Advice
Cook County Circuit Court Archives
The following is an excerpt from an email sent to the Cook
County ILGenWeb Mail List that describes how to order Probate
Court records from the Archives Dept. of the Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Cook County:
"I was lucky enough to spend a whole day at the Archives Dept.
of the Circuit Court in the Daley Center in downtown Chicago a
couple of years back. while there, I did my own copying of files
still held in the Daley Center Archives room.
“The older packets are not in the Daley Center. Several of the
packets I needed were located in the warehouse in a suburb.
Knowing we had only one day left to spend before returning home,
they were able to locate all but one file in the warehouse and
had it sent to the Daley Center the following day.
“They went way out of their way to help, as you can see.
“The last file, my GGF, was misfiled. We filled out a form with
the name of deceased; Docket #; No. pertaining to aged file; the
Box it should be stored in, and the date of death.
“All the above information can be found in the indexed books in
the Archive Room at the Daley Center. I assume this information
is also on film or microfiche at LDS Family History Center.
“If you do not have access to LDS or the Daley Center Archive
Room, write to them giving the name of deceased, date of birth
and date of death. They will search the index books for you and
send you the material. Sending a copy of the death certificate
would be helpful to them as well, but not necessary.
“Your first letter, requesting a search should go to:
| Archives Dept. Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County Room 1113 Daley Center Chicago, IL 60602 |
OR | Aurelia Pucinski Clerk of the Court Probate Division, Room 1202 Daley Center Chicago, IL 60602 |
“I recommend the first address since they will do the search,
then the material is mailed from the second address with your
inventory and/or bill attached.
“It is my understanding that you can call them direct, but I do
not have the phone #. I always use the mail as I have a paper
copy for follow up and I don't have to go thru endless
repetitions if there is a follow up.
Most people are very helpful, but I find that if you reply to
everyone with a thank you whether they were able to help you or
not, it will pay off in the long run. Because of a thank you, (
apparently they get few once the request is answered) I heard
from clerk's who remembered a unique case and later found the
material I was looking for. They contacted me long after I
thought the solution was hopeless."
Contributed 16 Jul 1998 by Carol Ann Kyrias
