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Vital Records Index
Instructions and Ordering Information Champaign County, Illinois, first began recording birth and death information on its county residents in 1878. By state law, all other counties began keeping birth and death records at the same time (except Cook County, which began in 1871). Certified photocopies of the birth and death records (1878-Current) are available for a $12.00 fee at: Champaign County Clerk's Office; Brookens Administrative Building; 1776 East Washington St.; Urbana, IL. 61801. These photocopies are made from the original paper documents and they are clear and easy-to-read. The $12.00 fee is required for the search, even if the search does not result in locating the record. See the Champaign County Clerk's website for current fees and regulations. In order to assist researchers, the Champaign County Genealogical Society wanted to create an index of the vital records. Work was begun on microfilm copies of the early birth and death registers and certificates, but the poor quality of some of the microfilm made accurate indexing difficult. Permission was given for the volunteers to photocopy the 1878-1918 handwritten volumes of books which contained backup copies of the original records. (Volume 1 containing the backup copies of death records (1902-1903) could not be located, but these records are indexed from microfilm copies of the original certificates and are available in the Local History Online index database at The Urbana Free Library website). The bound volumes were created in the years prior to preservation techniques, such as microfilming or photocopying, and their existence meant that there was an off-site copy of the original records. Champaign County officials recorded births and deaths in Registers, Volume A and B, until around 1900, and then they began to create individual certificates. When either a certificate or register record of interest is located in this Birth and Death Records Index, then copies of the register entries or the certificates can be ordered from the Champaign County Clerk's Office. In addition, the microfilm copies of the original records; deaths from 1878-1916 and births from 1878-1900, are available to be viewed and copied for $.15 per page at the Champaign County Historical Archives in The Urbana Free Library. Photocopies of the backup volumes; deaths from 1878-1916, and births from 1878-1918, are also available in the Archives and can be viewed or copied by in-house patrons for the same $.15 per page fee. The Birth and Death Records Index was created by CCGS volunteers who believed in the value of indexes in genealogical research. Champaign County Genealogical Society hopes that this index will assist everyone in their Champaign County, Illinois, search.
Please contact the archives for additional information: Phone: 217-367-4025 |