4 Resources for Illinois Research
23 Aug 2012Illinois is a significant state genealogically. French Canadians explored the land early, and set up forts. Their legacy is carried on in the names of places like Joliet. In the nineteenth century, americans pushed into the Illinois areas as part of their migration west. By the second half of the century, many recent immigrants made their way directly to Illinois to settle. Here are 4 online resources to help you with your research in Illinois.
This is a website of the Cook County clerk’s office, providing access to birth, marriage, and death records online. Birth records more than 75 years old, marriage certificates more than 50 years old, and death certificates more than 20 years old are considered “genealogical” and can be ordered through the website. Registration and searching are free. Images of records are $17. Once you pay online, you can download the images and view them immediately. Searching is easy on names, dates, and record types.
Illinois DPH Vital Records Contacts
The Illinois Department of Public Health has responsibility for registering births, marriages, and deaths in the state. Many records are also available on the county level, where they were first registered. The DPH website provides a list of contact information for each jurisdiction in the state. Many have websites, others just provide email and snail mail information.
The state archives provides a great list of online databases on their website.Databases from their collections include land, military, and vital records. The best part of their list is that it also includes databases from other repositories. The Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD). Among the repositories represented are Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University, the University of Illinois at Springfield, and Western Illinois University.
Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog
The ISGS blog provides tips and resources for researching your ancestors in the Prairie State. In addition, you can find news about events, both historical and genealogical. You can also discover news about the latest webinars from the Society.
