Illinois Research Tips and Strategies

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Illinois Wiki Topics
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Purpose of Research Tips and Strategies Wiki Page

The Illinois Research Tips and Strategies page consists of links to specific research strategies for Illinois. It also contains general tips and other resources for finding your ancestors in this locality.

Illinois Research Strategies[edit | edit source]

Below are links to different research strategy pages to help you locate your ancestors in Illinois:

Finding Illinois Birth, Marriage or Death Records[edit | edit source]

Finding Illinois Records[edit | edit source]

Illinois Statewide Databases[edit | edit source]

Illinois Research Process[edit | edit source]

Illinois Research Tips[edit | edit source]

These tips will help you as you research your ancestors in Illinois.

Birth and Death information:

  • Statewide registration: The state began registering births and deaths in 1916, with full compliance for births by 1922 and for deaths in 1919.
  • County regististration: County health office began recording births and death records in 1877 until the state board took over in 1916.
  • Access to records: See Illinois Vital Records for more information about birth, marriages, and deaths in Illinois.


Substitute Records:

  • Secondary source: Substitute records are used when primary sources do not exist for an event, such as birth, marriage, and deaths. Secondary sources list information about the event but they were not recorded at the time of the event and they are not an official record of the event.
  • Accuracy: Because the information about an event in substitute records was not the official recording of the event (such as, cemetery or obituary records) inaccuracy may occur. Use other substitute records to help varify information.
  • List of substitute records: See Illinois Substitute Records for more information.


Finding Parents:

  • Death records: Death records created by the county starting in 1877 may contain parents of the deceased. However, state recorded deaths required birth and parent information. Information was not always provided and the accuracy of the information was limited by the grieving relatives' memory.
  • Obituaries: Official obituaries can also include the names of parents and other family members. See Illinois Newspapers and Illinois Obituaries for more information.
  • Church records: Knowing the denominiation of the church the family belonged to helps in locating information about the parents. See Illinois Church Records for more information.


Census Records:

  • Check all census years: Always look for your ancestor in every possible census to learn more about them and their family members. See Illinois Census Records for more information.
  • Clues to other records: There are clues in censuses regarding immigration, naturalization, and occupation that can lead to other records.
  • Finding families: Starting in 1850, all members of the household were listed in the census. By 1880, relationship to the head of household was added.

Further Illinois Research[edit | edit source]

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