Which Chicago Vital Records are Available on FamilySearch?

Visit a Family History Center to access the Chicago and
Cook County vital records. Find your local FHC here.

In the days to come, I'll be exploring the Chicago vital records that are newly available on FamilySearch (to those who visit a family history center or a FamilySearch affiliate library) and, in preparation for that, I felt like I needed to see what was there. So, I made the list that you'll find below. And, if you'd like a copy for reference, you can download/print from here.

Here are a few quick observations:

• All of the birth records on microfilm have been digitized and made available for viewing except for three Cook County birth registers (which in most cases aren't needed anyway).

• Marriage licenses look to be complete, 1871-1941. (Great news, right?!) 

• I was surprised to see the Chicago death certificates, 1916-1945, haven't been made available but I'm thrilled to see the earlier records.

• Now that the coroner's death certificates have been digitized, I would love, love, love to participate in a project to index them. Some of the records on those films are so badly out of order that it's unlikely they could be found without a ridiculous amount of time and effort.

• Indexing has opened up access to some filmed records, like delayed birth certificates, that were previously unindexed and difficult to search. That's great news!

• It appears that 1940/1941 is the cutoff for newly added records that have been digitized from original records. If you discover differently, will you let me know?

• There are numerous indexes to these records, film, fiche, and online, available for these records. Any of them can be used as a starting point, but I think, going forward, I'll start with the FamilySearch indexes first.

If you use Chicago vital records in your research, please check back in a few days. I'll be posting more information about some of the unique record groups--out-of-town death certificates, for example--and I'll add some video tutorials on how to use Family History Library Catalog information to easily access these records.

BIRTHS

*Chicago birth certificates, 1878-1922
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/229686

*Cook County birth certificates, 1878-1894
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/256592

*Cook County birth certificates, 1916-1922
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/258450

*Chicago birth registers, 1871-1915
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/260525

*Registers of births outside of the city [Chicago], 1878-1894
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/290932
[1878-1885; 3 films not yet included]

Chicago, birth records, 1871-1978
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2327154
[Delayed birth certificates, 1917-1940; birth certificates, 1923-1939; birth affidavits, 1920-1926] 

Cook County birth records, 1888-2006
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2296659 
[Birth certificates, 1923-1941; delayed series, 1917-1940; stillbirths, 1928-1942]

*Birth corrections and delayed births, 1916-1918
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/264466 

*Chicago birth corrections and indexes, 1871-1915;
unrelated, actual birth records, 1870s to 1940s
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/263721

MARRIAGES

*Marriage licenses, 1871-1920; index, 1871-1916
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/43803

Cook County marriage records, 1920-1959
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2620697 
[1920-1941]

 DEATHS

*Chicago death certificates, 1878-1915
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/42925

*Chicago death certificates, 1916-1922
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/394759

*Chicago death certificates, 1916-1945
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/628228 
[not available as digital images]

Chicago death records, 1909-1994
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/2305942
[Death certificates, 1921-1938; stillbirths, 1909-1941]

*Cook County death certificates, 1878-1909, 1916-1922
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/88896 

*Coroners death certificates, 1879-1904
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/89876

*Out of town deaths, 1909-1915
https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/280109

INDEXES

Cook County Birth Certificates, 1871-1940
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1462519

Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1463129

Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1462519 

Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1463129

Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1463145

Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1463134

Record groups marked with an asterisk have been digitized from the Family History Library films.

“Illinois” and “Cook County” were removed from titles when unnecessary.

Some Chicago Vital Record Images Online at FHCs

I'm SO excited to share this news! I was searching the FHL catalog this evening, opened the entry for Chicago Death Certificates, 1878-1915, clicked the camera icon, and got a message that the images were only viewable at a family history center or a FamilySearch affiliate library.So, I did what anyone who is married to a family history center director would do. I said, "We need to go take a look!" Sure enough, the images for these records are available online again--just not from home.And so are a LOT of other wonderful Chicago records--early birth certificates and coroner's certificates, to name a few.I'll be blogging about the specifics in the days to come but at quick glance, the strategy for accessing them seems to be to this:1) Find the name in the Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994 index on FamilySearch and note the film number, the digital folder number, and the image number. In this case it's 1030909, 004004149, and 00984. (This works for records at least through 1915. I'll talk about later records in another blog post.)2) Go to the catalog, locate the film number, and click on the camera icon next to it. (One easy way to approach this process is to search for the film number in the catalog, click on the record series title that appears in the search results,  and then scroll down or use Ctrl-F to locate the correct film number.)

