Place:Randolph, Illinois, United States

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Randolph County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 33,476, which is a decrease of 1.2% from 33,893 in 2000. Its county seat is Chester.

Owing to its role in the state's history, the county motto is "Where Illinois Began."

The county is part of Southern Illinois; it borders the Greater St. Louis area.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Randolph County was organized in 1795 out of a part of St. Clair County. It was named in honor of Edmund Randolph, Governor of Virginia. George Rogers Clark of the army of Virginia captured the area from the British on July 4, 1778, near the end of the Revolutionary War. The area then became, for a brief time, Illinois County, Virginia, although the Congress of the Confederation legislated the existence of the Northwest Territory on July 13, 1787. Edmund Randolph was Governor of Virginia at the time Virginia ceded the Northwest Territory to the United States. In 1809, when Illinois became a separate territory, Territorial Secretary Nathaniel Pope, in his capacity as acting governor, issued a proclamation establishing Randoloph as one of the Illinois' two original counties. The county's boundaries were last changed in 1827, when land was taken to form Perry County.

The Mississippi River has played a prominent role in the county's history, altering its boundaries in 1881 when it severed the isthmus that connected Kaskaskia to the Illinois mainland, destroying the original village of Kaskaskia and forcing its historic cemetery to be relocated across the river to Fort Kaskaskia. Crains Island [1], southeast of Chester, is another enclave of Illinois west of the Mississippi that was created by a change in the river's course.

Timeline

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990

Note: Total for 1800 comprises the populations reported for Randolph and St. Clair Counties, Indiana Territory, plus the population (100) of Opee (Peoria), included with St. Clair County. Total for 1890 includes 1 Indian in prison, not reported by county.

Research Tips

• Outstanding guide to Randolph County family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, censuses, wills, deeds, county histories, cemeteries, churches, naturalizations, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.