- The grantor is the seller.
- Indexes show names, dates, deed book, page, and sometimes
a land description. Using the information from the index,
one next searches the volumes of deeds that need to be
studied.
Genealogical information one might find:
- First grantee (buying) record might give the buyer's
former place of residence (county, state).
- Lasts grantor (selling) record might show where the
seller had moved to.
- The land might be identified as having belonged to the
man's father, or even his grandfather, and tell how it
had come into the man's possession.
- Witnesses were often relatives or close neighbors (although
the deed does not give the relationship).
- A "Deed of Gift" usually gives the relationship
between the two parties (usually father to child, often
father to daughter).
- Some deeds are divisions of property of a person who died
without a will and give the whole family relationship.
Check especially deeds marked "et al" (and
others) in the index as these are often family groups.
- Deeds give land descriptions that locate the exact area
of the county where the family lived. This is essential
information in coping with boundary changes and in
finding where records were kept.
- Deeds help to sort out all the "Smith" families
in one county. They help to show life spans.
- Deeds had (and still have) to be acknowledged by the
seller and his wife. (It is very rare that this was
waived.) Unless they gave power of attorney to someone
else, they had to appear at the Courthouse. The
acknowledgement usually appears just below the deed in
the deed book. The acknowledgement proves: * The first
name of the grantor's wife. * That the grantor (and his
wife) were alive and appeared, in a certain place on a
specific date.
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[Winnebago County] [USGenWeb] [ILGenWeb]
Katy
Hestand
Coordiantor
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This page created by Cecelia Yeruski for the
ILGenWeb Project.
Last updated:
Sunday, 07-Sep-2008 1:23 PM
Winnebago County Recorder of
Deeds