Palatines to America - German Genealogy Society
Researching German Speaking Ancestors
Illinois Chapter
Please see meeting notices at the bottom of the page.
Illinois Chapter, Palatines to America focuses on publishing six newsletters a year. Their purpose is to provide help in researching your German-speaking and
Illinois ancestors.
Included in the newsletters is information on sites for research throughout
Illinois, information published by other organizations about Illinois data
and research, information about Germany, and current updates on Web sites. Member inquiries may be included in the Illinois Chapter newsletter. See Research Assistance below under the posted inquiries for instructions.
The pictured windmill was built in the mid 1800s by a German immigrant with craftsmen from Holland and is still standing at the corner of Grand Ave and County Line Rd in DuPage County, IL.
Volunteer Opportunities Volunteers are need to fill a number of positions on the PalAm Illinois Chapter Board of Directors. Please review the opportunities available by clicking here.
The Illinois Blue Book county and county seat map may be viewed here to assist you in determining which counties your ancestors are from and the county seat for those counties.
NEW Research Assistance: We have started two new services for all Pal Am members: a list of members that will do local research, click here and an area where members may have inquiries posted, click here.
NEW Ancestor Registry: As a service to our members, we are maintaining a registry of the names and residences of ancestors. The purpose is to share research efforts with those who may be researching the same surnames, click here.
Sites of Interest -- Illinois Libraries and Records
Illinois State Archives On this link you will find vital records under the "SEARCH OUR ONLINE DATABASES".Illinois State Library This link is to the Illinois State Library home page.
Illinois Regional Archives Depository System This link is for archived records of local governments of Illinois.
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, genealogy & history library
Illinois County Clerks The names, addresses and phone numbers for county clerks in all 102 Illinois counties. This is where to obtain birth, marriage, and death records prior to 1916 when the state took over the death record function.
Illinois Circuit Court Clerks This site will provide the names and addresses of the county circuit court clerks that are a good source for court documents including criminal records and civil records such as wills, probate records and divorce records and some even have naturalization records.
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) This site provides information about Illinois death, marriage, birth, and divorce records; and a genealogy section.
Cook County and Illinois Death Records and Indexes
Encyclopedia of Chicago History of Chicago's German population.
Chicago's Southeast Side Information and history on Southeast Chicago.
Chicago History Museum
Family History Library The largest genealogical collection in the world. When the Family History Library site comes up, click on the "Library" tab at the top of the page to access the library catalog of microfilm and microfiche available.
The Newberry Library Genealogy data at the Newberry Library
Lincoln Library's Sangamon Valley Collection The Sangamon Valley Collection (SVC) provides in-depth resources for the study of Springfield, Illinois, Sangamon County and the eleven adjacent counties.
Contact us by E-mail
Palatines to America - Illinois Chapter
P O Box 9638
Peoria, IL 61612-9638
Or call us at 309 691-0292
May 16, 2009 Illinois Chapter - Spring Chapter meeting at the Schaumburg Township Library, Schaumburg, IL We have three speakers for the following topics for the Spring meeting: 1. Universal of Illinois archives which includes the records of the German Aid Society from about 1883 - 1910; 2. The Newberry Library search materials for the local area and 3. The President of the Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois. For more information, email us.