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.