Uhlich Children's Home in Chicago

Our latest research project includes the search of records from the Uhlich Children's Home in Chicago from the 1950's. This collection at the Chicago History Museum consists of 13 boxes of documents and ledgers. While most of the records relate to administration paperwork, there are some documents that pertain to specific children that were admitted to the home.

The Uhlich Evangelical Lutheran Orphan Asylum was first established in 1869 as a home for German American Orphans. If you have family that spent time at the home, it might be worth the time to look at this collection to see what you can find.
http://www.spucc.org/timeline/1871-1916

http://digitalcollection.chicagohistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16029coll6/id/164

Researching Illinois Prison Records and Cook County Criminal Case Files

Some of the most of fun I have had in a long time was researching Illinois Department of Correction records for a client writing a book.  I say “fun” with a little trepidation because I realize at the time of the incarceration, I am sure family members were less than thrilled to find out their spouse, children or siblings were being locked up for committing a crime.  But these records from many years ago can spark your imagination for what in the world they were thinking when they robbed someone of .89 cents and ended up in prison for 3 years.  Or why they used 4 alias’ – maybe that’s why you couldn’t find them in a census record??

 If you have relatives and ancestors that spent time in one of these correction centers, or suspect they may have had a vacation to the pokey, the records can be a goldmine of information.  Sometime they contain name of parents, and siblings.  They also might identify the years of entry and date of discharge, as well as their appearance, religion, age and health conditions.

Illinois State Archives

The Illinois State Archives has a variety of records from the Department of Corrections for the following prisons. 

1.      Alton State Penitentiary 1833-1975

2.      Centralia Correctional Center 1979-1999

3.      Dwight Correctional Center 1933-1938 (limited to photos)

4.      Joliet/Stateville Correctional Center 1874-1975

5.      Menard Correctional Center 1869-1973

6.      Pontiac Correctional Center 1869-1978

There are various records including Register of Prisoners, Discharge Registers, Hospital Case Registers, and Psychologist & Psychiatrist Registers, just to name a few.

Below is an example of a Prison Record found at Joliet/Stateville Correctional center in 1914:

Also below are close-up snips of this record showing various alias’ used by the criminal, name of his mother, and punishment received while serving time.  Yes, it’s true, John/James/Thomas/Albert got in trouble for swimming in a fish tank while locked up.  Now why they had a fish tank at the Joliet prison is a research project for another day.

Cook County Archives

At the Cook County Archives, there is a Criminal Felony Index Book from 1872-1983.  If your ancestors possibly had a dust up with law enforcement, then the record below from 1878 is what you might find:

Note that the actual case files from 1899-1927 have been destroyed.  While these files are missing, there is still some detail found on the microfiche index that makes it worth the time to review.  Below is a small example that includes the case #, if they used an alias, and the nature of the crime:

OTHER CRIMINAL RECORDS IN THE US

Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com has a robust catalog of prison records from all over the world.  Most of them are found under the Wills, Probate, Land, Tax and Criminal section.  Below is a listing of the US records found when I searched the keyword Prison:

Collection

Alabama, Convict Records, 1886-1952

Alcatraz, California, U.S. Penitentiary, Prisoner Index, 1934-1963

Arizona, Prison Records, 1875-1929

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Penitentiary, Prisoner Index, 1880-1922

California, Prison and Correctional Records, 1851-1950

Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records, 1862-1865

Georgia, Central Register of Convicts, 1817-1976

Historic records of the Fifth New York Cavalry, First Ira Harris Guard

Idaho, Old Penitentiary Prison Records, 1882-1961

Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S. Penitentiary, Name Index to Inmate Case Files, 1895-1936

Louisiana, State Penitentiary Records, 1866-1963

McNeil Island, Washington, U.S. Penitentiary, Photos and Records of Prisoners Received, 1887-1939

Montana, Prison Records, 1861-1968

New Mexico, Prison and Correctional Records, 1905-1958

New York, Clinton Prison Admission Ledgers, 1851-1866, 1926-1939

New York, Governor's Registers of Commitments to Prisons, 1842-1908

New York, Prisoners Received at Newgate State Prison, 1797-1810

New York, Sing Sing Prison Admission Registers, 1865-1939

Pennsylvania, Prison, Reformatory, and Workhouse Records, 1829-1971

Prison diary, of Michael Dougherty, late Co. B, 13th. Pa. Cavalry

Prison Life in Andersonville

Prison Press (Waupun, Wisconsin)

Texas, Prison Employee Ledgers, 1861-1938

The True Story of Andersonville Prison

Web: Chester County, Pennsylvania, Criminal and Prison Record Indexes, 1681-1911

Find My Past

Find My Past also has a few Prison collections.

Title

Colorado, State Penitentiary Prisoner Index, 1871-1973

Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records 1862-1865

Nebraska, Prison Record Index, 1870–1990

Family Search

A simple search of the word Prison on Family Search brings up hundreds of collections both online and at the library.  One such collection is the Prison Registers for San Quentin 1851-1897.  The below example shows the prisoners name, crime, when received, term of sentence, county sent from, and when discharged.

All of the nuggets of information that you can find from these records make it a very important tool for family research.  This, of course, assumes you had ancestors with a colorful past.  Is it bad that I wish I had more criminals in my own family?

