Our genealogy collection focuses primarily on Edgar County and includes the materials below. To extend our genealogy resources beyond Edgar County, the library also subscribes to two online resources:

HeritageQuest Online includes family and local histories from the United States and Canada, 1790-1930 federal census, and more.  Enter your Paris Public Library barcode to search at home.

Ancestry Library Edition (in-library only) offers the United States census; military records; court, land, and probate records; vital and church records; directories; passenger lists, and more. Similar information is available for the United Kingdom, Canada and some European countries.

On our shelves:

Census Records
Edgar County census (microfilm) – 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930.
Edgar County census (print, indexed) – 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
U.S. census head-of-household index and images, 1790-1930, on HeritageQuest Online

Paris Beacon-News on microfilm   1992 to date; obituaries indexed 2006 to date.
The Story of Paris and Edgar County, six volumes of transcribed items from 1849-1907 issues of the Beacon, indexed by name and subject.

Cemetery record listings* for most of Edgar County’s cemeteries, organized by townships.  A separate countywide index by last name only (no first names) is available. Some Clark County records.  
*Our newest cemetery records are 1982.  For more recent listings, contact Edgar County Genealogy Library.

Death records listing for 1877-1925 (not comprehensive). Illinois Statewide Death Index is online pre-1916 and 1916-1950

Marriage record index for Edgar County, 1823-1914.  Indexed by bride and groom.  Other information such as parents’ names usually included. Basic information (bride/groom, date) online at Illinois Statewide Marriage Index 1763-1900 .

Probate index to records at Edgar County Courthouse 1829-1910.
City Directories beginning with 1892 and continuing sporadically through 2010. (Children’s names included in 1962–1999 listings)
Paris telephone books 1949 to date, some missing years
Paris High School yearbooks since 1910.

County histories for Edgar, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper, Richland, and Clark counties in Illinois and Vigo in Indiana.  Only the Edgar County histories are indexed.
Edgar County plat books and atlases: 1870, 1894, 1910, 1945, 1970, 1979, 1987, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2005

Family histories and histories of some local churches, businesses, and communities

Military:  Civil War Soldiers from Edgar County; So Proudly We Hail (reproduced clippings about local WWII servicemen and women); index to discharge records; A History of Aviation and Aviators in Edgar County, Illinois 1911-2006.

Donations of family histories with an Edgar County connection are welcomed.

Questions?  Contact us.
See also Edgar County Genealogy Library and other public libraries in the county:  Chrisman Public Library and Kansas Community Library