The following excerpt is from Joan Griffis’ column in the August 14, 2011 edition of Commerical-News.
Anyone who has an ancestor who had been living in Illinois prior to 1881 is eligible to apply to the Illinois State Genealogical Society for an Illinois Prairie Pioneer Certificate attesting to that distinction. The Prairie Pioneer Project has been one of that society’s popular projects, and there have been more than 3,500 persons who have been certified as prairie pioneers since 1982, when the first pioneer was recognized. Three categories of certificates are issued to descendants of pioneers who resided in Illinois: (1) prior to statehood; (2) 1819-1850; and (3) 1851-1880.
ISGS has published two volumes of data pertaining to the first 2,830 applications, but the complete files usually contain much more information than the published abstracts. Because documentation must be provided, along with each application, the file on each individual varies. Some files are quite lengthy and may contain photographs, certificates, and other papers about the pioneers and their descendants.
Check out the alphabetical index to 3,799 Prairie Pioneer Certificate Records currently posted at the Illinois State Genealogical Society website.
