Illinois Genealogical Archives

   It is wise to acquaint yourself with any repository which you might visit by writing to the appropriate archive or library in advance. Every repository has published materials that introduce its collections and research policy. State archives and historical agencies also have Internet sites that provide the same information. Some even have downloadable databases for some or parts of their collections.

• Illinois State Archives, Norton Building, Capitol Complex, Springfield, IL 62756; TELEPHONE: (217) 782-4682, Fax: (217) 524-3930; HOURS: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Illinois Regional Archives Depository [IRAD]
  IRAD Coordinator, Illinois State Archives, Archives Building, Spring and Edwards, Springfield, IL 62756; As part of the state archives system, seven regional depositories at state universities include archival material from 102 counties.Located on seven state university campuses, regional depositories house and service those records of local governments which have been appraised as having long-term values and have been transferred to the Archives' custody. County records include:
• county board proceedings files and meeting minutes
• records of births, deaths and marriages
• land deeds, mortgage and tax sale records
• assessors' and collectors' tax books
• poll books and voter registers
• naturalization records, including declarations of intent
• probate records, including wills and will records, case files, administrators' and executors' records, guardianship records, and inventory and appraisement records
• civil and criminal court case files, chancery court case files (including divorces), docket books and court proceedings, and insanity proceedings and records
• coroner's inquest records and inquest files
• miscellaneous county records, including almshouse/county home records and jail registers.

Township, municipal, and school records include township meeting minutes, highway commissioners' minutes, school trustees' minutes, pupil registers, school land sale records, city council proceedings files and meeting minutes, ordinance records and city election records. A special part of IRAD's holdings are from the City of Chicago which includes nearly 35,650 previously unknown documents that predate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In addition to these City Council proceedings files of 1833 through 1942, holdings include plats, atlases, and Sanborn Maps. Other Chicago records include election registers for 1888, 1890 and 1892 and ordinance records spanning 1837 to 1916.

• Eastern Illinois University, Booth Library, 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL 61920; (217) 581-6093, Counties served: Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Edwards, Effingham, Jasper, Lawrence, Moultrie, Richland, Shelby, Wabash, Wayne
• Illinois State University, Campus Box 5500, Normal, IL 61790-5500; (309) 452-6027
  Counties: Champaign, DeWitt, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston, Logan, Marshall, McLean, Piatt, Tazewell, Vermilion, Woodford
• Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625-4699; (773) 442-4506, Counties served: Cook
• Northern Illinois University, Founders Memorial Library, Rm 400, DeKalb, IL 60115; (815) 753-1807; Counties served: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, JoDaviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Putnam, Stephenson, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago
• Southern Illinois University, c/o Special Collections, Morris Library–6632, Carbondale, IL 62901; (309) 298-2716; Counties served: Alexander, Clinton, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, St. Clair, Union, Washington, White, Williamson
• University of Illinois at Springfield, P. O. Box  19243, Springfield, IL 62794 ; (217) 786-6520; Counties served: Bond, Cass, Christian, Fayette, Greene, Jersey, Macon, Macoupin, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Sangamon, Scott
• Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455-1390; (309) 298-2716; Counties served: Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Knox, McDonough, Mercer, Peoria, Pike, Rock Island, Schuyler, Stark, Warren

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Historical & Genealogical Societies

   "Genealogists are generally positive and energetic, and most are ready to share their findings or research experience with anyone they can help. There are hundreds of genealogical societies at the grass-roots level. Knowledge of the genealogical community will place you in the midst of much activity, increase your productivity, and alert you to the importance of research standards and etiquette."
Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, Editor of FGS Forum,
Co-editor of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy

   Because family history research relies greatly upon records found at the county level, many local societies represent counties. Organizations also form around shared interests. Ethnic or religious origins account for many groups, such as the Polish Genealogical Society of America and P.O.I.N.T. (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together). Societies also form around common locales of origin for members’ ancestors; hence, the Palatines to America and Germans from Russia societies. To locate these and other societies, consult Juliana Szucs Smith’s The Ancestry Family Historian’s Address Book. It lists addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and Internet addresses of thousands of organizations throughout the United States.
For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both. In addition to their own work, state-level groups sometimes help coordinate the efforts of local societies within the state. Their publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those produced by the local societies.

