Saline County, Illinois -- Genealogy

Welcome to
Saline Co., Illinois USGenWeb

Established in 1847 from Gallatin County.
Raleigh served as the first county seat before Harrisburg became the current seat of government.

Click on the image to see a larger map

Welcome! My name is Debbie Vietzke and I am the coordinator for the Saline County ILGenWeb site. I am taking over the reigns from Jon Musgrave who will be focusing his other Illinois history projects. Cindy Pegg started this page in 1997 which has developed into a whole site specializing in beautiful Saline County, Illinois. This site is a part of the Illinois Genweb Project which is all a part of the USGenweb Project. The sole purpose of the US Genweb project is to provide as much FREE access to on-line information as possible. If you should have any information that would help others in their research, please consider donating it to the US Genweb project.

Of the 102 counties in Illinois, Saline was the 99th to be formed. Established in 1847 from Gallatin County, Saline got its name from the Saline River. The making of salt from the Salines was a major part of industry for the region. Favorable conditions in Saline County attracted indians to the area. Two tribes were known inhabitants, the Shawnee and the Piankashaw. Just when the white man moved into the area is not known for sure. The first land entry was made in 1814 by John Wren and Hankerson Rude. There were four principal settlements which are considered the first farms opened to cultivation. They belonged to Hankerson Rude, Hampton Pankey, William Crawford and Francis Jordan. Source: Saline County, A Century of History 1847-1947: SCGS

Saline County Illinois has a mailing list for those researching their Saline County Ancestors. To subscribe to the list mode, send an e-mail to ILSALINE-L-request@rootsweb.com or to subscribe in digest mode, send your message to ILSALINE-D-request@rootsweb.com. Put only the word "subscribe"
without the quotes in the message body. We welcome anyone who has an interest in Saline County to join in the mailing list!

The Saline County Genealogical Society meets the third Sunday of every month at 2 p.m. It's research library is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday on the ground floor of Harrisburg's City Hall at 110 E Locust St. Membership dues are $15 a year. If you would like to join the society, please fill out the application and mail to Saline County Genealogical Society, PO Box 4, Harrisburg, IL 62946.

Articles and Letters

Index of Saline County materials in Saga - the quarterly of the Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois.
Letter home from Joseph Tucker, 1827

Biographical Sketches

Books

Saline County Genealogical Society book list (.pdf)
John Tate Family
Commemorating 150 Years of History in Harrisburg, Illinois - Published by The Daily Register in Harrisburg. It's an 8 1/2 x 11 paperback with 89 black and white historic photos. To order call the newspaper at 1-800-283-8117. Cost is $10.75 plus shipping and handling, which according to one source comes to $15.60.
List of Books and Materials in the Gerturde Carr Genealogy & Local History room at the Harrisburg District Library
Handbook of Old Gallatin County and Southeastern Illinois - Published by IllinoisHistory.com. Focuses on Saline's parent county of Gallatin County of which it was a part until 1847. Excellent book if your ancestors arrived before that time.