Cook County, Illinois Genealogy

United States &gt; Illinois &gt; Cook County

County Courthouse
Board of Commissioners 118 N. Clark St Chicago, IL

Parent County

 * 1831 -- Cook County was created on January 15, 1831 from Putnam County by an act of the Illinois State Legislature as the 54th county established in Illinois.
 * The unincorporated Fort Dearborn settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River became the new county's seat.
 * On May 7, 1831, Cook County elected its first officials.

Boundary Changes

 * Several counties were set off:
 * McHenry County 16 January 1836
 * Will County 12 Jan 1836
 * DuPage County 9 February 1839

Populated Places
Chicago, New Trier, Arlington Heights, Elmhurst, Berwyn Township, Schaumburg Township, more...

Neighboring Counties
DuPage | Kane | Lake | McHenry | Will | Lake County, Indiana

Biographies
The following might be helpful with Cook County, Illinois research:


 * The Chicago History Museum has a tremendous collection of on-line resources useful to family history researchers. Of particular interest are the Biographical Dictionary of Chicago, part of the Encyclopedia of Chicago, and a photo index of portraits taken by early Chicago photographers. The Society's collection includes tens of thousands of images from early photographers E.L. Brand and C.D. Mosher, among others, all indexed by the name of the person in the photograph, as well as by photographer and studio. Their collection can be searched at the Chicago Historical Society Research Center.

Census

 * Ward and ED Maps for 1870-1930 Censuses

Vital Records

 * Cook County Genealogy Online -- has more than 8 million birth, marriage, and death records for Cook County available online. (Fees are charged for obtaining copies.)

Web Sites

 * The Cook County ILGenWeb Project, an member of The ILGenWeb Project, an affiliate of The USGenWeb Project.
 * The USGenWeb Archives Project for Cook County
 * Newberry Library Genealogy Collection and Links
 * FamilySearch.org Family History Library Catalog for Cook County.