Illinois, Civil Marriages - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Illinois 

Image Visibility
Whenever possible, FamilySearch makes images available for all users. However, ultimate rights to view images on our website are granted by the record custodians. The Illinois, Civil Marriages collection is available to the Family History Library, FamilySearch Centers, and to members of the supporting organization, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

What is in the Collection?
This is an index to selected civil marriages from published transcripts for the counties of Boone, Champaign, Christian, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, and Hancock. The collection covers the years 1833 to 1889. Images for some counties are unavailable due to privacy restrictions. You many also find births, deaths and church records mixed in with the marriages.

Coverage Map
To see a coverage map of FamilySearch's holdings of Illinois marriages, click here.

Collection Content
The information in the records varies by county, time period and recorder. You may find any of the following:


 * Full names of bride and groom
 * Ages of bride and groom
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Parents’ names
 * Previous husband or wife, if any
 * Birthplace of both bride and groom
 * Notes

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * Your ancestor’s name.
 * Other identifying information such as residence, birth date or age, names of other family members and family relationships

Search the Collection
To search the collection by name: Fill in the requested information in the boxes on the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the individuals in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at the information on several individuals comparing the information about them to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:
 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names, or variations of their name, throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Save a copy of the image or transcribe the information. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors. For example:


 * Use the estimated age to calculate a birth date.
 * Use locations to find family in census, church, and land records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.
 * Titles may be clues to property ownership, occupations, rank, or status within the community.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

What if I Can't Find Who I'm Looking For?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby localities.
 * A boundary change could have occurred and the record of your ancestor is now in a neighboring locality.

Citations for This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation: