Ill.
In a census birthplace column, Ill. is the abbreviation for Illinois.
Ill. is an older abbreviation of Illinois, used long before the two letter postal codes. Census takers were allowed to abbreviate state names in the place of birth column, so abbreviated state names are common in the birthplace column of nineteenth century census pages.
It is not the word ill (sick). In mortality schedules and death records, keep the birthplace column apart from the cause of death column.
As seen in a recordBirthplace column of the 1860 census
Saml. Ward, 9, Ill.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Ill.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/ill. Last checked 2026-10-01.