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Will County

Established
January 12, 1836 (Laws, 1836, p. 262)

Origin of the name of the county
Named for Conrad Will, a pioneer politician, Territorial Recorder of Jackson County, member of the Constitutional Convention of 1818, and member of the General Assemblies of the State from the first to ninth inclusive.

Present area, or parts of it, formerly included in
1831–1836 — Cook
1833–1836 — Iroquois
1826–1836 — Vermilion
1825–1827 — Putnam
1823–1825 — Edgar
1823–1825 — Fulton
1819–1823 — Clark
1821–1823 — Pike
1816–1823 — Crawford
1815–1816 — Edwards
1812–1815 — Madison
1801–1812 — St. Clair
1790–1801 — Knox, Northwest Territory

County Seats
1836–  — Joliet – Name changed from Juliet on May 24, 1845.

History of county governing board
1836–1850 — County Commissioners’ Court
1850–  — County Board of Supervisors

Township Government
Adopted — November 6, 1849

Township Names
Channahon
Crete
Custer — Formed from Reed and Wilmington (date unknown).
DuPage
Florence — Formed from Wilmington (date unknown).
Frankfort
Green Garden — Formed from east half of Trenton (date unknown).
Homer
Jackson
Joliet
Lockport
Manhattan — Formed from west half of Trenton (date unknown).
Monee — Name changed from Carcy (date unknown).
New Lenox — Name changed from Vernon on June 10, 1850.
Peotone — Formed from east half of Wilton (date unknown).
Plainfield
Reed — Name changed from Clinton on June 10, 1850.
Troy
Washington — Formed from Crete and Sherburn (date unknown).
Wesley — Formed from southeast part of Wilmington (date unknown).
Wheatland
Will — Formed from Carcy (now Monee) and Sherburn (date unknown).
Wilmington
Wilton

Notes
Bourbonnais, Momence and Rockville were townships established in 1850, but the area therein became part of Kankakee County when it was formed in 1853.

Sherburn and Trenton were townships established in 1850, but the area therein was absorbed into other townships. See above.

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
Local Governmental Records Database
Name Index to Illinois Local Governments