Chicago Birth Registers, 1871-1915
About these recordsThe Chicago birth registers provide essentially the same information as Chicago birth certificates, but in a different format—a single line of information which spans two pages. My guess is that the registers were created from the information provided on the birth certificates ("returns of birth") which were filled out by a person in attendance at the birth, usually physician or midwife.
Indexing
The Cook County Birth Index, 1871-1915 provides an identification number which can be used to locate an entry in the birth registers. However, if you don't find an entry in the birth index, it is possible, and worthwhile, to search the birth registers directly. Doing this can help you find births that were recorded under an unexpected spelling or births that were registered but don't appear in the index.
Format
54 microfilm reels
Arrangement
The arrangement varies depending on the time period and I will post more specific information at a later date. Entries were probably made in the order that the returns were received and they are not alphabetical by surname or chronological by birth day.
In the early registers, most of the entries for a
particular month are together, but entries for other months will be
intermingled. For example, if a January birth was reported in March, it would
appear with the March births. This does not seem to be the case with the later
volumes. The later volumes have alphabetic sections for a particular time span
(often six months). In other words, a volume might begin with all of the "A"
surname births January, followed by a blank page or two, followed by all of the
"A" surname births for February, etc. In these volumes, late returns are entered
at the end of the proper month/surname letter section and stillbirths are often
recorded there as well.
FHL Catalog
View Entry
Information generally found on these records
register number
child's name
child's sex
no. of child of this mother
race or color
place of birth (street address)
father's nativity and age
mother's nativity and age
father's name
mother's name (maiden name is generally provided)
mother's residence if other than place of confinement
father's occupation
name of party attending and making return
Tips for searching the birth registers
(1) Each birth register film may include two or three different register volumes. When you look up the film number, make a note of which film item you will be looking at. Scroll through to the right item, locate the surname letter group and the correct month, and then use the register number to find the correct entry.
(2) Information written on the binding side of the register book pages is sometimes clipped off on the films and the mother's age, given name, and/or maiden name may be missing or only partially visible.
The parents' place of nativity may not be recorded as specifically in the birth registers as it was on the birth certificate.
(3) In some of the later registers, stillbirths are recorded at the end of each surname letter section.
(4) A few delayed birth registrations are recorded at the end of some surname letter sections.
(5) It is possible to search the birth registers without having a register number from the microfiche index. If you approach your search in this way, it is important to remember that in the early registers, births may not have been recorded in the month that they occurred.
(6) In some instances, there may be a birth register entry when no birth certificate seems to be available, or there may be a birth certificate when no birth register entry seems to have been made.
(7) In the earliest birth registers all of the births for a particular month aren't grouped together. For example, it is possible to find a January births recorded on pages which have mostly February births, etc.
(8) If you are searching for a surname that begins with a common first letter, be careful to make sure that the section doesn't continue in an odd place in the register or you may miss a name. For example, you might find "J" entries between the "B" and "C" entries, if that was where the clerk found a blank page to record the "overflow." Similarly, if you find that "B" is followed by "J," scroll forward and you're likely to see that the register picks up with "C" after a few pages.