Illinois, U.S., Marriage Index, 1860-1920

This collection is an index to marriage records in the state of Illinois for the years 1860 through 1920. The Illinois Marriage Records Index extracts details from historical marriage certificates and licenses and, unless the record was incomplete, will feature the full names of the bride and groom, as well as the marriage date and where the marriage took place.

The Illinois State Archives, in conjunction with the Illinois State Genealogical Society, created this marriage database using volunteers and staff to enter marriage records from public record offices across the state into a single marriage records index. Marriage records are kept by each individual county clerk's office, so historical marriage certificates and licenses had to be located, and information was extracted into the Illinois Marriage Index by county.

Marriage license copies can be obtained from the county clerk's office where the marriage took place, or in some cases through the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) System.

Please note that this is an ongoing project and does not include full coverage for the state. Marriage records typically began being recorded at the time the county was formed, so this collection includes some records of marriages that took place before 1860, although the bulk of the records are from the time frame 1860–1920.

The original Cook County marriage records prior to 1871 were destroyed in the Great Fire of Chicago. The "Sam Fink Index," extracted from various Chicago newspapers that listed marriages, is a good substitute for the missing Chicago records. That index is available here on Ancestry, as well.