Cook County, Illinois
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Cook is a county in Illinois. It was formed in 1831 from the following county/ies: Putnam. Cook began keeping birth records in 1871, marriage records in 1856, and death records in 1871. It began keeping land records in *, probate records in *, and court records in 1871. For more information, contact the county at 118 North Clark St., Room 402, Chicago 60602. On the attached map, Cook is located at B7. * Illinois Regional Archives Depositor states, 'Most of the major records for the county (Cook) were destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871.'¦ The Cook County Recorder's Office has land records from 1871 onward. Prior to 1871, the Chicago Title Insurance Company has pre-fire tract and copy books as abstracted from the original documents filed in the Cook County Recorder's Office and from the issuance of the first government land patents. The Illinois State Archives has the original documents related to the government land patents. Federal land sale began from the various land offices in Illinois in 1814'¦' According to Szucs (see Background Sources), a will index survives that begins in the year 1850. The Illinois Historical Records Survey lists a record series titled 'Documented Record of Wills,' which begins in 1851 and a series titled 'Abstract of Probate Proceedings' beginning in 1861. All other probate records begin in 1871.
For information about the state of Illinois see Illinois Family History Research.
