Exploring the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin: Part I

A couple of weeks ago I was searching microfilm indexes at the Circuit Court Archives looking for a divorce entry and I came on some pages that I found close to impossible to read. The writing was small and faded and I had to give up. Unfortunately, I didn't find the divorce in any of the other years I looked at and so the search is hanging.

And soon after, I met a Family History Center patron who has been unable to find a naturalization petition for his grandfather. It's possible the process was never completed but the researcher isn't ready to give up.

In both cases I wondered if there might be an alternate way to search for court records, and the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin came to mind as a possibility. I learned, some time ago, that it's a good way to search for adoptions (see this post and I wondered if it might be a good tool to use to search for divorces and naturalization records, too.

I was able to find one copy of the Bulletin online at Google Books. It's from 1881.

I haven't looked at earlier or later volumes and so I don't know if this one is representative of all of the volumes or just those published in the 1880s, but I'm guessing the information is similar.

So, what's in it?

The first page includes the upcoming day's calendar for the following courts:

Superior
Circuit
Appellate
County

The District Court is also mentioned later in the volume.

The calendar is followed by lists of cases arranged by court. Headings include

New Suits
Judgments
Miscellaneous Orders

And there are specific mentions of bankruptcy, chattel mortgages (deferred payments on furniture and musical instruments), bills of sale, and trust deeds, mortgages, general assignments. I even stumbled on an adoption in the County Court.

Petn of W B Engel et al to adopt child

Divorce cases are listed and the entries could serve as an alternate index. Here ar some example entries:

37111 Linns B Bentley v Lucy Bentley. Bill for divorce. H F Vallette solr.

36995 Meiter v Meiter. Ord for deft to pay $50 solrs fees and $8 per mo alimony.

I believe the number in front of the entry could be used to order the file in from the warehouse at the Circuit Court Archives.

Unfortunately, it's hard to tell if naturalizations were routinely listed. I searched using variations of "petition" and "naturalization" and came up empty handed except for five entries to restore records.

38163 Petn of D H Schwahn to restore record of naturalization

I'm curious to know what these cases were about and I will try ordering in a file the next time I go downtown. I'll also try to find an index entry for an 1881 naturalization so that I can see if mention of it appears.

Watch for "Exploring the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Part II." And in the meantime, if you have a few minutes, you might want to explore the Bulletin on your own. If you find something interesting, please post a comment.

Illinois Statewide Deaths Indexed a FamilySearch

FamilySearch's Record Search continues to grow and yesterday (August 13) a new series was added. The title is Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947 and the description reads "Name index of deaths and stillbirths in Illinois, 1916-1947. Includes records for Cook County and Chicago." The corresponding images don't seem to be online but the index provides a wealth of information (if listed on the record) including birth date and place, parent names and birth places, spouse name, burial date and place, and occupation.

If you want a copy of the actual record I will continue to offer access to the Chicago records (and some Cook) unless they go online for free and you can get the statewide death records from Molly Kennedy. (See "Lookups Available")

You can also order the films through any Family History Center. The cost is $5.50 + any notification fee a center might add and the reels usually arrive in about 2-4 weeks depending how often a center orders and whether or not a film is on backorder.

If you find a Chicago/Cook record, 1916-1922 listed in the statewide index, you should check FamilySearch's Illinois death certificates and stillbirths, including Chicago, 1946-1947 to see if the image is available there. Between 1916 and 1922 there should be some overlap in the two databases. Note the subtle differences between two entries for the same death.

Collection: Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947 Note: Image not online Name: Thomas A. Bielby Titles and Terms (original): Death Date: 21 Aug 1916 Death Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois Gender: Male Marital Status: Race or Color: Age: 42 Estimated Birth Year: 1874 Birth Date: Birthplace: Chicago, Ill Father: Thomas W. Bielby Father's Titles and Terms (original): Father's Birth Place: New York Mother: Catherine Reordan Mother's Titles and Terms (original): Mother's Birth Place: Ireland Occupation: switchman Residence: Chicago, Cook, Illinois Street Address: Spouse: Spouse's Titles and Terms (original): Spouse's Birthplace: Burial Date: 24 Aug 1916 Burial Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois Cemetery: ... Informant: Additional Relatives: Digital Folder Number: 4152370 Image Number: 1603 Film Number: 1852282 Volume/Page/Certificate Number: 24078

