How to obtain copies of original death records before 1916.

Copies of death records included in the Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index may be obtained from the Illinois Regional Archives Depository System if IRAD holds death records for that county or from the county clerk in the county where the death occurred.

• Request a Death Record from IRAD
  Illinois Regional Archives Depositories (IRAD) hold original death records or microfilm copies for many Illinois counties. The IRAD holdings include death records for slightly more than half of the 102 counties in Illinois. Consult the Local Governmental Records Holdings Database to see if IRAD has death records for the county and date of the death you are requesting. Type the search term DEATH in the title field to return all death records in the IRAD holdings. If IRAD does have death records for the county you are searching and for the pertinent time period, write the appropriate IRAD depository and include in your letter all of the information on the death given in the Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index. Click here for the addresses and telephone numbers of the Illinois Regional Archives Depositories. Death record searches are free, but a small copy fee will be billed for records found. IRAD provides uncertified copies only. Certified copies must be requested from the county clerk.
   

• Request a Death Record from a County Clerk
  County clerks are the official custodians of all death records recorded in Illinois counties. To obtain copies of deaths found in the Pre–1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index, write the appropriate county clerk and include in your letter all of the information on the death given in the Pre-1916 Illinois Statewide Death Index. Click here for the addresses of the county clerks in all 102 Illinois counties. Only county clerks may issue certified copies of death records. Search and copy fees will vary from one county to another.

Copies of death records before 1916 are not available from the Reference Unit of the Illinois State Archives in Springfield. Please do not send correspondence, e-mail or telephone requests to the Illinois State Archives in Springfield.

Back to Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 Introduction page