Church records and the information they provide vary greatly depending on the denomination and the record keeper. They may contain information about members of the congregation, such as age; date of baptism, christening, or birth; marriage information and maiden names; and death date. Records may include names of other relatives who were witnesses or members of the congregation. The members of some churches were predominantly of one nationality or ethnic group.

In the decades following statehood, the largest religious groups in Illinois were the Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches. These groups came primarily from the southern states. At the same time, Congregationalists, Lutherans, and members of the Reformed faiths came from the eastern states. Roman Catholics became numerous in Illinois after 1860, especially in the northern industrial areas. Several counties in the northeastern part of the state became havens for Lutheran Scandinavians.

The Illinois State Archives collected some early Illinois church records that were given to the Illinois State Library. The Family History Library has microfilms of records from Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches and copies of many Catholic records from the Chicago area. The library also has some published histories of various denominations, including the Catholic, Methodist, Disciples of Christ, Brethren, Mennonite, and Baptist churches. See the Tracing LDS Families Research Outline (34080) for records of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in Illinois.

Church histories frequently provide valuable historical background for the communities the churches serve. Inventories of church archives are also available for several denominations. See the “Church Records” section of the United States Research Outline (30972) for more repositories and major collections.

Most church records are scattered and remain in the custody of existing churches. Some, however, have been collected into central repositories, especially those from congregations that have merged or disbanded. You can write to the following addresses to learn where records of an area are located:

Baptist

American Baptist Historical Society
1106 South Goodman St.
Rochester, NY 14620
Telephone: 716-473-1740

The American Baptist Historical Society in Rochester, New York, is national in scope, though records in the archive cover primarily the eastern United States. The records are mostly statistical in nature. They may have some information about ministers and missionaries, but they may have little more than lists of lay members. Any records of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths were kept by the choice of the minister, not by mandate of the church. The departing minister may or may not have left his records with the church or a succeeding minister.

Lutheran

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA Archives)
8765 West Higgins Road
Chicago IL 60631-4198
Telephone: 312-380-2818
Fax: 312-380-2977

The ELCA Archives (formerly known as the ALC Archives or Archives of the American Lutheran Church) is the central archive for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States. If a church unit is still active, the archives will help locate its records. If a church has been disbanded, its records will be located in the archives. The archives will accept genealogy requests by mail. It has microfilm copies of records for many congregations, which can be borrowed for a small fee. A partial list of church records in the archive collection is listed in:

ALC Archives. ALC Congregations on Microfilm. Dubuque, Iowa: The Archives, 197–?. (FHL fiche 6330690–93; computer number 170040.) The records are arranged by state and city of congregation. Fiche 6330690 includes Illinois.

Methodist

Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference
United Methodist Church Historical Society
1211 North Park Street
Bloomington, IL 61701
Telephone: 309-828-5092, ext. 227

The Illinois Great Rivers Conference UMC Historical Society was recently created through the merger of the Southern and the Central conferences and is still consolidating its records and establishing policy. Its records cover central and southern Illinois. They have records of some disbanded congregations. Members of the staff will do some searching of those records for a small fee.

Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary
Attn: Archives
2121 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60201
Telephone: 847-866-3909

The Archive of the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary houses the records of the Northern Illinois Conference of the Evangelical Methodist Church. In addition to records of disbanded churches, it has records of many Scandinavian congregations. The archive has no direct phone line, so you will need to make inquiries by mail. Selected records of the archive have been microfilmed and are in the Family History Library collection.

Roman Catholic

Archives of the Archdiocese of Chicago
Joseph Cardinal Bernadine Archive and Record Center
Attn: Assistant Research Archivist
711 West Monroe
Chicago, IL 60661
Telephone: 312-831-0711

The telephone number of the Archive and Record Center accesses a voice mail menu. Selecting the “reference” option allows a caller to place a request for genealogical research. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of parish records from the Archdiocese of Chicago to 1915.

Church histories and records can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Locality Search under:

ILLINOIS, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- CHURCH RECORDSILLINOIS, [COUNTY], [TOWN]- CHURCH HISTORY

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