Collection: Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1922 Note: Image online Name: Thomas A. Bielby Titles & Terms: Death Date: 21 Aug 1916 Death Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois Gender: Male Race (Original): W. Race (Standardized): White Death Age: 42y 6m Estimated Birth Year: 1874 Birth Date: Birthplace: Chgo., Ill. Marital Status: Spouse: Spouse's Titles & Terms: Father: Thomas W. Bielby Father's Titles & Terms: Father's Birthplace: New York Mother: Catherine Riordan Mother's Titles & Terms: Mother's Birthplace: Ireland Occupation: Switchman Street Address: 346 N. Lockwood Ave. Residence: Cemetery: Lyonsville Cem. Burial Place: Burial Date: 24 Aug 1916 Funeral Home: Informant: Additional Relatives: Film Number: 1276305 Digital Folder Number: 4004836 Image Number: 690 Reference Number: cn 24078

Census Search: City Directory Approach

Recently, I wanted to find a family in the 1900 census. I was told that they lived at 708 Melrose from 1896-1903 and so, theoretically, they should have been enumerated at that address. (I double-checked the 1896 and 1901 city directories and that was the address given.) Unfortunately, a name search of the 1900 census yielded no match.

It's possible to the maps at A Look at Cook to determine the enumeration district in order to page through a census, but it's also possible to use a neighbors approach now that the Chicago city directories are online and searchable at Footnote.com.

In this case, I searched the 1901 directory by address (708 Melrose, 706 Melrose, etc.) looking for a name that I thought would easily appear in the census index at Ancestry.com. (Note: It's important to put the search terms in quotes, e.g., "704 Melrose") Carl Schmidt at 706 Melrose was a possibility but the name was too common. Eventually, I found Richard E. Pause at 702 Melrose and I was able to easily locate him in the census. Scrolling down the page, the entries jumped from 704 to 710 making it appear that 706 and 708 were skipped.

I followed a similar approach to locate the odd numbers for the same street thinking that perhaps the entries were made out of order. This page shows 707, 709, and 711.

I'm thinking it's possible that the families living at 708 Melrose were, indeed, skipped, but why? I notice in the 1900 city directory that there's a business listing for Bruno Rohden (stove repairs) at 708 Melrose. Is it possible that 708 Melrose was a storefront and that the enumerator didn't check to see if anyone was residing at that address?

What do you think?

Researching Polish Ancestors? New Translation Guide Available

I've volunteered at the Wilmette Family History Center for a number of years and one of the perks in serving there is the chance to meet many talented and downright-pleasant-to-get-to-know researchers. Judith Frazin is one of them. She's the author of A Translation Guide to 19th-Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents
(including Birth, Marriage and Death Records) and the newest edition of the book recently won her an achievement award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.

If you are researching Polish ancestors, as many people who have Chicago roots are, take some time to explore this book!

Sample pages including table of contents

Check WorldCat to see if there's a copy available at a library near you. (The Wilmette FHC has one, if you're in the area.) If not, you can order it through the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois website.

One Person, Two Death Records

This is one of those not-sure-what-it's-worth-but-it's-fun-to-ponder posts.

I was searching for a death record online at FamilySearch.org's Record Search and I happened on two death records for the same individual.

WACHOWSKI, ADAM 1908-07-16 CHICAGO 06 MO U 00019664

I wasn't surprised. I knew that from 1908-1915 there are two sets of records for Chicago--but I had never really compared certificates from both sets before.



I believe the first record, the one with hurried handwriting stamped with numbers and a date, is the original, and the handwritten number in the top right corner is the certificate number--the one you find in the online index--and that's how those records are arranged.



I think the second record is a copy of the original probably made at the Cook County Clerk's Office. Notice that it has a different number in the top right corner--a register number--and that's the way those certificates are organized.

Things to notice . . .