Chicago Genealogy

There is a lot to learn about Chicago Genealogy and what is available to research, but here are some of my favorite resources and what they can tell you:

Chicago Vital Records – After 1871, vital records are available and fairly easy to research.  The challenge is that death and marriage records before 1900 do not name parents.  But other clues can be gathered, including where the person lived on a birth or death certificate, or whether the person was married in a church or by the Justice of the Peace.   And the Illinois index of early marriages and deaths is a great resource, especially for finding misspelled names. 

Church Records – While the Great Chicago Fire destroyed all vital records before 1871, Church Records help to fill in those early blanks and can take you back as early as 1850.   Certain Catholic Churches even kept records that identified where the person was born and when.  This is especially true in the Italian and Polish ethnic churches.   

Cemetery Records – Not only can you find the date of death, but headstones can include place of birth, year of birth and if lucky, where they were born.  You can also see who they are buried with, or near, for major clues.  Don’t just rely on Find a Grave.  Go visit the cemetery in person.  One of my favorite stories is how I began to research the Catholic Cemetery of Calvary in Evanston.  I started out by pulling the cemetery record of my Irish Great Great Grandmother.  What I uncovered was a burial plot with 8 people in the same grave.  Then it spiraled out of control - who were these people buried with my Julia who died in 1884?  Over a period of about a year, I bet I went back to this cemetery 25 times, becoming fast friends with the office manager.  But my biggest discovery was finding my 3x Great Grandfather from Quebec who was buried in the same plot with his grandson.  I had no idea he even came to the US and never thought to search vital records for him.  Without searching for his grandson’s cemetery record, I would have never found him in Chicago.   

Voter Registrations of 1888, 1890 and 1892 – These records identify the courthouse where the person was naturalized, how long the person lived in Chicago, how long they lived in Illinois, and their current address.  It is often in alphabetical order by last name so it can help you see other potential family members.  This is a great replacement for the destroyed 1890 Federal Census.

City Directories & Telephone Directories – Published books began around 1839 and help you plot the areas where your family lived, and when they moved.  These addresses help you define nearby relatives and what churches they may have attended.

Ward Maps – The city was constantly changing its street names and ward boundaries.  It’s important to identify where your ancestors lived, but that can also be a challenge.  Sometimes they lived in the same house on multiple census records, but the street names are different.  Ward maps can help you figure out these changes.

Census Records – Chicago census records show the street a person lived on starting in the 1880 census. 

Naturalization Records – There are 3 places where an individual could have been naturalized in Cook County:  Circuit Court, Superior Court and District Court.  The first 2 are found at the Daley Center, while the District Court filings are found at the NARA Great Lakes Region.

Immigration – the Newberry Library houses many books on ethnic immigration that has an index of names, making it easier to find often misspelled names. 

NARA Great Lakes Region – This repository houses the District Court Naturalization records of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, along with many other court records.

Divorce Records – While records are off-site, once you find an index of a divorce, the record is a goldmine for information.  The divorce of my adopted Grandmother’s birth mother led to naming her sister as a witness in the trial.  That led to helping me find where the birth mother ended up dying, and ultimately where she was born.

Probates – Again, these records are kept off-site.  If an index is found for that person, then it takes up to 2 weeks for them to arrive for viewing.

Land Records – Did your ancestors own the property they were living in and for how long?  That can be found by researching land records. 

Adoptions, Orphanages and Guardianships – There are various ways to research this difficult area of your tree.   Illinois adoptee birth records prior to 1946 can now be obtained by family.  Also, Catholic Charities can be helpful in finding records at a Catholic Orphanage.  Guardianship Records in Cook County can be viewed on microfilm, and census records can be combed for children living at local orphanages. 

Autopsy Records – These records don’t necessarily lead to family clues, but are interesting and help shape the stories of a person’s life.

Newspaper Obituaries – The challenge with early obituaries in Chicago is that the city had so many people dying on any given day, that the obits were just kept to the basics.  Unless the person was of prominence or had an interesting life story, the most you can get from them are maiden names, children, if the person was single or married, along with what church they attended and where the burial will take place.  On a few obituaries, it will tell you what country they were born, but that is rare.

Libraries – Several key libraries are essential to finding nuggets of Genealogy information:  Newberry Library, Harold Washington Library, Family History Library, and Northeastern Illinois University Library

If any of your ancestors lived in Chicago, or even had a brief stay in this great city, then I strongly encourage you research them immediately.  My simple advice is to never give up until you exhaust all avenues available to you.  Based on my years of experience in Chicago, it can be an expansive yet rewarding search.

Chicago History Museum Funeral Home Records

My recent genealogy adventure was to look at funeral home records for C. H. Jordan & Company at the Chicago History Museum. The below image is an example of an entry by the undertaker in 1907.

This particular collection has records dating back to 1866, before the Chicago Fire.

The Chicago History Museum has the following Undertaker’s Records in their Collection:

1. Birren & Sons Funeral Home, 1868-1943
2. C. H. Jordan & Company, 1866-1924
3. Frederic Klaner, Undertaker and Embalmer, 1893-1898
4. Gleason Funeral Home (formerly Martin Gleason & Son), 1916-1977
5. Henry F. Schroeder, 1908-1928

Considering that there are some records from 1866-1871, it might be worth reviewing if you have ancestors that disappeared during this timeframe when Death Certificates would not exist because of the fire in October 1871.