Quick Links: Before 1871 | 1871-1920 | After 1920
How to Find Chicago Marriage Licenses Before 1871
Because of the Chicago fire, only a few civil
marriage records exist before 1871. Sources for these licenses
include:
Cook County, Illinois Marriage License Records, 1870-1880 by
Leona Hopper Newbill
FHL Film 0848650 Item 2
Some Cook County Marriages Prior to Fire abstracted by Joan
L. Alguire
FHL Fiche 6050058
Alternate sources of information include:
Newspaper Notices
Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003Subscription database; available at Ancestry.com
Includes the Chicago Tribune, 1850-1985
Sam Fink's Index to Marriages Mentioned in Chicago Newspapers, 1833-1871
FHL Film 1321939 (Fink's marriages are included in the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index)
Includes the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Evening Journal, Chicago Democrat, Chicago Evening Post, Chicago Record-Herald, Chicago Daily News, Chicago Examiner, and the Inter-Ocean
Church Marriage Records
Catholic: Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic parish records have been filmed to 1915. Check the Family History Library Catalog to see what's available. Do a place search for "Chicago" and then select "Church Records."
Other Denominations:
See Newberry Library's Guide to Chicago Church and Synagogue Records.
If you know of other pre-fire church marriage records, please let me know so that they can be added to the list.
How to Find Cook County Marriage Licenses, 1871-1920
The records are now online for free at FamilySearch's Record Search site.
If you don't find a match for the license you're looking for at FamilySearch, check for the marriage in Lake County, Indiana (subscription index at Ancestry.com) and in St. Joseph, Michigan ( 1832-1887 at Michigan GenWeb; 1889-1925 at RootsWeb)
How to Find Cook County Marriage Licenses After 1920
Marriage licenses 50 years or older can be obtained from the Cook County Clerk's Office either online for $15 each plus a small handling fee or by submittiting a manual search request if the image is not yet available online. You can also search the Cook County, Illinois Marriage Index, 1930-1960 at Ancestry.com. Ancestry's search allows you to use Soundex searching and to limit the results by day, month, and/or year.
Alternate sources of information include:
- Engagement and Marriage Notices
Historical Newspapers, Birth, Marriage, & Death Announcements, 1851-2003
Subscription database; available at Ancestry.com
Includes the Chicago Tribune, 1850-1985 and the Chicago Defender, 1921-1975
- Church Marriage
Records
See Newberry Library's Guide to Chicago Church and Synagogue Records. - Anniversary announcements
- Divorce records
Divorce records for Cook County can be obtained from the Circuit Court Archives or though a provider on Genlighten.com.
Cook County Marriage Applications
I'm often asked about Cook County marriage applications and I will summarize what I have learned. If you can suggest additions or corrections to the information on this page, please contact me.
As far as I can tell, there are no long-form marriage applications available for Cook County similar to the ones you can find for early marriages in other Illinois counties. I hope someday someone will discover that this is not the case.
It wasn't until the 1960s that Cook County began to use application forms that asked for the kinds of information genealogists are hoping to find.
The one application that I have seen was from the early 1900s and it was provided by the Cook County Clerk's Office in place of the license which hadn't been returned. The application was a 1/3 sheet of paper and it gave very little information—primarily the name of the groom (who obtained the license) and his address.
I have heard that some of the applications before the 1960s may provide birth dates but I haven't verified that and I don't know which years that would be.
Marriage applications can likely be obtained from the Cook County Clerk's Office for the same fee that they charge for copies of licenses. If you have questions, please get in touch with the clerk's office.