Chicago and Cook County Resources Part 1

Chicago plays a big role in my family history research. Both of my parents, all four grandparents, and four of my great-grandparents were born in Chicago. 

Navy Pier and the Chicago skyline

Photo by Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau 


The Windy City also drew my non-native ancestors. Two of my great-grandparents immigrated directly to Chicago and six of my immigrant great-great grandparents moved there after settling somewhere else first.

Chicago was officially incorporated as a town in 1832 and four years later, when the population reached 4170, it was incorporated as a city.

By the 1870 census more than 300,000 people called Chicago home. The population boom is attributed primarily to the arrival of railroads and the meatpacking industry.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 left much of the city in ashes and many genealogically-related records were lost forever. There are still many records available however and workarounds exist for the records that were burned.

Most Illinois counties did not begin recording births until 1877. Cook County held records earlier than many other counties, but most of those were lost in the Fire. Images of Cook County Birth Registers from 1871 (post-Fire) to 1915 are online at Family Search. Newspapers reported a few births as early as 1833. A list was compiled by the Newspaper Research Committee and microfilmed by the Family History Library (FHL) on film # 844952.

More than a million images make up the FamilySearch collection of Cook County Birth Certificates 1878-1922. I have found ancestors that have a birth certificate and are listed in the registers, so you may want to check both. If you aren't able to locate a birth record, check this microfiche index for surname misspellings and unnamed infants.

Corrected birth certificates (names added or changed, misspellings on the originals etc) appear on 17 rolls of microfilm available at the FHL. If your ancestor's birth wasn't recorded, he or she may have obtained a Delayed Birth Certificate when job hunting, enlisting in the military, or applying for Social Security. The Chicago Fire or World War I may have been catalysts for the records on this film.

Baptismal records often list birth dates. Catholic ancestors may appear in FamilySearch's newly released Catholic Church Records 1833-1925 which is a goldmine if you know the name of the Chicago church your family attended. If your ancestors were Lutheran (ELCA), start here to look for archived records. Start here when searching for Missouri Synod Lutherans.

Hidden in a long list of Catholic churches, there are record indexes for other denominations on these FHL microfilms.

The Illinois State Archives and the Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) are  indexing marriage records from 1763 to 1920. This database contains over two million names and is searchable by bride's or groom's names. FamilySearch has a Cook County Marriages Index and images from 1871 to 1920.

Generally speaking, the government thinks of marriage as a contractual agreement between the parties involved, so records were/are pretty consistently created. If you are unable to locate a Chicago or Cook County marriage record, look for church records on the sites listed above. Remember that indexers struggle with poor handwriting, faded copies, misspelled names and other hurdles. Think creatively when searching any archived record.

Death records often yield the most information about our ancestors' lives. The Illinois Statewide Death Index is far from complete, but most 1871-1950 Cook County death records have been indexed. They are online in two databases; pre-1916 and 1916-1950. Images of death certificates from 1878 to 1922 and Deaths and Stillbirths 1916-1947 are available free on FamilySearch.

Other sources for information regarding the death of Cook County ancestors are funeral home records, burial permit listings, the Sam Fink index, probate records, and obituaries:

The Chicago Daily News and the Chicago Tribune were two of the major papers in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs for decades. Both are go-to sources for obituaries, beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century. Extant issues and microfilm copies of the now defunct Daily News exist in surprising places. Wilson Library at the University of Minnesota has an impressive collection on microfilm. The Trib is online at several newspaper database sites and Ancestry.com as well as on microfilm. Ethnic and suburban newspapers (like the Daily Herald) are also good sources for obituaries.

Our ancestors lives were more than birth, marriage, and death records. In an upcoming post I'll focus on school, employment, naturalization, divorce, probate and voting records, as well as current must-visit repositories.

I'll also share information about some interesting events that occurred in Chicago and Cook County that impact genealogical research there. For example, streets were renamed, houses and business were renumbered, cemeteries were closed and former "residents" relocated, and more than one riot took place.

