Data Available on this Website (Click button to view) List of Cities and Towns of Cook County Maps Township Map Chicago Neighborhoods 1933 Cemetery Map Links to sites containing more online data Queries & Surnames View Queries (2002-2003) Societies & Associations Cook Co. Libraries Family History Centers in Northern Illinois IRAD Information: Location, Hours, Available Records for Cook County	Cook County History and Genealogy part of the Genealogy Trails Group Illinois Genealogy Trails is an ALL-VOLUNTEER organization whose goal is to put genealogical and historical information online for the free use of all researchers. ALL DATA ON THIS ILLINOIS TRAILS SITE IS FREE. The hosts that have worked for the last 7 years as Illinois Trails have expanded and created Genealogy Trails to further your family search in other states. Please book mark our new URL: http://genealogytrails.com/ill/cook/ If you would like to add your family's information to this website, send it via email to Kim Torp **I regret that I do not have the time to conduct personal research for you of ANY kind.** I don't have time to find obituaries, death/birth/marriage/census/school yearbook or cemetery records for you and still find time to transcribe data to put on this website. Thank you for understanding!
	"COOK COUNTY, situated in the northeastern section of the State, bordering on Lake Michigan, and being the most easterly of the second tier of counties south of the Wisconsin State line. It has an area of 890 square miles; population (1890), 1,191,922; (1900), 1,838,735; county-seat, Chicago. The county was organized in 1831, having originally embraced the counties of Du Page, Will, Lake, McHenry and Iroquois, in addition to its present territorial limits. It was named in honor of Daniel Pope Cook, a distinguished Representative of Illinois in Congress." (Historical Encylopedia of Illinois, 1901) City of Chicago History "Little is known about the Chicago area from 1700 until about 1779 when the pioneer settler of Chicago, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, from Sainte-Domingue (Haiti), built the first permanent settlement at the mouth of the river just east of the present Michigan Avenue Bridge on the north bank....Du Sable, who appears to have been a man of good taste and refinement, was a husbandman, a carpenter, a cooper, a miller, and probably a distiller. In Du Sable's home, which he shared with his Indian wife, the first marriage in Chicago was performed, the first election was held, and the first court handed down justice. The religion of the first Chicagoan was Catholic and every contemporary report about Du Sable describes him as a man of substance who started the story of Chicago as well as the story of the African American in Chicago." [Source: A.T. Andreas "History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time" Chicago, 1884] DuSable and his wife had two children, a boy named after his father, and a girl named Suzanna, whose birth is considered the first recorded birth in the Chicago area. Today a plaque marks the site in Chicago where his home stood, a high school in the city was named in his honor, and a memorial society exists to revere his memory. DuSable died at St. Charles, Missouri. The first white settler in Chicago was purported to be Quebec-born John Kinzie, an Indian trader. He established Kinzie's Trading Post in 1804, close to the Chicago River or Lake Michigan. [Read about the American Fur Company and Chicago] Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833
Most Recent Website Updates May 2009: Chicago Fire "Cow" Story refuted; History of Riverview Park (Amusement park on Chicago's Northside from 1904-1967); Obits for TINNEY, EDWARDS, FOWLER, MURRAY, LEWIS, MURPHY, o'hARA, HEMSTREET, MESENBRINK, HERBECK, WESDZUNAS, WARAKOIS, RECU, GINSBURG, SHARP, FIVISH, DOUGLAS, BUSSE, FROEMLING, WADE, MOYNIHAN, Crime News, Divorce news items; Anniversary Party News Items; 1871-72 Rush College Graduates; 1871-72 Rush Medical Faculty; Bios for RUNGE, BUSSE, AMLING April 2009: Bios for Ohlendorf, Duensing; Obits for ROSENWALK, KROGER, YESCHEK, SHERMAN, WILLIAMS, SHIPBAUGH, SHELDON, MCMILLAN, MCCORMICK; History Of Julia Gay United Methodist Church March 2009: NASH, RICKMAN; ATWOOD, BAER, BIRD, BRITTON, CAMP, COOK, FISH, FITZER, GOODRICH, GREGORY, HAYNES, HILLS, HOYT, LEARY, LOMBARD, LUDINGTON, MINOR, MOTT, NICHOLSON, O'CONOR, RAMSEY, SKINKLE, SMITH, TENNIS, VESPA, WALKER, WHITNEY, ZORICH, ZOUB