3) Make sure the digital folder number matches the "film number" on the top left of the screen. (It's confusing. That "film number" is really the digital folder number.) Then, type the image number in the box and hit return. The certificate you are looking for will appear as a highlighted thumbnail. Click it to enlarge.

(If you have trouble figuring out the images, check the sidebars on my chicagogenealogy.com tutorial pages; they were written with films in mind, but they're applicable to the digital folder images as well. Or just email me from the contact page on the website and I'll happily help you find what you need.)These records are a wonderful resource for Chicago genealogy and I hope they will remain accessible in this way for many years to come. Many thanks to the Cook County and FamilySearch for making them available in this way.

Celebrating FamilySearch's Digital Access: New Blog Post Series

Single microfilm shipment.
I'm going to miss these little boxes!

Yesterday was the final day to order FamilySearch microfilms and I'll have to admit, I felt unsettled. Last chance. Last chance! I kept wondering if there were any films that I was going to really, really wish I could view at my local Family History Center months down the road.

And, you know what? I don't think so.

A couple of weeks ago I scrambled to order a reel with records from Maine because they weren't online. They will have to be read page by page and it's something I don't want to ask anyone to do for me. Yesterday, taking one last look in the Family History Library Catalog to see if I'd missed anything I should order, I noticed the images are now available on FamilySearch.

As much as I love microfilm--and I really do--it's time to embrace the new system.

In celebration of the the end of an era--and the beginning of another--I've decided to write a series of blog posts focusing on the Chicago and Cook County records that are now online. And, I think I'll focus, at least in part, on unique records just waiting to be discovered.

Watch for the first installment this weekend!

IRAD at NEIU: Collections for Chicago Research

I'm an administrator for an active Chicago Genealogy Facebook group and with so many indexes for records online now, one question that's asked over and over is, "How can I get [fill in the name of a record type here]."

Recently, someone asked about a marriage license from 1891 and my first thought was that the record could be obtained from FamilySearch microfilm at the Wilmette Illinois Family History Center or the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It's less expensive than getting records directly from the county, and if a researcher can't go in person, there are plenty of local researchers who offer document retrieval services at those places for a reasonable fee.

But then I remembered there's another great option for getting early Cook County marriage licenses that is likely often overlooked--the Illinois Regional Archives Depository at Northeastern Illinois University, better known as IRAD at NEIU.

Their holdings include Cook County marriage licenses, 1871-1915, and here's the good news! They will take requests by mail or phone. When I last used their service, the only cost was to reimburse them for copying which meant sending back a check for $1.00 after I received the record.

Search the Local Government Records Database to learn about what else they have to offer. Selecting "Cook" for the county and hitting "Submit" will show you all of the database entries for NEIU.

Here are some not-to-be missed records from their collection:

Birth certificates, 1878-1894 and birth records, 1871-1915. Note the "outside the city of Chicago part," because that's really important. IRAD holds the county records--say, if an ancestor was born in Evanston--but they don't have the Chicago city records.

These records are indexed in Ancestry's Cook County, Illinois, Birth Certificates Index, 1871-1922 and FamilySearch's Illinois, Cook County, Birth Certificates, 1871-1940 collection BUT here's the deal: both indexes lump Chicago city records and Cook County records into one, even though, somewhere along the line, the County Clerk's Office saw them as two different record sets.

So, how do you know if the record you want is county--meaning IRAD will likely have it?

First off, if the index entry mentions Chicago, it's very likely it's a city record.

If it doesn't, it's time to do a bit of detective work.

Find the film number mentioned in the index entry and search it in the Family History Library Catalog. If the result says "Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1894" or "Cook County Birth Registers, 1871-1915," it's likely IRAD will have the record. If the result says, "Chicago Birth Certificates" or "Chicago Birth Registers," then they almost certainly won't.