Do you have a favorite source for genealogical records in "that tottlin' town"? Share your suggestions in the comments section below or email me at livinginthepastlane [at] yahoo [dot] com

FGS 2011 - The What

FGS shared the conference program early on. It was easy to choose the tracks I wanted to take - all of them! Narrowing my list to the six per day that time allowed was the tough part. Since I would be attending only the Friday and Saturday sessions, that meant 12 tracks total. Here are some of my picks:


Amy Johnson Crow, CG 

After Mustering Out; Researching Civil War Veterans by Amy Johnson Crow offered some great advice;

• the Civil War was a watershed event for records
• Union & Confederate records are similar, but are held in different repositories
• pensions were based on service and honorable discharge only*
• NARA film T288 is a general index of pension files
• Confederate pension records are kept in the former Confederate states
• Union veterans should have recorded a copy of their discharge records locally
• Some Confederates are listed in the 1890 Special Schedule**

* A veteran didn't have to be injured to qualify for a pension
** The 1890 Special Schedule of Union Soldiers and Widows is not yet indexed, but the images are browseable on FamilySearch

With this information, I may be able to learn if my Virginia-born Charles W Littrell (who disappeared after moving to Ohio) is the same man who served in two regiments of the Confederate Army.

Finding the World with WorldCat was taught by Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, FIGS; one of my all-time favorite speakers. He filled the hour to the brim with information and sprinkled his presentation with such good humor, we didn't realize how much we were learning! Some of the takeaways included searching WorldCat in five subject areas:

Curt B. Witcher, MLS, FUGA, FIGS

• surnames; type "Smith family" in the search field; typing only "Smith" yields unrelated results
• geographic locations; use town, township, county, or state names
• ethnicity; like "French in Ohio" or "Swiss in Chicago"
• religion; search by denomination or specific church names
• occupation; think "Illinois blacksmiths" or "Chicago bakers"

I had used WorldCat before, but not very well. With the information Curt shared, I can't wait to visit my library to try again!

The same speaker offered Beginning Swiss Research and Using German Church Records and made my FGS conference attendance a priceless event.  Michael D. Lacopo, DVM was fun and funny and very knowledgeable. We started by comparing the administrative districts in German-speaking areas to similar entities in the states. For me, that exercise moved the unknown to the understandable:

Michael D. Lacopo, DVM

• Cantons = states
• Verwaltungsregionen = county
• Verwaltungskreise = township
• Gemeinde = town

I took four pages of notes in the first track and countless more in the second. Both were so well done that I was surprised when each hour came to an end. The most important takeaway for me was the renewed hope I have about finding Jacob Mueller's Swiss birthplace.

Debra Mieszala, CG

Another fun track I attended was Lessons from a Snoop: Collaterals and Associates by Debra Mieszala, CG. Debbie was absolutely delightful. She made us laugh again and again while sharing examples of how to use peripheral people's records to learn more about our ancestors. Her stories were adorable, her results were phenomenal, her lessons were remarkable.

The last track I attended on Saturday was presented by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers fame; Twitter - It's Not Just "What I Had for Breakfast Anymore". Thomas used wonderful visuals to help beginners in the group gain a better understanding of Twitter and TweetDeck. I had thought this was going to be a more advanced track, but refreshers never hurt. It would be a perfect introductory class to someone interested in (but intimidated by) social media.

The lineup of tracks and workshops for FGS 2011 was perfect. A mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced programs on a variety of topics. My hope was to learn at least one thing in each program I attended. The presenters exceeded my expectations in nearly every instance.

This post is part two of my "Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How" series on my experience at FGS 2011. You can read the first part here.

A Child Lost ~ Freddie Lavine

From the July 1, 1883 issue of the Chicago Tribune, page 10, "LAVINE- Freddie Lavine, beloved son of Nellie Lavine, June 30, aged 1 month and 29 days. Funeral Sunday at 2 o'clock from 1088 West Madison-st. to Waldheim Cemetery."

I started at FamilySearch and clicked on USA, Canada, and Mexico under Browse by Collection. The 1,431,659 records in the Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878-1922 database looks promising. I clicked on that and chose Advanced Search. I entered Lavine in the last name field; and death, Chicago, and 1883 on the next line. Freddie's was the first record in the search results:

Although his death certificate doesn't include Freddie's parents' names, the place of death (1088 W Madison Street) matches the address in his obituary.

Since the obituary mentions only Freddie's mother, I went to Ancestry in search of a census record. The results were interesting:

Nellie's husband is John W Lavine, a 45 year old cigar manufactor. John Jr can't be Nellie's son, she's only nine years older than him. I wondered how long John and Nellie had been married. Back to FamilySearch. This time I started with the Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920 database.

