Tip: My ancestor may have been divorced. How can I find out?

Divorce was more common in the past than we might think. There may be a family story of a divorce, or it may have been noted in an official record, such as a “D” for marital status on the census, or noted on a death certificate.  Marriage records may indicate if the bride or groom had been previously married.  Newspapers might carry a notice of the divorce proceedings or note it in an obituary.

Depending on the law at the time of the divorce, the divorce may have been granted by a federal, state, county, or even town jurisdiction.  Thus, the records may be in any of those locations.  A good place to start would be “Where to Write for Vital Records” at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w/.

Just like Gretna Greens existed for quickie marriages, there were also “Divorce Mills” where one could go for a quickie divorce.  Thus, people may have gone to a neighboring county or state to expedite the process.

Many divorce records are online at sites like FamilySearch.org and ancestry.com.  Early records may be abstracted in published court records.

Divorce records can be a wealth of information with clues to the wife’s maiden name, date and location of the marriage, names and birthdates of children, as well as the details of their relationship. 

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (September 2021).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip: Can Church Records Help with my Family History?

 Q. Can Church Records help with my family history?

A. The answer is of course, Yes.  Church records can often be used as a substitute for governmental vital records.  The most common church records used in genealogy are those for baptisms, marriages, and burials.  Other church records can help pinpoint our ancestor in a time and place, such as membership lists and confirmation records.

The first place to start is by determining the church that your ancestor attended.  This may be a religious denomination still maintained by family members.  Some churches were attended by specific immigrant groups.  Sometimes the denomination was determined by which church was nearby and easily accessible.  County or Family histories may tell the religion of your ancestor.  The governmental marriage record may list the minister who performed the ceremony, or your ancestor may be buried in a church graveyard.  An obituary may provide a clue to the church they attended as well.

Once you think you know the church they attended, there are several options to finding the records.  If the church is still in existence, you can contact them directly.  There may be a regional or national office for that denomination where the records have been stored.  Some records, or transcriptions, may be at the local genealogical library or historical society.  Some church records may be online at a site such as FamilySearch.org or Ancestry.com, or found through an internet search.

Although locating church records for your ancestor may be challenging, it is often worth the effort. 

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (July 2021).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip: How can I find my ancestor who was an orphan?

Records of orphanages can be difficult to locate.  As many were private institutions, their records may not have survived.  Local genealogical and historical societies may have some of those records. If you know the general location of the orphanage, there is a listing of those in Illinois at http://www.formerchildrenshomes.org.uk/illinois.html.  On the Census, the orphans may have been listed as “orphans” or “inmates” which helps locate these homes.

If your ancestor was born after the 1880’s, when most counties were recording births, AND they were adopted, it may be possible to obtain their original birth certificate through the Illinois Department of Public Health at  https://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/birth-death-other-records/adoption

If your ancestor came to Illinois on an Orphan Train, there are a few additional resources to check.  Between 1854 and 1919, over 100,000 children came from New York city and were sent west for adoption and hopefully, a better life. The National Orphan Train Depot Museum has a lot of information on these children.  Their website is https://orphantraindepot.org .  ISGS also has reprints of the book “Children of Orphan Trains from NY to IL and Beyond” for sale on website at www.ilgensoc.org.   

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (May 2021).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip: How can land records help me find my ancestor?

Land records are often overlooked by the beginning genealogist.  This is unfortunate because they may contain clues to family relationships.  Often, a deed will contain language specifying a relationship. For example, “I deed to my son for love and affection”.  Even better is “to my daughter, wife of so and so”.  After a landowner’s death the land is often divided and sold by his heirs, also indicating family relationships.

Unlike birth and death records which have only been kept in Illinois since the 1870s, land records were kept from the date of formation of a County.  Land records are kept with the County clerk or County recorder in the County Courthouse. Many have been digitized and can be found online on sites such as familysearch.org.

It is important to know whether that County was formed from another County because there may also be land records at the parent County. The Newberry Library has an interactive map showing County boundaries at https://newberry.org/atlas-historical-county-boundaries.

In addition to searching for the actual deed records, it is often helpful to look at maps of our ancestors’ land.  These maps help show the so- called FAN club - that is, the friends, associates and neighbors who may have interacted with our family and potentially be related.  A map may also give clues as to the geographic terrain that may have affected where our ancestors did business or worshipped.  You may find that a town in a neighboring County was closer than their own County seat.  A good online source of maps is at the Library of Congress – www.loc.gov/maps.

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (March 2021).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip - How do I find my ancestors who lived in the city?

 

One good place to look is in City Directories.  These were usually published annually and contain information about residents of a given city.   While most large cities had directories, often smaller towns would publish one as well.  Occasionally, a county would publish a similar type of directory.

Information in a city directory often included the address of the person, their telephone number (in later directories), and their occupation.  While all included the name of the head of household, some also listed the wife’s name.  City directories were often arranged in both an alphabetical and a geographical listing.  Thus, it was easy to tell who the neighbors were.  Businesses were also listed in the geographical listing.  Often, local businesses would advertise in the directory, so be sure to look in the advertisements if your ancestor owned a business. 

Because directories were published yearly, they can be helpful in tracking people between census years.  If someone “disappears” from a directory, they may have moved to another location or died. 

