Illinois Death Certificates 1916-1945 – Available at home !
FamilySearch has offered full downloadable copies of Illinois Death Certificates at it’s affiliate libraries for years. Recently they began offering full copies to folks logged in at home.
When adding persons to FindaGrave, I try to add the death certificate. Until recently I would search for the person on FamilySearch and a hint would pop up for the Illinois Death Certificate. When clicked on it would show a blurred image asking you to log in at a FamilySearch affiliate. I would save the web address and then open it when at the Genealogy Library in the McLean County Museum of History.
New! The image is no longer blurred and when clicked it opens a downloadable copy of the death certificate !
I recently wanted to find the Death Certificate for Amanda Lewis who died in McLean County on March 12, 1927. I had found her obit in The Pantagraph stating she was interred in Evergreen Cemetery and I wanted to add her to FindaGrave. I search multiple ways on FamilySearch and the Death Certificate would not show up in the hints.
How to find specific Illinois Death Certificates:
Family Search has all of the Illinois Death Certificate images stored on microfilm that is now digitized. The Certificates take up 684 reels of microfilm. They are stored by date with the counties in somewhat alphabetical order beginning in 1916. Below is a series of links on FamilySearch and how to use them to find specific DCs. I found Amanda Lewis’s DC this way:
Fastest – Link to an index of Illinois Death Certificates on Family Search – If you find your target here, click on the camera to open a downloadable image – success.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1438856 click box to open in new window
Amanda Lewis did not show up in this index, so I dug deeper to search the individual reels
Link to overview of the collection and how to use it – We are going to find individual reels needed
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/1438856 click box to open in new window
Page with reels listed in date order with the counties on each reel – You need the year of death . Find the year of death to see the reels held for that year – then find the spcific reel for the county interested in. Open that page to see all the images for the counties for that specific time period. Example: I found the reel containing McLean County for March of 1927 along with several other Counties – Open the reel and then scroll thru them (jumping 50-100 images at a time) until you find the county interested in – then scroll thru all the images for that county until you find the DC you want – I found Amanda Lewis this way.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/koha:471351 click box to open in new window