The original certificate has the register number written on it in two places. The two records are connected.

The information on both records seems to be exactly the same.

The original record seems to have been torn from a book of records. The duplicate seems to be part of a book.

Things to wonder . . .

What does the number "33717" on the original certificate mean?

What does "See Book of Corrections Letter W Page 364 Line 17 (Bessie Wachowski)" mean? On later records I've seen certificates of correction. What is it about this record that's wrong? Or do these records reflect a correction? Is information from the Book of Corrections available from the county clerk's office?

Was Bessie Adam's mother?

The cause of death has the number "105" written next to it. Was that a code for "gastroenteritis" and/or "malnutrition?" I think the answer to that is yes--gastroenteritis. Take a look at a record with the same cause of death and same code. And notice that the cause of death code doesn't appear on the copied record. Who put that code on? Who kept track of that information? What was done with it?



What discoveries have you made about the death records at FamilySearch's Record Search? Feel free to post a comment and share.

Fife Major's Tunes

Fourth of July and I was looking for something to play on the fiddle to celebrate the occasion when I remembered that my husband's ancestor, Benjamin Swetland, a Revolutionary War fife major, had jotted down a couple of tunes in a notebook which was handed down through a number of generations and then, apparently, donated to the Chicago Historical Society.

A facsimile of the notebook page appears in Chapter Sketches By Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution (see Google Books).

The first tune "God Save the Congress" is the tune that we know as "My Country 'Tis of Thee." But I can't read the title of the second one and I don't recognize the tune when I try to play it.

Can anyone help? Can you read the title? Do you know the tune?

Picasa for Family History Documents

I'm a fan of Picasa, a photo editing program that's available for free download from Google, and I mostly use it for organizing, tweaking, and sharing scans of genealogical documents.

A Picasa tutorial is beyond the scope of a short blog post, but I thought it would be useful for me share a list of the features I find particularly helpful with some simple directions on how to use them.

ORGANIZING


Select Images to Appear: You can decide which images appear in Picasa by selecting folders under "Tools" then "Folder Manager."

Organize Images: Move images from folder to folder by dragging and dropping. You can also rearrange images within a folder using the same approach.

Rename an Image: Click on an image to select it, then hit F2. Type the new image name in the pop-up box.

Rename Multiple Images: Select multiple images (holding down Ctrl lets you do that) and then hit F2. Type an image name and the selected images will be renamed in sequential order. For example, decree.jpg, decree1.jpg, decree2.jpg, etc.

TWEAKING


If you open Picasa and double-click on an image and you'll see three tabbed menus appear on the left: Basic Fixes, Tuning, and Effects. These menus are key.

Rotate an Image: Click "Straighten" under the "Basic Fixes" tab; use the sliding bar to rotate the image left or right, then click on "Apply."



Crop an Image: Click "Crop" under the "Basic Fixes" tab; draw a box around the portion of the image you want to save and click "Apply" when done. If you're not happy with how the cropped image turned out, click "Recrop" and try again.





Tweak Brightness and Contrast Automatically: Click "Auto Contrast" under the "Basic Fixes" tab; if you're not happy with the result, just click "Undo Auto Contrast." If Auto Contrast doesn't work, click on the "Tuning" tab. Move the sliding bars to tweak the image.



SHARING

Print an Image: Click on the image(s) you want to print. Click on the "Print" icon at the bottom of the page. Use the resulting menu options to assure that the image will appear on the page the way you want it to.



Upload an Image to a Picasa Web Album: Web albums are a great way to keep, backup and share images. Click on the "Upload" button and follow the instructions. Images will be sent to a folder associated with your gmail address and once they're there you can rearrange them, add captions, and share links to individual images or a folder. It's a convenient way to back up the files and it's a nice way to make sure they're accessible from any place you have Internet access.






Emailing Images: The one thing that hasn't worked well for me is the email option. I find that the documents shrink somewhere along in the process and the resulting images may not be large enough to be read easily. (If anyone has a solution to that problem, please let me know.)

These are just a few ideas but I'd encourage you to explore the program to discover other useful features and if you discover one, please add a comment to this post.