LaSalle County Genealogy Lookup
LaSalle County genealogy records are spread across the county clerk, the recorder, and a strong local genealogy guild that has built one of the larger volunteer databases in Illinois. The county seat is Ottawa, where most records are filed and stored. You can search for birth, death, marriage, and land records through the county offices or start with the LaSalle County Genealogy Guild's free online database. Older records have been sent to the IRAD at Northern Illinois University. LaSalle County sits in the north-central part of the state and covers a large area, so the record collection here runs wide and deep for anyone tracing family lines through this region.
LaSalle County Genealogy Quick Facts
LaSalle County Clerk Records
The LaSalle County Clerk is at 707 Etna Road, Ottawa, IL 61350. Call 815-434-8201 for questions about vital records. The clerk holds birth, death, and marriage records for LaSalle County. Like most Illinois counties, birth and death records here start around 1877. Marriage records may go back further depending on what survived.
Fees at the LaSalle County Clerk are lower than many counties in the state. In-person genealogy copies cost just $3 each. If you mail in a request, the fee is $9 per search. That gap is worth knowing about. If you can make the trip to Ottawa, you save money and get your records faster. Mail requests take longer and cost three times as much. Send mail requests to the Etna Road address with a check or money order payable to the LaSalle County Clerk. Include the full name, date or year range, and the type of record you need.
Under the Vital Records Act (410 ILCS 535), birth records become open for genealogy use after 75 years. Death records open after 20 years. Marriage records are available for genealogy after 50 years. These thresholds apply to all LaSalle County vital records held by the clerk. Genealogy copies get stamped as uncertified.
| Office | LaSalle County Clerk |
|---|---|
| Address | 707 Etna Road Ottawa, IL 61350 |
| Phone | 815-434-8201 |
| In-Person Fee | $3 per genealogy copy |
| Mail Fee | $9 per search |
LaSalle County Genealogy Guild Database
The LaSalle County Genealogy Guild runs a free online database that is one of the best volunteer resources for this county. Their collection includes over 52,367 marriage records and 37,470 death records. These were indexed by guild volunteers from original LaSalle County files. The database is searchable by name and gives you enough detail to then request the full record from the county clerk.
Starting your LaSalle County genealogy search with the guild database makes sense because it is free and fast. Type in a last name and you can quickly see if your family shows up in the marriage or death indexes. The guild has been active for years and keeps adding records to the collection. It covers a wide date range. Once you find a match, note the date and names. You can then visit the LaSalle County Clerk in Ottawa or send a mail request to get the actual copy. The guild does not issue copies of records. They only provide the index data.
Note: The LaSalle County Genealogy Guild database at lscgg.org is a volunteer project and may not include every record in the county files.
LaSalle County Land Records
The LaSalle County Recorder offers three online search tools for land records. DirectSearch is the free option. Tapestry is a paid service. Laredo is for subscribers. Each tool searches the same pool of LaSalle County land records but with different features and access levels. DirectSearch is a good starting point for genealogy because it costs nothing and lets you look up names and dates. If you need to pull images of old deeds or mortgages, one of the paid tools may be needed.
Land records are strong genealogy tools in LaSalle County. A deed shows who sold and who bought land. It lists the date and the property location. That helps you place your ancestor in LaSalle County at a specific time. Mortgage records add financial details. Together with vital records, land files give you a fuller picture of where your family lived and what they owned. The Local Records Act (50 ILCS 205) protects these records from being destroyed, so the county's land record collection stretches back a long way.
The birth certificate ordering page at dph.illinois.gov shows the state-level process for vital records. This screenshot shows the IDPH ordering page.
If you need a birth record from 1916 or later, the Illinois Department of Public Health can fill that request by mail for $10. IDPH takes about 12 weeks to process genealogy orders. For records before 1916, the LaSalle County Clerk is your only option at the county level.
Searching LaSalle County Genealogy Records
The IRAD depository for LaSalle County is at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. They hold older local government records that have been moved out of the county offices. Research at IRAD is free. Call (815) 753-1807 to ask about LaSalle County holdings. The IRAD holdings database lets you check what has been transferred before you make the trip.
The Illinois State Archives in Springfield also has LaSalle County data in their statewide indexes. Their free online databases include the statewide marriage index from 1763 to 1900, death indexes, and public domain land sale records. These are all free to search from home. If your ancestor bought land from the federal government in LaSalle County, the land sale database will have that transaction.
In-person research at the State Archives is free. You can photograph documents at no charge. Out-of-state researchers who want the Archives staff to search must pay $10 prepaid. The Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140) covers public records access in general, but vital records follow the Vital Records Act instead of FOIA.
Nearby Counties
LaSalle County borders several other counties. If your ancestor lived near the edge of LaSalle County, their records might be filed in a neighboring county instead. Check the counties below if you come up short in LaSalle County.