obits February 2009: HOWE death records and burial info in Oakridge Cem; Marriage Notice for POLLACK-SCHAN, ROCCA birth; obits for STOREN, PETERSON, O'HARA, SNOWDEN, BROOKE; Crime story about WEYMOUTH January 2009: Death Announcements for FITZWILLIAM, MCKISSON, SHERMAN, BISSEL; Evanston News Story; Burials in Rosehill, Free Sons, Graceland and Wheeling Cemeteries; STENNETT biography December 2008: WILLSON, MADDEN obits; Community News Stories of Fred Douglass address, Railroad story, False report of Wm. Thornton's death November 2008: Chicago's History in Postcards; CHARNIS obit, ROACH death certificate data; obits for CURLEY, CORCORAN, CANNON, GIBBONS, MACMANUS, PRENDERGAST, KELLEHER, O''TOOLE, GILBRIDE, WALSH, GANNON, ROACH  City Directory Info   Where to Write for Records Our transcriptions are here The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (aka Illinois State Historical Library) has City Directories for the following years: 1839 - 1843 - 1844 - 1845 - 1846 - 1846 - 1846 - 1847 - 1847 - 1848 - 1849 - 1850 - 1851 - 1852 - 1853 - 1853/1854 - 1854/1855 - 1855 - 1855/1856 - 1856 - 1856/1857 - 1858 - 1859 - 1859/1860 - 1860 - 1860/1861 - 1862/1862 - 1863/1864 - 1865/1865 - 1866/1866 - 1867/1867 - 1868/1868 - 1869/1869 - 1870/1871 - 1872 - 1873 - 1874/1875 - 1875/1876 - 1876/1877 - 1877/1878 - 1878/1879 - 1879 - 1880 - 1881 - 1882 - 1883 - 1884 - 1885 - 1886 - 1887 - 1888 - 1889 -1890 -1891 - 1892 - 1894 -1901 - 1902 - 1904 - 1905 - 1910 - 1911 - 1912 - 1913 - 1914 - 1915 - 1916 - 1917 - 1923 - 1928 -1929 They also have Chicago city telephone directories from 1883-1971 (alpha and classified) and "Suburban Chicago" telephone directories 1920-1971 (alpha only). Thanks to Molly Kennedy for this info Requests for Genealogical Research can be sent to the library here, though Cook County research is limited.   The Cook County Clerk has a very informative website. They do distinguish between records for genealogical purposes and regular certified records. The Cook County Clerk's Office main website is at http://www.cookctyclerk.com Click on Vital Records for records information Note: The early marriage licenses from Cook County (Chicago) don't include parents' names ... usually just the name and age of the bride and groom, the date and place of the marriage (sometimes a church name is given), and the name of the person who performed the ceremony. (Thanks Cynthia!) And FYI.... there's been a fee increase: The fees are $15 for vital records for genealogy purposes (this is up from $10) plus $2 for additional copies of birth and marriage certificates and $4 for additional copies of death certificates.  Search this Site..... (new items may not be included yet) Search this site powered by FreeFind Illinois Genealogy Trails Websites Neighboring Counties: [McHenry County- Adopt me!] [Kane County] [Will County - Adopt me!] [Dupage County- Adopt me!] [Lake County- Adopt me!] Visit the Main Illinois Genealogy Trails Website Visit our county selection map At the Main Illinois Genealogy Trails Page, you will find much more data, including: Military Data Census Data Illinois State Data Illinois Events Help for your Illinois Research Illinois Genealogy Trails Volunteer Information To be notified of updates to this Cook County website and our other Illinois Genealogy Trails county websites, subscribe to the Genealogy Trails Mailing List This website was updated on 30 May 2009 Powered by WebRing. This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit Here. Copyright © Kim Torp 1998-2009 All Rights Reserved This website and its contents in the format presented, except where otherwise noted on the page, are copyrighted by Kimberly Torp and may not be copied, altered, converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS, nor linked from any "pay-for-view" site, linked in such a manner as to appear to be part of another site including "frame" capturing, nor included in any software collection or print collection of any type without the express written permission of the author of this site. Information is furnished for the free use of researchers who are interested for the purpose of researching their family histories and genealogies. However, copying & pasting the information presented here onto another website is prohibited! This website is considered to be a compilation of facts, and is therefore covered under current copyright laws.