Source Information

Ancestry.com. Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Deaths Index, 1878-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Original data:

Illinois, Cook County Deaths 1878–1922.” Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2010. Illinois Department of Public Health. “Birth and Death Records, 1916–present." Division of Vital Records, Springfield, Illinois.

About Cook County, Illinois, U.S., Deaths Index, 1878-1922

This database contains an index of details extracted from Cook County, Illinois, death records.

What’s in the Index

This index was extracted from Cook County death certificates and registers held by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Though legislation requiring that births and deaths be registered in Illinois was not passed until 1877, Cook County began recording births, marriages, and deaths after the Great Fire in 1871. Responsibility for registration was assigned to local registrars in 1915, which led to improved reporting.

While details vary based on information required on the original and whether the form was filled out completely, entries in this index may list

  • name
  • gender
  • race/ethnicity
  • birth date
  • birthplace
  • age
  • occupation
  • residence
  • street address
  • marital status
  • spouse
  • date of death
  • place of death
  • place of burial
  • date of burial
  • cemetery name
  • father’s name and birthplace
  • mother’s name and birthplace
  • FHL film number

The FHL film number refers to a microfilm copy of the source held by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.