On Saturday, June 6th, a crowd of 160 members and guest were signed in at our registration table staffed by members Christine Visconti, Ron Tallurico and Richard Hartzel. This was the 3rd largest audience to attend our quarterly meeting, held at the Riverside Township Hall. At the business portion of our meeting we held our annual elections. One position was open: that of the one year board member position. George Rokos who held the position for the membership year of 1997 to 1998 ran unopposed for this position and will hold this board seat for another year.
At the program portion of our meeting, we were privileged to hear Philip Costello, Archivist at the Office of the Circuit Court Clerk of Cook County. Mr. Costello presented a very informative as well as entertaining talk on the Archives for the Circuit Court of Cook County. Mr. Costello covered in his talk and 32 page hand out, the holdings of the Archives. It was pointed out that at one time the county was able to naturalize people, and because of this fact the Circuit Court archives holds many pre-1906 and post 1906, Declaration of Intent to Naturalize and Actual Naturalization Petitions. One important fact about naturalization papers: prior to 1906 very little information was put in the Naturalization or Intent to Naturalize papers; but after 1906 much more useful information can be found on these forms.
Other legal forms can be found at the Circuit Court Archives. It was pointed out that when people die it is a matter of law for their estate to go through Probate (with some exceptions). Since estates go through Probate, wills and other heirship papers needed to be filed with the court. In these papers you might be able to find relatives mentioned as well as how much assets your ancestors had stashed away. In some cases relatives located back in the old country with place of residents might be revealed.
Many other legal documents were mentioned that might be useful in finding information on your ancestors. Some mentioned were, civil and criminal cases as well as divorce cases. Some files, however, are now closed: adoption cases, mental health cases and juvenile cases.
In closing his presentation Mr. Costello invited all to visit him at his office to search the archives. The only stipulation is that you call ahead and make an appointment. The Archive's address is
After the presentation once again a delicious dessert table was prepared by Mary Ellen Panoch Zuro and her assistants: Joan Miller, Catherine Hartzel, and Jeanne Skoog. A special thank you goes out to the many people who bring desserts to our meetings.
Links to Cook County-Related sites:
Cook Country Clerk's Office
Cook Country Bureau of Vital Statistics
Libraries with Special Interests & National Archives in Cook County, Illinois
Cook County USGenWeb Online Resources
Cook Country Bureau of Vital Statistics
The Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern
Illinois University
is a repository of primary sources on Chicago municipal government
as well as genealogical information for Cook County.
Databases and electronic resources housed at UIC
of particular interest to Chicago researchers
And of course...
The CSAGSI Links Page