• The Illinois State Historical Society
  210 1/2 S. Sixth, Springfield, IL 62701-1503; Phone: (217)525-2781, Fax: (217)525-2783, [EMAIL]
• Illinois State Genealogical Society
  P.O. Box 10195, Springfield, IL 62791; Phone: (217) 789-1968, [EMAIL]
  The organization publishes a newsletter and a quarterly. Physically, it is located at the Illinois State Archives.
• Illinois State Library, 300 South 2nd Street, Springfield, IL 62701-1796; Phone: (217) 785-5600
  As the head of the public library system in the state, the library publishes Illinois Libraries, which frequently includes articles of genealogical interest. The library is the repository for federal and state documents; it holds all county histories and offers some research materials on interlibrary loan.
• Illinois State Historical Library, Old State Capitol, Springfield, IL 62701
  County histories, plat books, census indexes, cemetery indexes, city material, family and association files, microfilmed newspapers, manuscripts, and photographs are located beneath the restored old state capitol between 5th and 6th streets and Washington and Adams streets.

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Illinois Genealogical Publications

Search The PERiodical Source Index

    Statewide or regional publications include the following:
 [ see specific county page for individual county list ]

• Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly
  has been published quarterly since 1969 by the society, surveying Illinois original source material, family genealogies, and research questions.
• Illinois Historical Journal
  formerly Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, published four times a year since 1908, has excellent articles on local and state history.
• Illinois Libraries
  is published monthly by Illinois State Libraries, often with genealogical collections information.

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Illinois Newspapers

Search Historical Newspapers

   The Illinois Herald, published at Kaskaskia in 1814, was the first Illinois newspaper. Numerous indexes of genealogically important data have been compiled from local and county newspapers. It is suggested that researchers contact appropriate local historical and/or genealogical societies to determine if, in fact, indexes are available to make newspaper research more efficient. As an example, the Newspaper Research Committee of the Chicago Genealogical Society has published Vital Records from Chicago Newspapers, 1833–1839 (Chicago: the society, 1971); Vital Records from Chicago Newspapers, 1845 (Chicago: the society, 1975); and Vital Records from Chicago Newspapers, 1843–1844 (Chicago, the society, 1974). Some suggested sources for more information on Illinois newspapers follow:

• James, Edmund J. A Bibliography of Newspapers Published in Illinois Prior to 1860. Illinois State Historical Library Publications, Number 1. Springfield, Ill.: Phillips Brothers, 1899.
• Stark, Sandra M. “Newspapers in the Illinois State Library,” Illinois Libraries 70 (March–April 1988): 3–4. Updated publication in Illinois Libraries every three years.
• University of Chicago. Newspapers in the Libraries of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Library, 1936.

   While records of birth, marriage, and death are the most commonly sought and the most consistently helpful records, only the genealogist’s imagination and resourcefulness limit newspapers’ usefulness in supplying clues about historical events, local history, probate court and legal notices, real estate transactions, political biographies, announcements, notices of new and terminated partnerships, business advertisements, and notices for settling debts.

   Newspapers can provide at least a partial substitute for nonexistent civil records. For example, a person’s obituary may have appeared in a newspaper even when civil death records for that person do not exist. And newspapers are an important source of marriage records, particularly in those states where civil recording of marriages was essentially nonexistent until the twentieth century.

   Unlike official records, newspapers are not limited to a particular geographical area. They often include reports of the weddings of local citizens (even those that occurred in a neighboring county or another state), and they sometimes report visits of geographically distant relatives or the visits of former local residents. They often published death notices of individuals who had left the area long before but who still had local family or friends as well. In each case the newspaper account can identify the date and place of an event, thus opening the possibility of turning up additional documentation in other sources.

   The first step in searching a newspaper is to identify those which served the area of interest and which have survived. The three most necessary tools are bibliographies (What was published?), inventories of library and depository holdings (Where is it?), and indexes (How do I find what I want in it?).

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