If you are unable to research here in person, our Society will gladly research for you. We have several experienced volunteer researchers.
If your ancestor is listed in our Bureau County Master Cemetery Index, we can tell you the cemetery your ancestor is buried in for free. If a gravestone exists, we can tell you what is written on the stone. We also use cemetery caretaker records to determine burials without gravestones. These may be requested by phone or email.
Obituaries will be $3.00 each, if found. Do not send this fee unless we notify you that our search was successful. Please include information you know about this person such as actual or estimated death date, residence and the name of spouse.
If you desire more extensive research, we specialize in our ability to gather that information for you from the many Bureau County records in our collection. (See Our Major Resources.) BCGS volunteers are normally able to search many records in a one-to-three hour period. They photocopy actual records wherever possible and cite the source of each record. You will be pleased to see what they find. Costs are $10.00 per hour for members and $15.00 per hour for non-members plus the cost of copies and postage.
Please submit a check with your request for the number of hours of research you are requesting. Include in your request either the sources you would like searched or the precise information you want us to find. When we send you our research results, we will also inform you if we believe we have additional information on your subject that would benefit you and the estimated hours it would take for us to research further.
We do not take credit card payments. Checks should be made payable to Bureau County Genealogical Society. All of our research fees are used to benefit our research library.
Guides for Requesting Research
- Be specific with your research request.
- Give as much meaningful data as is available about the persons involved. Include approximate dates, locations, names of spouse and children, and any copies of census information you have. It is helpful if this information is on pedigree charts and family group sheets or a time line so our researcher can quickly determine a relationship.
- State which sources you have already used. We do not want to send you information you already have.
- Include your email if you have one. This will allow us to ask you questions to clarify information about your research request if needed.
Send requests to or contact us at:
- Bureau County Genealogical Society, 629 S. Main St., Princeton, IL 61356.
- bureaucounty@gmail.com
- 815-879-3133 during hours we are open (10:00-3:00) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & the 1st Saturday of the month