ILLINOIS STATE ARCHIVES

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Livingston County

Established
February 27, 1837 (Laws, 1837, p. 33)

Origin of the name of the county
Named for Edward Livingston, a lawyer and statesman, Mayor of the City of New York, Representative in Congress from New York and later from Louisiana, United States Senator from Louisiana, Secretary of State under Jackson, and United States Minister to France.

Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
1831–1837 — LaSalle
1831–1837 — McLean
1826–1837 — Vermilion
1827–1831 — Tazewell
1821–1827 — Fayette
1823–1826 — Edgar
1819–1823 — Clark
1816–1819 — Crawford
1815–1816 — Edwards
1812–1815 — Madison
1801–1812 — St. Clair
1790–1801 — Knox, Northwest Territory

County Seats
1837–   — Pontiac

History of county governing board
1837–1849 — County Commissioners’ Court
1849–1858 — County Court
1858–   — County Board of Supervisors

Township Government
Adopted — November 3, 1857

Township Names
Amity
Avoca
Belle Prairie
Broughton — Name changed from Broughtonville on October 3, 1860.
Charlotte — Formed from Saunemin in 1865.
Chatsworth — Name changed from Olivers Grove on October 11, 1859.
Dwight
Eppards Point
Esmen
Fayette — Formed from Belle Prairie on February 22, 1870.
Forrest — Formed from Chatsworth as Forrestville in 1861; renamed Forrest in 1865.
Germanville — Formed as Germantown from Chatsworth in September, 1868; name changed to Germanville on July 22, 1879.
Indian Grove — Name changed from Worth on May 11, 1858.
Long Point — Nebraska
Nevada
Newtown
Odell
Owego
Pike
Pleasant Ridge — Formed from Saunemin in April, 1859.
Pontiac
Reading
Rooks Creek
Round Grove
Saunemin
Sullivan — Formed from Saunemin in 1863.
Sunbury
Union — Formed from Odell in 1864.
Waldo — Formed as Kansas from Nebraska on September 12, 1860; the name was changed to Waldo because of a name conflict with a township in another county.

Township Map

Pertinent Databases
Federal Township Plats of Illinois
Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database
Illinois Statewide Death Index, 1916–1950
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
Livingston County Probate Case Files Index (1837–1958)
Local Governmental Records Database
Name Index to Illinois Local Governments