Past listings from Local News from the Past.
Index to Local Newspapers
We have started a general index to the Mundelein Review and the Mundelein News, starting in 1999. Check our News Indexing project page for more information.
We started an index to the notices of births, engagements, weddings and deaths that appear in the Mundelein News and the Mundelein Review back in 1998. For more information, go to Local Newspapers - Vital Records.
We have some materials that relate to the history of the village of Mundelein and Fremont Township.
Other Local Newspaper Information
Local newspapers on microfilm:
The Lake County Independent / The Independent Register 1894 - 1987
The Mundelein Herald 1971 - March 1984
The News-Sun 1987 - present
There is no index to the Independent Register. There is now an index to vital records in the Mundelein Herald. See our Vital Records page for more information.
Some local libraries have a limited index to the News-Sun, but we do not. In the long range, we hope to find volunteers to index these papers for at least births, marriages and deaths, but for now patience will be required.
We will do some limited searching for out-of-area patrons, as time allows. If, for instance, you needed the copy of a birth announcement from the Independent Register, you would need to provide us with a reasonable range of dates to search and a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Be advised that it may be several weeks before you hear back from us.
Fremont Township Office
The Fremont Township Clerk's office has the Township board meeting minutes back to 1850. They have listings of people registered to vote in 1868, 1870, 1871 and 1873. They also have a list of people who voted in the election of 1897.
Voters' Registration List from 1868
People who Voted in Election of 1868
People who Voted in Election of 1897
To ask about records held by Fremont Township, contact:
Fremont Township Offices
22376 Erhart Road
Mundelein, IL 60060
Phone: (847) 223-2847 Fax: (847) 223-2858
Fremont Township Landowners
The Library owns a map of landowners in Fremont township in the 1830's. The Fremont Township Office owns a map that shows land owners in Lake County in 1861. We have transcribed the names of Fremont Township landowners from both maps.
Landowners in the 1830's
Landowners in 1861
Fremont Tax List, 1901
Fremont Tax List, 1904
Fremont Tax List, 1907
Lake County Court House
The Lake County Clerk's Office has the following vital records:
Marriage Licenses - back to 1839
Birth Records - back to 1871
Death Records - back to 1877
For current fees and restrictions on requests for vital records,
contact the clerk's office at (847) 360-6630, or visit their web site .
Before March 1, 1839, the area now comprising Lake County belonged to a bewildering number of government bodies. To see the changes in Illinois county borders, go to Illinois County Boundaries - 1790 - Present at the IL GenWeb Project site.
Records of wills and probates are kept by Clerk of the Circuit Court . These records go back to the 1830's. Indexes of the wills are kept at the probate desk at the Circuit Court office. Photocopying fees for wills are (as of March 5, 1999) $2 for the first page and $0.50 for every subsequent page. Contact the Circuit Court for more information on how to obtain these records. Their address is:
Clerk of the Circuit Court
Sally D. Coffelt
Lake County Courthouse
18 North County Street
Waukegan, IL 60085
Phone: (847) 360-6680
Calls From the Past
Click here to look at local phone books from our collection.
Local History Resources
Census Microfilm at the Library
U.S. Census microfilm: We own the reels that include Fremont Township.
We have the following years:
1820|1830|1840|1850|1860|1870|1880|1900|1920|1930
For more information on genealogy in Lake County, try the Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society website.
Historical Society of Fort Hill Country
601 East Noel Drive
P.O. Box 582
Mundelein, IL 60060
Phone: 566-7743
Hours: 1:00 to 4:00p.m. Saturdays
Closed January and February
Former Mundelein Soo Line depot converted into a museum. Exhibits feature railroad memorabilia, pioneer tools, business machines, quilts, 1774 flint-lock gun, war uniforms and weapons and Diamond Lake artifacts. 1890 caboose on site.
Lake County Discovery Museum
27277 N Forest Preserve Rd
Wauconda, IL 60084 (website)
Phone: 847-968-3400
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
The museum features hands-on interactive exhibits about the history of Lake County, in addition to special exhibits on various topics including art, science, and history. It is also home to the largest permanent exhibition on the history and significance of postcards.