Welcome!

Macoupin County ILGenWeb is a free genealogical site about the history of the county. We hope you find helpful clues for your research of ancestors and relatives of Macoupin county.

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This site is dedicated in honor of Gloria Frazier, deceased 11 Jun 2019, for her many years of dedication to Macoupin County genealogy and the ILGenWeb Project.

Please consider contributing your pieces of Macoupin county family history. Corrections, updates, and additions to this site are always welcome. Our combined efforts can keep this a great site for all who visit!

Co-Coordinator: Julie Close close.julie@icloud.com

Co-Coordinator: Norma Hass normahass01@gmail.com

SITE CONTENTS

• Bible Records
• Bibliography
• Biographies
• Births
• Cemeteries
• Census
• Churches
• Deaths
• Families

• Histories
• Land and Deeds
• Lookups
• Maps
• Marriages
• Military
• Mining/Coal Mines
• Naturalization
• Newspapers

• Obituaries
• Penny Postcards
• Photo Mysteries
• Physician Registrations
• Places
• Prairie Farmers Directory
• Probate
• Queries
• Railroads

• Resources
  
• Schools
• Taxes
• Tips
• Townships
• Volunteer Hall of Fame
• War Veterans
• Widows Pension Files
• Wills

COUNTY FORMATION

Macoupin County became the 50th county in Illinois on January 17, 1829. This new county's boundaries were carved from areas of Greene and Madison counties, and the boundaries have remained unchanged.

It was named after Macoupin Creek. The Indian word macopine translates to English as white potato or white yam. A macopine is a large, poisonous root, which loses its poisonous quality after roasting over a slow fire more than five hours. The women of the Illinois tribes favored the macopine roots. Many of these roots could be found along the Macoupin River.

Carlinville, the county seat of Macoupin County, was named after Senator Thomas Carlin, who in 1829, fought to form Macoupin County from portions of Madison and Greene counties. The fight to form the new county was waged against Peter Cartwright who said that "God has set apart this region as a reservation for geese and ducks."

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