Advice
Obtaining Birth Records and Information
Index to Birth Records - Cook Co. Illinois Bureau of Vital Statistics -
From 1871 to 1916 provides: name, birth date, Birth place (either Cook
County or Chicago), and identification number. Note: Some Delayed
Certificates are listed on this index and identified by "DS" in the ID
Number. This index is available at the Newberry Library in Chicago, or can
be ordered (if not already available) at your local Family History Center of
the LDS organization.
Once you find the number and date of the certificate you want, you can then
order a film from Salt Lake that has the actual certificate. When the film
arrives, LDS calls you, and you make a photocopy. The cost is about half of
what Cook County charges.
The records can be ordered from Cook County Bureau of Vital Statistics
Office, P.O. Box 642570, Chicago, IL 60664-2570, Phone (312) 603-7790. The
Vital Statistics is located downtown at the lower level of the Randolph
Street entrance to the County Building. The department is open weekdays from
8:30am to 5:00pm. For a small service charge (about $5.00 per order), you
can order as many birth certificates that you need and charge your record
request to Visa, MC, Am Ex or Discover by calling Vital Chek at (312)
603-7799. You can mail in your request with a check or money order (about
$7.00 for each requested certificate) made payable to the "Cook County
Clerk" including a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Please include all the
pertinent information. The cost is applicable even if the record is not
found, so the more info you provide, the more likely you will get your
certificate! The staff is stricter about relationship and date of birth when
allowing persons to order birth certificates. It may be easier to obtain
certificates if you explain that they are for Genealogy purposes. The
certificate then comes marked as such so that it can't be used for illegal
purposes. More than likely, if the date of birth was less than 50 years ago,
you will not be able to obtain a birth certificate for that individual
unless you are the person or parent.
Your local FHC may have the following indices available or orderable:
1871-1915, Chicago Birth Registers,
54 reels, film numbers 1287720 ...1287764, and some films
that end with 1315959.
1878-1894, County birth records,
from Cook County Courthouse, Chicago ...films
1287765...1287794.
1878-1894, Register of births outside of the city,
from Cook County Courthouse, Chicago ... films 1315972 -
1315973.
1896-1933, Chicago, Illinois birth records,
from Northwestern memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL ... films
1315895 ...1315997.
1916-1918, Birth Corrections and delayed births,
from Cook County Courthouse, Chicago ... films 1309023
...1309261.
1916-1922, County birth records,
from Cook County Courthouse, Chicago ...films 1308554 ....
1308642
NOTE: These are not indexed.
It is our understanding that the IRAD research center has SOME marriage,
birth, and death records for Cook and City of Chicago (ONLY), but please
call ahead to see what their current year ranges are available for each of
the record groups! Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD)
Genealogical Research: Local Governmental Records located in IRAD, Ronald
Williams Library, Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis
Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625-4699, Telephone: (773) 794-6279, Hours: Monday -
Friday, except state holidays, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Obtaining Delayed Birth Records and Information
There is a Delayed Birth Index that can be ordered from the
LDS Family History Centers. The title is "Chicago Delayed Birth
Indexes, 1871-1948" and it can be found in under Illinois, Cook,
Chicago, - Vital Records - Indexes in the library catalog. It is
contained on 7 reels of microfilm - filmed from the original
records at the Cook County Courthouse, in Chicago IL. Although
the record does say that all the records are "not in strict
alphabetical order," generally:
Film # : Names contained include:
0378352 : AABel - Crabb
0378353 : Crabb - Frogner
0378354 : Frohlick - Jozwick
0378355 : Jrzeciakowska - Lyzricki
0378356 : Maack - Peterson
0378357 : Peterson - Sorg
0378358 : Sorgalis - Zusa
Submitted 13 Jan 1999 by Patricia
