Research Services Available

Cook County Divorce or Probate Index Search: $10 for an index search at the Circuit Court Archives. If I find a match, I will order in the file from the warehouse so that the file can be viewed/copied.

Color scans from Divorce and Probate Files: $20 for up to 20 scans + $.25 per image thereafter. Unless a file is unusually large most cases turn out to be between $20 and $30.

Naturalization Records (Circuit, Superior, County, and Criminal courts): $10 to retrieve and scan the record if you provide the information from the Soundex index.

Chicago Death Certificates, 1923-1947, $6.00 per record, less than half of the price you might otherwise pay. (Before 1923 the records are online for free at Familysearch; after 1947 the records are only available through the county or state and I can't save you time or money.)

Chicago Research Notes

Chicago Lying-In Hospital Birth Records

When I look at birth certificates, I focus on names and dates and places--information I can add to a family tree. When I look at hospital records, I come face to face with the realities of giving birth. I think the records from the Chicago Lying-In Hospital and its satellite clinics provide fascinating and important family history details and I believe they merit a closer look.

The hospital records are listed in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) as Chicago, Illinois birth records, 1896-1933. The added author is Northwestern Memorial Hospital and I think the originals are most likely held by the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Archives.

These hospital books document services provided by four clinics connected to Dr. Joseph Bolivar DeLee, the physician who founded the Chicago Lying-In Dispensary at Maxwell Street and Newberry Avenue in 1895. Dr. DeLee was interested in improving birthing conditions and his clinics offered care to needy women while providing training opportunities for doctors and nurses in the emerging field of obstetrics.

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Chicago and Cook County Family History Research Made Simple

Need to find someone who can get vital records, probate files, divorce cases, cemetery photos, naturalization records or obituaries for your research? Visit my Research Available from Providers on Genlighten.com page.

Want to learn how to find genealogical records in Chicago? Check out the Research Tutorial.

Ready to explore other sites for Chicago and Cook County research? Helpful Websites is the place to go.

Want to read about the things I've learned researching Chicago records? Read My Blog.

Have a quick question about genealogy research in Chicago? Join the Chicago Genealogy Facebook Group and post it there.