* How to Research your Chicago Ancestors *
Chicago has such a rich history, and is so ethnically diverse,
that it just begs you to search all the various goldmines around the city for
clues to solving your family mysteries. Immigrants
flooded the city in the mid to late 1800’s, which helped to shape the Chicago
that we know and love today. Your ancestors could have helped build the
railroads, rebuild the city after the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, and design and
build the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, also known as the White City.
There is a lot to learn about Chicago Genealogy and what is available
to research, but here are some of my favorite resources and what they can tell
you:
Chicago Vital Records – After 1871,
vital records are available and fairly easy to research. The challenge is that death and
marriage records before 1900 do not name parents. But other clues can be gathered, including
where the person lived on a birth or death certificate, or whether the person
was married in a church or by the Justice of the Peace. And
the Illinois index of early marriages and deaths is a great resource,
especially for finding misspelled names.
Church Records – While the Great
Chicago Fire destroyed all vital records before 1871, Church Records help to
fill in those early blanks and can take you back as early as 1850. Certain Catholic Churches even kept records
that identified where the person was born and when. This is especially true in the Italian and
Polish ethnic churches.
Cemetery Records – Not only can
you find the date of death, but headstones can include place of birth, year of
birth and if lucky, where they were born.
You can also see who they are buried with, or near, for major clues. Don’t just rely on Find a Grave. Go visit the cemetery in person. One of my favorite stories is how I began to
research the Catholic Cemetery of Calvary in Evanston. I started out by pulling the cemetery record
of my Irish Great Great Grandmother.
What I uncovered was a burial plot with 8 people in the same grave. Then it spiraled out of control - who were
these people buried with my Julia who died in 1884? Over a period of about a year, I bet I went
back to this cemetery 25 times, becoming fast friends with the office manager. But my biggest discovery was finding my 3x
Great Grandfather from Quebec who was buried in the same plot with his grandson.
I had no idea he even came to the US and
never thought to search vital records for him.
Without searching for his grandson’s cemetery record, I would have never
found him in Chicago.
Voter Registrations of 1888, 1890 and
1892 – These records identify the courthouse where the person was
naturalized, how long the person lived in Chicago, how long they lived in
Illinois, and their current address. It
is often in alphabetical order by last name so it can help you see other
potential family members. This is a
great replacement for the destroyed 1890 Federal Census.
City Directories & Telephone
Directories – Published books began around 1839 and help you plot the
areas where your family lived, and when they moved. These addresses help you define nearby
relatives and what churches they may have attended.
Ward Maps – The city was
constantly changing its street names and ward boundaries. It’s important to identify where your
ancestors lived, but that can also be a challenge. Sometimes they lived in the same house on
multiple census records, but the street names are different. Ward maps can help you figure out these
changes.
Census Records – Chicago census
records show the street a person lived on starting in the 1880 census.
Naturalization Records – There
are 3 places where an individual could have been naturalized in Cook
County: Circuit Court, Superior Court
and District Court. The first 2 are
found at the Daley Center, while the District Court filings are found at the
NARA Great Lakes Region.
Immigration – the Newberry
Library houses many books on ethnic immigration that has an index of names,
making it easier to find often misspelled names.
NARA Great Lakes Region – This repository
houses the District Court Naturalization records of Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, along with many other court records.
Divorce Records – While records
are off-site, once you find an index of a divorce, the record is a goldmine for
information. The divorce of my adopted
Grandmother’s birth mother led to naming her sister as a witness in the
trial. That led to helping me find where
the birth mother ended up dying, and ultimately where she was born.
Probates – Again, these records
are kept off-site. If an index is found
for that person, then it takes up to 2 weeks for them to arrive for viewing.
Land Records – Did your ancestors
own the property they were living in and for how long? That can be found by researching land
records.
Adoptions, Orphanages and Guardianships
– There are various ways to research this difficult area of your tree. Illinois adoptee birth records prior to 1946 can now be obtained
by family. Also, Catholic
Charities can be helpful in finding records at a Catholic Orphanage. Guardianship Records in Cook County can be
viewed on microfilm, and census records can be combed for children living at
local orphanages.
Autopsy Records – These records
don’t necessarily lead to family clues, but are interesting and help shape the
stories of a person’s life.
Newspaper Obituaries – The challenge
with early obituaries in Chicago is that the city had so many people dying on
any given day, that the obits were just kept to the basics. Unless the person was of prominence or had an
interesting life story, the most you can get from them are maiden names,
children, if the person was single or married, along with what church they
attended and where the burial will take place.
On a few obituaries, it will tell you what country they were born, but
that is rare.
Libraries – Several key
libraries are essential to finding nuggets of Genealogy information: Newberry Library, Harold Washington Library,
Family History Library, and Northeastern Illinois University Library
If any of your ancestors lived in Chicago, or even had a
brief stay in this great city, then I strongly encourage you research them
immediately. My simple advice is to
never give up until you exhaust all avenues available to you. Based on my years of experience in Chicago,
it can be an expansive yet rewarding search.
