Illinois history begins with the ancient Mississippian culture, whose main urban center was Cahokia, near present day Collinsville IL. This civilization vanished for unknown reasons about 1500 C.E. It was replaced by the Illiniwek Confederation, an alliance of several tribes which gave the state of Illinois its name. During the 1600′s, Iroquois expansion into Illini territory which was caused by the settlement of the eastern U.S. by Europeans forced a competition between tribes in which the Illini were replaced by the Miami, Potawatomi, and Sauk tribes. The first Europeans in the area were Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette in 1673, who were French explorers following the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. As a consequence of their explorations, Illinois was annexed to the French empire until it passed to the British in 1763.

Illinois Territory was created in 1809, and a great many forts were constructed at the time of the War of 1812. Illinois was admitted as the 21st state of the Union in 1818. Early pioneers assisted living Illinois settlements, which were first established in the south and spread northwards, forcing out the natives. This led to the Black Hawk War of 1832, in which the militia defeated the natives and forced their tribes to move westwards. In 1839 Mormons fleeing persecution in the east established the settlement of Nauvoo on a bend in the Mississippi River. The town quickly expanded to 12,000 residents and was for a time the largest city in the state. However, when church founder Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844, the Mormons left Illinois for Utah which at that time was still Mexican territory. The city of Chicago began to grow after 1848 as a lake and later canal port and it also became a railroad hub after the Civil War. Chicago had become the largest city in the state by 1857.

During the Civil War, when Illinois native Abraham Lincoln called for troops, over a quarter million Illinoisans served in the Union Army in 150 infantry and 17 cavalry regiments. Unfortunately, Illinois and particularly Chicago politics has not always been so upstanding. The 1960 U.S. presidential election was thrown to John F. Kennedy by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, which established a precedent of manipulated and falsified presidential elections for all time with disastrous consequences forty years later. Also in 1960 Otto Kerner entered the governor’s mansion; in 1973 he was convicted on seventeen counts of giving bribes during his term as well as other charges. In 1972 Dan Walker became governor and in 1987 he was convicted of business crimes. George H. Ryan was governor in the 90′s and his administration was marred by scandals and he was put on trial in 2005. Rod Blagojevich became governor in 2003, and while he was immensely successful in increasing funding for Illinois healthcare and Chicagoland assisted living programs, nonetheless in 2008 he was arrested on charges of solicitation to commit bribery and conspiracy, and he was impeached in 2009 and removed from office.

For the purpose of preserving historical public marriage records of Illinois residents, the Illinois State Archives tied up with the Illinois State Genealogical Society in joint effort to compile records of marriages that took place in Illinois from 1763 to 1900. One of the main objectives is to avail them to the public in an easy and convenient way and there’s no better way than online. Online Illinois marriage records are not restricted to only pre-1901 marriages. They are available for marriages right up through the current index date. People now don’t have to travel to a particular government office for information as they can conduct a search on Illinois marriage records online. All that’s needed is a computer with internet access.

The main source of information is the offices of the respective County Clerks. It is derived from the original public marriage records which comprise of marriage registers, licenses, certificates and other documents and information. Information is also contributed by the county Genealogical societies and private citizens and can be uploaded directly by volunteers through the internet.

Illinois public marriage records include the names of the groom and the bride, the date and county where the marriage took place, name of the conducting official of the ceremony and marriage license details. If there had been multiple marriages by either of the party, or both, they will all show up as long as they occurred in the state of Illinois and are on its marriage index.

All public marriage records in Illinois are listed on the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index. Original marital records or microfilm copies for several of them are kept under the holding of the Illinois Regional Archives Depository System (IRAD). Uncertified copies of marriages of more than 70 of the 102 counties in Illinois are available at IRAD. Those which are not can be requested directly from the County Clerks. They are also the only officers authorized to provide certified copies of marriage records of their county.

Another increasingly popular option for marriage record search is the commercial record providers. These private enterprises operate record databases on a professional basis. On top of public sources such as the Illinois State Archives, universities and Genealogical societies, they also tap into private and proprietary networks. By and large, they are hassle-free and their coverage is nationwide. This is particularly handy when time is a factor and multiple states are concerned.