City Directories can be found online at Family Search, Archive.org or Ancestry.  Again, they could be for a large city such as Chicago, or smaller cities such as Peoria, Moline, Princeton or Shelbyville.  Another good place to find city directories is at the local library in the city of interest.  Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library also has a large collection of directories from around Illinois.

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (January 2021).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip - Where can I find old newspapers?

Q. Where can I find old newspapers?

A. Old newspapers can give us so much information about our ancestors’ lives.  In addition to major life events such as birth announcements, marriage notices, and obituaries, we can learn everyday details.  Newspapers often reported on social happenings, such as which family members were visiting from out of town.  Court proceedings ranging from land transfers and divorces to criminal cases were frequently newsworthy.

A good place to start to find a newspaper of interest is at the library in that town.  They often have microfilmed copies of their newspapers.  The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield has a large collection of microfilmed newspapers from around the state.  Their holdings are listed at: https://www2.illinois.gov/alplm/library/collections/newspaper/Holdings/Pages/default.aspx.

There are several online collections for Illinois newspapers.  The University of Illinois has an Illinois Digital Newspaper collection at http://idnc.library.illinois.edu.  Several libraries around the state have also digitized area newspapers, such as Marshall Public Library at .http://marshall.advantage-preservation.com/.      More sites are going online all the time.

There are also several online repositories for newspapers from around the country.  Many are subscription sites but there are free sites as well.  The Library of Congress has the largest free collection of US Newspapers at http://ChroniclingAmerica.loc.gov.  And some digitized newspapers can be found on Google at https://news.google.com/newspapers.

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (November 2020).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip - How can I find my ancestors in the census?

Q. How can I find my ancestors in the census?

A. The United States Government has been conducting a census of the population every 10 years since 1790.  Censuses from 1790 until 1940 are available for research with the exception of 1890 which was lost in a fire. Each census contains a little different information. Censuses from 1850 and later contain names of every member of the household, ages, birthplaces, and varying information on relationships.

Now that these census records are available digitally, it has become fairly easy to find ancestors in them.  Keep in mind that spellings vary, and not census takers had the best handwriting.  It still may be necessary to browse through the images to find that elusive person.

Illinois has taken part in every federal census since 1820, the first decennial census conducted after statehood.  In addition, Illinois conducted a territorial census in 1810 and again in 1818 to document that Illinois had enough inhabitants to become a state.  The state has also conducted its own census in 1825, 1835, 1845, 1855, and 1865.  Unfortunately many of the state census records did not contain names, and several counties have been lost.

Census records may be found online at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com.  Several of the early census records have also been transcribed and may be found in local libraries.

Although the purpose of the census is to provide an accurate count of the population for purposes of resource allocation and political representation, they have been a wonderful resource for genealogists. 2020 is a census year, so don’t forget to pay it forward by filling out your census form.

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (September 2020).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip - How do I find my great-grandmother's birth certificate?

 

Q. How do I find my great-grandmother’s birth certificate?

A. Although Illinois started requiring birth records to kept in 1877, the record keeping was not widely enforced for the first several years. Birth records are kept at the County Level by the County Clerk.  For records after 1916, they may also be obtained from the Department of Public Health at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/birth-death-other-records/genealogy.  The records of some counties have been digitized and are online at familysearch.org.  Due to privacy restrictions, births more recent than 75 years can only be obtained by that specific person or their parents.

Some people filed a delayed birth certificate if they were born prior to registration but needed documentation to apply for social security when that program began.  If there is not an official birth record, other sources of birth information should be considered, such as baptism records, census records, and birth information on the death certificate to name a few.

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (July 2020).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip - How do I find where and when my ancestor died?

 Q. How do I find where and when my ancestor died?

A. Most counties in Illinois started recording deaths in the 1870’s.  This was a public health mandate by the state although it took a few years for compliance to reach 100%. 

A good place to start are the databases at the Illinois State Archives - https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/home.html .  There are 2 databases that can be searched separately – one is for deaths prior to 1916, the other for deaths between 1916-1950.  There are some counties and dates that are not included in this database however.

Copies of many death registers can be found at the Illinois Regional Archive Depository (IRAD) for that area.  Early death registers can be found online at Family Search for many counties as well. 

Copies of Death Certificates can be obtained from the Illinois State Archives – an easy way to do this is through the ISGS Death Certificate Look Up service at https://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=122

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Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (May 2020).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.

Tip - How do I find my grandparents' marriage certificate?

Q. How do I find my grandparents marriage certificate?

A. Most counties in Illinois started recording marriages shortly after formation.  This is because, unlike birth and death records, marriage records can impact property ownership.  So, along with Probate and Land Records, marriage records are among the oldest records in the county.

A good place to start is the “Illinois Statewide Marriage Index 1763-1900” database at the Illinois State Archives - https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/marriage.html.  There are some counties and dates that are not included in this database however.

If you know the county they lived in, you can try contacting the County Clerk in that county.  The specific IRAD for that county may have the record as well.

Keep in mind that not everyone was married in the same county they lived in.  They may have gone to a neighboring county to “elope” or simply for convenience.    Don’t forget that they may have crossed state lines as  well.

Note: This was originally published in the "Tips from the Genealogy Committee" column in the Illinois State Genealogical Society Newsletter (March 2020).  While these tips were written for those researching Illinois ancestors, many of the principles can be applied to other locations.