Illinois For Further Reading

United States   Illinois    For Further Reading

Several handbooks give further information about research, records, and record-finding aids in Illinois. Among these are:


 * Beckstead, Gayle, and Mary Lou Kozub. Searching in Illinois: A Reference Guide to Public and Private Records. Costa Mesa, Calif.: ISC Publications, 1984. This is a source for locating federal, state, county, and city or town records and resources. It also gives lists of cemeteries, libraries, and newspapers and shows addresses of genealogical and historical societies. This guide has a special emphasis for adoptees.


 * Clements, John. Illinois Facts: A Comprehensive Look at Illinois Today, County by County. Dallas, Tex. Clements Research II, 1989. This book gives details on the government offices and their functions and provides descriptions of each county, its location, climate, people, economy, and transportation.


 * DuMelle, Grace. Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide to Family History in the City and Cook County. Chicago, Illinois: Lake Claremont Press, 2005.


 * Eichholz, Alice, ed. Red Book : American State, County, and Town Sources. 3rd ed. Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2004. Contains bibliographies and background information on history and ethnic groups. Also contains maps and tables showing when each county was created. Free online version; ; WorldCat entry


 * Genealogical Sources in Chicago, Illinois 1835–1900. Chicago: Chicago Genealogical Society, 1982. This contains Chicago maps and a list of ward boundaries in addition to suggesting sources for Chicago research.


 * Gooldy, Pat, and Ray Gooldy. Manual for Illinois Genealogical Research. Indianapolis, Ind.: Ye Olde Genealogie Shoppe, 1994. The source gives addresses of county courthouses, genealogical societies, and record repositories and gives Illinois locations of record categories such as census, land, military, and church records.


 * O'Hara, Margaret. Finding Your Chicago Ancestor. 2nd ed. N.p.: M. O’Hara, 1982. This includes a list of the churches in Chicago by denominations and ethnic groups, suggests sources for research, and gives addresses of various archives.


 * Schweitzer, George K. Illinois Genealogical Research. Knoxville, Tennessee: Geo. K. Schweitzer, 1997. Includes types of records, research procedures, and county listings.


 * Szucs, Loretto Dennis. Chicago and Cook County: A Guide to Research. Rev. ed. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1996. Ancestry is a trademark of Ancestry, Inc. Chapters describe record types and the major archives and libraries in Chicago and Cook County holding such records. Selected bibliographies are found at the end of some chapters.


 * Walsh, Diane Renner. Research in Illinois. Arlington, Virginia: National Genealogical Society, 2007. Part of the "Research in the States Series," this book provides a guide to repositories and records.

Online digital versions of Illinois state resources can often be found by conducting a search engine search for "Illinois" plus a related word or phrase to narrow down the search (such as "Illinois Biography"). Similar searches can be conducted in specific resources such as Google Books and Internet Archive.

WorldCat can help you identify a library with a copy of a specific book.

Additional resources can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog by using a Place Search under:


 * ILLINOIS - GENEALOGY - HANDBOOKS, MANUALS, ETC.