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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library

Canton, Illinois

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Canton.

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6Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1830 to 1860Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

6,720Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Canton, Illinois.

Discover another side of Canton, Illinois through census records preserved in the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library's digital archive. Its six titles include material from 1830 to 1860.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library shares titles including “5th Census Of The U S 1830” and “Census Hamilton County”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    A census entry offers one dated view of a household. Its recorded details can help you explore a family connection without proving identity from a name alone.

The household details in a census can help connect a family story with a place and time, while the information recorded varies from one census to another. A census entry is one dated view of a household. Use the details it actually records to shape a family-history question, and leave uncertain identities open for further research. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Browse six titles and 6,720 digitized pages, with material from 1830 to 1860. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

A familiar name or place can be the beginning of a story. Explore the titles below to see where that connection leads.

5th Census Of The U S 1830

1,226 pages in 1830

Census Fayette County

388 pages in 1850

Census Franklin County

1,324 pages in 1850

Census Fulton County

3,228 pages from 1840 to 1860

Census Grundy County

162 pages in 1850

Census Hamilton County

392 pages in 1850

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About the Archive

About the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library’s History & Community Archives

The Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library , located at 205 W Chestnut St, Canton, IL 61520, provides free and open access to a wide array of local history and genealogical materials—serving as a valuable resource for researchers, genealogists, students, and community members exploring Canton and Fulton County’s collective heritage. The Library supports discovery of local primary source documents and helps connect people with the stories, places, and events that shaped the region.

Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library photo 1

Local History

Local History & Archival Resources

  • Canton & Fulton County Newspaper Collections — historic newspapers available on microfilm, including extended runs of local press titles dating back to the 1850s, supporting research into community events, businesses, civic life, and daily history.
  • Genealogy & County Records — reference tools such as state census records, local family histories, obituary indexes, and access to databases like HeritageQuest and Heritage Hub for tracing family and demographic histories.
  • Photographs, Maps & Local Documents — local photographs, maps, and community-history files that reflect the historic built environment, people, and activities in Canton and surrounding areas.
  • Reference & Historical Collections — housed in partnership with the Fulton County Historical Society, these unique collections include archival documents, family research materials, and local history reference files that are available for in-library use or circulation.

These archival holdings function as a portal to Canton’s past, enabling researchers and community members alike to engage with original sources and cultural assets, pursue genealogical inquiry, and uncover “history as it happened” in Fulton County.

About the Library

About the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library

Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library is located at 205 West Chestnut Street, Canton, Illinois 61520 and serves a population of approximately 14,700 residents with a collection of over 81,000 volumes and an annual circulation of around 130,000 items. The Library offers public computers, Wi-Fi, interlibrary loan services, e-resources and digital databases (such as America’s News, Peoria Journal Star archives, and national news collections), youth and adult programming, and in-house research support. Library hours are Monday 9 AM–6 PM; Tuesday & Thursday 9 AM–8 PM; Wednesday & Friday 9 AM–6 PM; Saturday 9 AM–1 PM; Sunday closed. Contact: (309) 647-0328.

Library History

The History of the Library & Community Role

Public library service in Canton began in the 1890s through the bequest of William Parlin, Sr., whose estate funded construction of the original Parlin Library building that opened in 1894 under stipulations supporting public use and care. Over decades of community philanthropy and growth, Charles D. and Elizabeth M. Ingersoll’s bequest enabled construction of a modern limestone and granite facility completed in 1958 that now houses the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library.

About the Community

About Canton & Fulton County, Illinois

Canton was founded in 1825 and has played a central role in Fulton County’s development as a hub for commerce, settlement, and community life in west-central Illinois. The area’s history includes agricultural growth, railway expansion, and civic institution building; the Library’s archival collections help document this trajectory while preserving regional memory.

Local History

Did You Know?

  • Local newspapers on microfilm at the Library date back as far as the early 1850s, making them a powerful resource for tracking community patterns, businesses, obituaries, and civic issues over generations.
  • The Parlin family’s original bequest in the 1890s not only established the first public library building in Canton but also helped build its initial collection of books and art prints.
  • The Library partners with statewide and national digital resources such as HeritageQuest and Heritage Hub to support genealogy research extending beyond local materials to U.S. census, probate, and land records.

To explore newspapers, maps, genealogical records, photographs, and archival documents: Visit the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library Digital Archives .

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Read the household with its date

A family-history question about Canton may lead to a household recorded in a particular census year. The census records shared by the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library offer a dated point of comparison; use another available year or source to test a proposed connection. Consider the listed household and place together with the census date. Compare relationships and other recorded details before deciding that a similar name belongs to your family.

When a promising lead runs out, return to the titles and dates shown for the collection, where available. Try another spelling, name, place, or nearby period connected with your question. Keep searches that did not help alongside useful findings; gaps in historical coverage can limit what any search reveals.

As you piece together a story from the past, note where each detail came from and why it matters. Include the title, date, and page or item reference. Mark uncertain identifications and unanswered questions so a promising connection does not become an unsupported fact.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Parlin-Ingersoll Public Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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