Death certificates, outside the city of Chicago, 1878-1909. Again, note that they have county records, but do not hold Chicago certificates. These records that match the Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 entries that say "COOK COUNTY" in the city field. (Don't get confused by the word "COOK" in the county field.) Or, if you've found them in an Ancestry or FamilySearch index, use the approach mentioned above to determine if they are city or county records.

STEWART, ALEXANDER 1908-03-25 COOK COUNTY 66 YR U 00005187 COOK

STEWART, ALEXANDER 1893-07-31 CHICAGO 08 MO U 00016937 COOK

Marriage licenses, 1871-1915. These records are indexed in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 and on Ancestry and on FamilySearch. It doesn't matter if the ceremony took place in the city or county; they're all grouped together and if you have the license number you should be able to get the record from IRAD.

Naturalization records. The Circuit Court Archives holds original naturalization records for the Circuit, Superior, County, and Criminal Courts (and looking at or copying the original is best), but IRAD also holds these records on microfilm.

Probate records. You will see many references to probate records in the database and these sources can be useful, but it's the Circuit Court Archives that holds the case files. My personal preference is to do probate research at the Circuit Court Archives but if you're at IRAD for another purpose, those films might come in handy.

Unique collections. IRAD also holds some records you might not think to search unless you knew they were there--saloon licenses, dog licenses, insanity records, and school inspectors' minutes, to name a few. I don't believe the staff can undertake extensive searches in unindexed records, but the collections are easily accessible if you can go in person.

Three of their unique collections have online indexes and they will take requests to retrieve the matching records.

Chicago City Council Proceedings Files, 1833–1871

Chicago Police Department Homicide Record, 1870–1930

Cook County Coroner's Inquest Record Index, 1872–1911

Last Chance to Add Films to the Wilmette FHC Collection

Other than the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, the Wilmette Family History Center is THE place to go to research early Chicago and Cook County vital records.

They have complete collections of births to 1915, marriages to 1916, and deaths to 1947 on microfilm and anyone can use the films free of charge.

What they don't have is all of the available films for births 1916-1922, marriages 1917-1920, and Cook County deaths outside the city of Chicago up through 1947, and when FamilySearch stops circulating films on 31 August 2017, they will no longer have a way to add to their collection.

Last count, Wilmette needed about 600 films to complete their vital records sets and the good news is FamilySearch appears to be running a sale on extended loan films. For $7.50 (1/3 the normal price) one of those films can now be added to the collection.

If you live within driving distance of Wilmette and research Chicago families, it would be to your benefit to help complete the collection before it's too late.

If you live hundreds of miles away from Wilmette, there might not be a direct benefit, but there is something to be said about being part of a group that accomplishes something for the good of many and $7.50 is a small price to pay for that.

If you are interested in helping the Family History Center collect the remaining films, contact them in one of the ways below and tell them ChicagoGenealogy sent you. :)

Contact Information
Wilmette Family History Center
847-251-9818
il_wilmette@ldsmail.net

Take a Few Minutes and Backup Your Facebook Posts!

Screenshot of Facebook's archive download page.

I view Facebook as a modern equivalent of the sentence-or-two-a-day journals that my great-great grandmother kept in the late 1800s and early 1900s and I use it as an enjoyable way to regularly record my day-to-day life experiences. As trivial as my posts might be (I write way too much about banjo practice), they are very important to me and, aspiring family historian that I am, I hope they will someday be important to the people I leave behind.

This morning, Facebook reminded me that I've had an account for ten years and that got me thinking: I would be so sad to accidentally lose access to that decade of my life.

So, I took thirty seconds to Google how to backup Facebook posts and it's so ridiculously simple, I've  decided everyone should do it. :)

Here's how:

1. Log in.

2. Click on the down arrow in the top right corner of the screen and choose "Settings."

3. You should be on the "General Account Settings" page. (If you're not, figure out another way to get there.)

4. Click the link at the bottom of the screen that says "Download a copy of your Facebook data."

5. In a few minutes (be patient) you'll receive an email with a link that will allow you to download a zip file.

Once you open the zip file, you'll notice you have three folders--html, photos, and videos--and a file called "index.htm." That index is the key to accessing the download. Right-click and open it in your browser. And then, explore! You'll be able to access all sorts of things--timeline photos, messages, events, friend lists, group lists, liked pages lists, and more.