The subjects of the first three records were members of this family. Here's what I learned; Nellie McLaughlin and John W Lavine were married by a Catholic priest in November of 1878:

John Jr. married a few years after the 1880 census was taken and Nellie remarried after her husband died:

Of course I don't really know that Nellie's first husband died. Perhaps they were divorced. Let's check death records to be sure. Back to that first database (Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878-1922) at FamilySearch. I put John W Lavine into the the first fields and Chicago on the second line. Once again, the record I need is the first one. But when I clicked on it and then on View Image, I saw this:

I've had this experience on FamilySearch before. It's a little frustrating, but fortunately there is a work-around.  See the image number? It says image 1517 of 1773. I changed the image number to 1518 and learned the cause of John W Lavine's death.

.

John's occupation is cigar manufactor, the same occupation that appears on the 1880 census. I didn't have much luck finding him in the 1900 census. If this was my family, I'd look in the newspaper to see if there is any mention of the shooting. The death certificate doesn't mention a coroner's report, and I don't see one listed for the right date, but I'd also look into that.

I located John Jr's mother in the 1870 census. I wonder if the English-born woman on this page is John Sr's sister?

As for Freddie's mother Nellie, there are too many possibilities to determine which is the "real" Nellie. Even the 1910 census made me wonder. Lavine and Campbell together and Walter's birthplace seems like a good match:

My belief that Walter is Freddie's older brother increased when I found his birth record:

Where do we go from here? There are many steps I'd take if this was my family; limited time prevents me from investigating further. I added Freddie and John Sr to Find A Grave. I hope that one of my readers will know where Nellie is buried and share the information. I'd like to reunite Nellie and Freddie, wouldn't you?

Note: I have no connection to this child. As I said in A Child Lost ~ Introduction, my goal is to reunite children with their parents.  If you are a LaVine descendant, I hope you'll give Freddie a special place in your family tree.

My own family tree work-in-progress is online at Living in the Past Lane.

Swiss for Beginners

Next month I'll attend the "Beginning Swiss Research" workshop at the FGS conference in Springfield Illinois. I'm really looking forward to this program because I know nothing of my Swiss second great-grandfather's life before he immigrated to the US.

Actually there are still a few things I don't know about Jacob K Mueller's life after he immigrated, but I digress.

By the 1880 census, Jacob Mueller and Elisabeth Schmitt were married and had a baby of their own. Otto (on line 3) is Elisabeth's son from a previous marriage.

When Jacob died in 1910, his daughter Alma provided the information that appears on his death certificate. What a treasure trove this document turned out to be! Notice the names she gave for Jacob's parents?

I looked for J Mueller and Anna Wigdri (and variations thereof) on FamilySearch and found this marriage record on film # 0995182. They are the third couple listed under the C three-quarters down on the right-hand page.

There is a very slim chance this couple is Jacob's parents, (wouldn't it be incredible if they were?), but I ordered the film anyway.

My hope is that, having seen a Swiss marriage record, I'll understand more during the FGS class.

In the meantime, I wonder what the letters and the headings over each group of names mean...

UPDATE: Many thanks to Wolf on the Swiss Rootweb list:

Promulgirt (announced) / copulirt (married) / year

A. Ehen zwischen Bürgern und Bürgerinnen der Evang. Gemeinde Steckborn
(Marriages of [male and female] citizens of the reformed community of
Steckborn)

B. Ehen hiesiger Bürger mit auswärtigen Töchtern  (Marriages of citizens
from here with daughters from outside - i.e. not citizens of Steckborn)

C. Ehen auswärtiger Bürger mit hiesigen Töchtern  (Marriages of citizens
from outside with daughters from here)

D. Ehen auswärtiger Bürger mit auswärtigen Bürgerinnen  (Marriages of [male
and female] citizens from outside)

A Child Lost ~ Lillie Geng

From the June 30, 1896 issue of the Chicago Daily News, "GENG-LILLIE, at the residence of her parents, 712 Burling-st., beloved daughter of Charles and Annie Geng (nee Kerwer), Monday, June 29, at 6 p.m., at the age of 4 years 11 months and 14 days. Funeral Wednesday at 2 p.m."

