For those of you who are near LDS family history centers, you will be interested to know that the FHL in Salt Lake City has microfilmed (or at least has microfilms) of two county histories of Logan Co. While county histories are not to be relied on very heavily, when records have been destroyed, as in Logan Co., county histories may be one of the few sources of family information for researchers. I was told, perhaps mistakenly, that many of the early deeds of Logan Co. had been destroyed. I needed to know more about a man named Christopher Ewing, who with his wife Margaret nee Williams, showed up in a deed in Henderson Co., KY. Others involved in this deed were other residents of Logan Co., IL: Joseph Orendorff and his wife Elizabeth, and a Mr. McGraw and his wife Mary. They were all heirs, with differing shares, of one David Stephens, deceased of Henderson Co. KY. A county history of Logan Co. told me a lot about Christopher Ewing, an early settler of Logan Co. He had had three wives (he seemed to like to talk a lot), the first of whom was a Margaret Williams, who was born in Kentucky!!!! Bingo--this information seems to fit the family history I have of my great-grandfather's family--who were on the move in Kentucky and who did not leave much of a paper trail!!! Christopher Ewing was mentioned in at least two surviving letters to my great-grandfather--our only grasp of his own family history. One letter mentioned Henderson and gave some names of some residents in that Kentucky county. Anyway--back to the Logan county histories: One is by Stringer, and one is by Donnelley [spelling may be wrong] Suggestion: Get online with www.familysearch.org Click on the link to the Library--for some reason, I prefer the link on the lower right Find the PLACE search Type in logan and then illinois leave out the suffix county Go down the list of topics until you get to History Click on this Then click on the link for each history--if there is a notation that there are films click on film notes You can order one (at a time, please--as they are BIG/LONG) of the histories to your nearby FHC--the film, that is--not the actual book. No lending library at the FHL in SLC. It has been so long since I have read (not entirely) either of these histories and I cannot remember whether they are indexed. Look around at the description to determine whether there is an index. Incidentally, some years ago I was visiting a relative in Austin, TX and since both worked, I drove down to the Texas State Library. There (I believe it was there) I found a hard copy (a book) of the Donnelly history at the Library. Try the online catalog of any university near you and also the catalog of your own State library. One never knows what is lurking on those shelves. Genealogists have to be persistent and they have to be detectives. The internet is helpful, but it seldom is going to give you all you WANT to know. Happy hunting! I hope this information helps someone. By the way, some persons may be listed in Sangamon Co. IL county histories. So look for those, also. I found a wonderful biography in a Sangamon county history of Alfred Orendorff, whose parents had lived in Logan Co.. His bio gave me lots of information on his mother, the former Elizabeth Stephens of Kentucky!!! He became a well-known attorney and, I believe, the first President of the Illinois Historical Society. And he was a first cousin to my great-grandfather, who had been born in Kentucky but migrated to Mississippi and then to Texas. E.W.Wallace

Just for the record there is a listing of all the Logan County research materials at the LDS library done by the late Penny Husler. The link is on the main page of the Logan County web site -- Logan County Printed Resources. If you are doing serious research I suggest printing it out for future reference. Early deeds HELD AT THE COURTHOUSE were destroyed. Many people had their copies which have survived. Also, I am advised that after the fire [April 15, 1857] county officials asked people to bring in their deeds and such and copies were made for the files. Deeds also show up in abstracts. Property information may be found in wills. For property purchased from the federal government that was done out of the Springfield office from 1823 on. From 1816 until 1823 it was done out of the Edwardsville office. I don't know how much land was actually purchased in Logan County before 1823. There were settlers but those I am aware of it didn't actually own the land until later. The federal land purchase database is again off line by court order but the Illinois version thereof is still online at the State Archives web site. Be advised the state version differs from the federal version and should be verified. Cheryl Rothwell [email protected] Logan County ILGenWeb www.rootsweb.com/~illogan Central IL Regional Coordinator, ILGenWeb Clark, Downing, Harding, Lucas, et al --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.642 / Virus Database: 410 - Release Date: 3/24/2004