Adoption records Illinois birth around 1875, where to look for free?

Question:

Adoption records Illinois birth around 1875, where to look for free?

Or low costs?

Great grandfather Charles Lewis (also spelled Chas Louis) Whyte (b.17 Oct 1875 Princeton, IL? and d.5 Feb 1932 Mankato, MN) was adopted by Ananias and Sarah Whyte possibly in Bureau County, IL, date unknown. 1880 census shows them living in Iowa and that Chas was an adopted son. This is a complete dead end for me!

I have copies of some of the censuses from 1800 through 1930 for him, unable to find his whereabouts in 1890 & 1895, and I have a copy of his 1918 WW1 registration card. He worked as a switchman and/or conductor for the railroad in Mankato, MN, and his death certificate lists his parents as unknown and that the RR claimed his body for burial arrangements.

Any help greatly appreciated!!! We are having a family reunion in three months and I??d like to get past this obstacle before then!

Additional Details

2 weeks ago
I have census records from 1880, not 1800, LOL, he was supposedly born in 1875.

Thanks for any help!

1 week ago
More info: Charles' dad Ananias died in 1886 in Creston IA, his mother Sarah (nee Penn) died in 1881 in IA. I do have a picture, not a good one, of Charles with one of his brothers and two sisters and all their families. There, to me, does not appear to be any family resemblances. My grandmother is in the picture as a small child.

1 week ago
My grandmother, now 94, recalled her uncle Daniel Whyte b.1860 in PA, d.1928 Denver CO, telling a story of how Ananias just brought Charles home one day like a puppy as a toddler. My Gram thinks she was about 7 when she heard that one. I have been unable to contact any other of the Whyte descendants. Charles was a child when his parents passed away, just 6 with his mother and 11 with his father. I can not find where he went after that, if with a sibling or back onto the streets of IA. The missing censuses are 1890, 1895 and 1900. I do believe I found Charles Whyte with his wife Ella b.1880 in WI (nee Garlick) residing in a Minneapolis boarding house in 1900 but my grandmother swears they never lived there, I do think it may have been them though.

1 week ago
I'm hopeful to make contact with Ananias??s descendants, as I believe the rest them had resided in CO do to the death records I have been able to locate and what family stories I??m able to dig up. I also live in Denver so there might be a chance??but I wonder how willing they would be to speak of this to a complete stranger!

1 week ago
Charles and his wife Ella, my great grandparents, were unable to have children early on and I did find evidence of them adopting at least their first child of 4 while living in MN.

Thanks for the links, I did check with the orphan train sites with no luck. It was doubtful that Charles was a grandson to Ananias and Sarah, as like I early mentioned, there appeared to me to be no family resemblance.

1 week ago
I just looked at the image of the 1880 census for Dodge Township, IA, it does show on it Charles listed as "adopted son" born in IL.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: 2 weeks ago
I have census records from 1880, not 1800, LOL, he was supposedly born in 1875.

Thanks for any help!