I started by looking for Lillie's death certificate at FamilySearch:

Using the Tombstone Birthday Calculator, I estimate Lillie's birthdate as 15 Jul 1891. I didn't have any luck finding a record of her birth on FamilySearch, but her parents' marriage certificate was there.

The family remained at the address that is on Lillie's death cerificate. Here they are in the 1900 census:

After seeing Annie lost two of her children before 1900, I almost hoped this possibility for her husband's death wasn't him. I wasn't certain until I looked at the Address Conversion Tools at Chicago Ancestors. There I located the family's 1900 address (712 Burling Street) had been renumbered in 1909 to 2679 Burling Street; the same address listed on Charles' death certificate:

At least now I know Charles was buried at the same cemetery as his daughter. Annie/Anna lived a long life. I hope it was happier than these documents suggest. Lillie and her parents are buried at St Boniface and at my request, another contributor linked them on Find A Grave.

Note: I have no connection to this child. In A Child Lost ~ Introduction, I shared my hope of reuniting these children with their parents. If you are a Geng descendant, I hope you'll give Lillie a special place in your family tree.

Translation Tuesday ~ Parlez-vous français?

Last week I posted death records for two ancestors named Nicolas Schmitt. Thanks to several members of the Alsace-Lorraine mailing list, the questions I had about some of the words have been answered. See the corrections in green here.

I thought I might share a bit of my process to (hopefully) help someone just starting out. And maybe someone reading will suggest a better way to get through the dozens of records I need to transcribe and translate.

After performing the Genealogy Happy Dance at the Family History Center when I locate a French record that belongs to me; I copy the image, the cover page, and the index to my flashdrive. At home I clean up the image with photo editing software.

Using a split screen to view both the image and Google language, I transcribe the record into Google translate. After correcting any obvious errors, I copy and paste the French and English versions in a Word document. Then I tweak the text using the French Genealogical word list from Family Search and the ever-growing list of words and phrases I have learned since I started researching my French ancestry.

FamilySearch also offers some wonderful ~ and free ~ courses for doing research in several countries including France here.

I was intimidated when I started working with French records, but that didn't last long. So if you are gingerly dipping your toes in the French pool, c'mon! Wade on in; l'eau de fines!

Only a Genealogist

Is it really possible to be THIS EXCITED about microfilm?!? YES, YES!! It is, it really is!!

Okay, it may be more than just the microfilm. I think it has alot to do with allowing myself some time to review my files, create a research plan, and wander the web in search of resources. Finding the resources, well, that's the icing on the cake!

My 3rd great-grandmother is known only as Margaret. She appears in just one census; 1860 Virginia. In the next census, her husband is married to someone else and Margaret seemingly ceases to exist.

BUT today, because I scheduled time just for Margaret, I found information about records that may help me find her. The Family History Library catalog has a film of an 1853-1885 birth register from the Roanoke County Courthouse in Salem Virginia. I can start there, looking for her children born in 1857 and 1858. This same roll of film contains an 1853-1881 death register which contains a record (according to FamilySearch) for a Margaret Jane Littrell who died in 1867 while married to Chas. W. Littrell.

I'll order the film next week during my visit to the FHC and start the waiting process. Regardless of which way the wind blows, this is one EXCITING day!!

An Extraordinary Extra Minute

Hartford Michigan

One more minute I told myself, and then I really must go to bed. I was wandering around FamilySearch and had already entered several surnames from my tree looking for something new.

Michigan Deaths and Burials, 1800-1995, had been updated in May. I typed Clarke in the Last Name field. 3585 entries. I narrowed the search by choosing Maryland in the Place tab. And there he was. My grandfather's grandfather; Wm. P. Clarke.

William Penrod and his wife Mary Ella appeared in the 1930 census in Hartford Michigan. They posed for a picture with their grandsons in the early 1940's, after which the trail grew cold. And stayed that way for years.

Until late one night when William's name filled my computer screen in an index that included his full date of birth, a date and place of death, and news that Mary had predeceased him.

Who needs sleep? I quickly located a web site for the Van Buren (Michigan) Regional Genealogical Society where they've created an index of death records from 1935-1945. Just the years I needed! For a mere $3 each, I ordered uncertified copies of the two death records that had eluded me for years.

I'll have to allow myself 'one more minute' more often.