But don't let reminiscing distract you from the task at hand. Once you've downloaded the archive, move the folder to a safe place (or places) so the files will be available for years to come.

To learn more about the download and what information is included, visit Facebook's What categories of my Facebook data are available to me? page.

Cook County Records of Foreign Wills

Franziska Lux entry, Cook County Probate Court,
"Record of Foreign Wills," v. 1, p. 619.

I can think of a number of times when I've sat, looking at a newly-discovered set of genealogy records, thinking, "Oh, wow!" but I had no idea that this morning would be one of them.

I've spent the month of April working hard to update the pages on chicagogenealogy.com and in the process, I had reason to examine the Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999 collection on Ancestry.com. Earlier this week, I noticed it included some "Records of Foreign Wills." I was intrigued, so I took a quick look.

A 1901 legal guide defines "foreign will" as  “…executed in a state or country by a testator there domiciled, admitted to probate there upon the death of such testator, and subsequently offered for probate or registry in another state.”¹

That seems to fit. Simply put, the books appear to have been used to record wills that had a tie to Cook County but were part of probate cases handled elsewhere.

That doesn't seem very exciting, does it? But read on.

Let's use the entry for Franziska Lux, from "Strehlen in Silesia," who died 15 November 1904, as an example.² (View image on Ancestry)

First off, the record begins with a translation of a document created in Strehlen on 18 Febuary [sic] 1905. From it, we learn that "the butcher Heinrich Lux" lived on Muensterberger Street and that Franziska Lux nee Schaefer, "the shoe makers widow," died on November 15, 1904. Franziska's brother Joseph Schaefer's estate was yet to be settled in America--he died in Chicago--but she was due to inherit from it. The document, signed by Heinrich, states, "The brother of my mother Joseph Schaefer, died in America before my mother, about 1903," suggesting that he, Heinrich, was Franziska's son.

We also learn that Joseph had two sons, Paul and Richard, who lived in America and another individual, Anna Lux, about 18 years old, was living with "the butter trades woman Raschdorf at Schildberg" and was "probably under the guardianship of the County Court of Muensterberg.

Imagine if you were a descendant of Joseph Schaefer, looking for a tie to Germany. Names. Relationships. Addresses. Death dates. Where else could you find that information so easily? And in English?

But that's not all. From another page we learn that Franziska's deceased son, Joseph Lux, had three children: Paul, Richard, and Anna, possibly the one mentioned above. Franziska had four children: Paul, a music teacher in Crefeld, Anna Hottermann, in America, Martha Hergesell of Brelau, and Heinrich, the butcher, who was taking care of his mother.

Obviously all of the records are not as information-rich as this one, and for most of the wills, "foreign" means out of state. But, if you have Chicago ancestors who were in the city during the early 1900s—the collection begins in 1904 with Volume 1 and ends in 1922 with Volume 18—it's worth taking a quick look.

The key would be to try to discover entries for relatives who lived outside Chicago so my best advice would be to look for specific people or search for family surnames and browse the matches.

I haven't tested to see if all of the volumes are included in the searchable index, but Franziska's name comes up, both for the index page at the front of Volume 1 and for the page where the actual will is recorded, so they may be. (Hint: The index entry with a date is the one that leads to the actual record.)

If you give the collection a try and finding something of interest, please post a comment and let me know!

_______________

¹William Herbert Page, A Concise Treatise on the Law of Wills (Cincinnati, Ohio: W. H. Anderson & Co., 1901), 423; digital image, Google Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=ClYaAAAAYAAJ : accessed 26 April 2017).

² "Illinois, Wills and Probate Records, 1772-1999," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 April 2017), "Record of Foreign Wills 1," 619-623, entry for Franziska Lux, 18 Feb 1905, ; citing "Record of foreign wills; Author: Illinois. Probate Court (Cook County); Probate Place: Cook, Illinois."