In 1915, the state of Illinois gave the responsibility of recording births and deaths to local registrars who reported the information to the county clerk and the State Board of Health (now known as the Illinois Department of Public Health). However, many were still not registered because the penalties for non-compliance were weak. All births and deaths were to be reported to the county clerk by physicians. In 1877, the State Board of Health was created to supervise registration of births and deaths. The few existing originals that were created by the county clerk may be found in the county clerk’s office or in one of the Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD). A fire in 1871 destroyed the Cook County Courthouse and nearly all previous records housed there. The recording of vital records was voluntary until 1877 so few births and deaths were recorded. In 1843, a law was passed where relatives of a deceased person could appear before the clerk of the county commissioner’s court and report information regarding the death. Then, the physicians transmitted the information to their medical society which published the information in the newspapers. Legislation in 1819 required physicians to record births and deaths for their practices. By the early 1900s most events were recorded on pre-printed forms. Early records were kept in register books beginning in 1877. This collection consists of a name index to deaths for Chicago and Cook County, Illinois. 4.2 I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?.4.1 I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?.
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