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This web page presents the files of digitalized microfilm images that I created in September 2012 and October 2013. I took just under 27,000 pictures in 2 weeks in 2012 and about 18,000 in 2013. The process of making the images organized and available for use requires a good deal of work by me, which will require years of image processing. So this web page brings some sense of organization and links to the files, in the raw form of the images as I took them. I had not originally made this page public. But in October 2013, after talking with Matt Rutherford of the Newberry Library, he said that their goal is to make these films more available, so that I should go ahead and make the page and the files public. Many of these records go back long before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. While none of these records are included in the book, those searching for pre-fire records can learn a lot from the book "Researcher's Guide to the Pre-Fire Records of Chicago and Cook County: Revised Edition".
About the Images I took the digital images with a camera aimed at the microfilm reader screen. I use the term "raw" for images that are as I took them, showing the microfilm reader and the immediate surrounding space. The images should all ideally be cropped, so that only the documents appear. However, the first step in my processing is simply to organize the images and make them available. So I am first putting the images into PDF files of the raw blocks of records. When there are only 300 or so records in a PDF, the software that I have can handle generation of the PDF at 300 dots per inch. For larger PDF files, I have to use 150 dpi, which sacrifices some visual quality but does not sacrifice readability. In some cases, large ledger books were used to record the original entries. For these, I took two images per page - first the top and then the bottom (although I sometimes took the bottom first and then the top and then the bottom again, when my rhythm was disturbed.) I also used the rule of thumb that if I lost track of whether I had photographed an image, then I would photograph it, even if that meant creating a duplicate. Since the person doing the microfilming had also used this rule of thumb, there is some redundancy of images, which final image processing must eventually eliminate. The PDF files are not necessarily in the order that they appear on the microfilm. They are in order by date within record type within reel within church/cemetery. I did not include trailing or leading blank pages in the PDF files. Pre-Fire Official Cook County and Chicago Records The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed the courthouse and city hall and most of the records. But many records survived or were later able to be legally proven. In 1938, the U. S. Work Projects Administration's Historical Records Survey inventoried Cook County and Chicago records. But the inventory went unpublished when the WPA ended, and the records languished in the Illinois State Archives. Wesley Johnston spent 2 years going through the records and 4 more to publish them in 1982, with a second edition in 2014. Click here to see the book on Amazon. |
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There are two reels of microfilm under call number 1076 and three under call number 1077. The organization of the films on the reels reflects the organization in the original books - but in reverse order, since reel 1 of microfilm 1076 has somehow become reversed. The bottom line is that there is a nightmarish jumble of records. For one example, there are different sections of the same type of records that have overlapping date ranges. For another example, the Minutes are a problem, since in the midst of them are multiple groups of death records and a list of names. And even when there are blocks of pages of the same types of records, they are often in reverse chronological order by year due to the microfilm order reversal, so that they are even further jumbled. Reel 1 of 1076 needs extensive work to properly organize the images into a final presentation. All I can do at this point is to try to separate out the blocks of records in the raw images, with the recognition that while this greatly improves access to the records, much more work is still needed to present the records properly. I have separated the blocks of records into different PDF files, rather than trying to put them all back into a single file for each type of record.
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There are two reels of microfilm under call number 867. Thus I have digitzed the complete set of Immanuel Church records held by Newberry. The organization of the films on the reels reflects the organization in the original books, except that the microfilmers chose to film the earliest book as the last one on the microfilm. The bottom line is that there is a real jumble of types of records. This is primarily due to the way that the entries were made in the books. Even the Newberry Library listing of contents on the side of the microfilm box did not have the actual order of the records on the film (nor in some cases the correct years), although the list was mostly accurate. For example, the records of confirmants from 1879 to 1908 was begun in a middle section of the book. But when in 1886 the list of confirmants grew and reached a page that was followed by another record enumeration, an earlier page in the book was used to continue the listing. But that section also ran out of room in 1894, so that yet a third section was begun on an even earlier page in the book. The result is that the confirmants for 1879 to 1908 are actually in thee blocks in reverse chronological order: 1894-1908, 1887-1894, 1879-1886. I have separated the blocks of records into different PDF files, rather than trying to put them all back into a single file for each type of record.
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There are two reels of microfilm under call number 1260. I have digitzed both reels. The organization of the films on the reels reflects the organization in the original books. I have separated the blocks of records into different PDF files, rather than trying to put them all back into a single file for each type of record.
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There are three reels of microfilm under call number 1173. I have digitzed only the first reel. The organization of the films on the reels reflects the organization in the original books. I have separated the blocks of records into different PDF files, rather than trying to put them all back into a single file for each type of record. Note that there are gaps in the years of some of the records. I do not know if the missing dates are covered in reel 2, nor do I know the reason for the gaps ... I can only show what is on reel 1, and this is what is on reel 1.
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There are two reels of microfilm under call number 1261. I have digitzed both reels. The organization of the contents and books on the reels is as shown in the "Wunders Cemetery Records" document. The records range from 1870 to 1944, except for one 20 Apr 1960 burial. For now, I have NOT separated the blocks of records into different PDF files. Each reel is on a single PDF file. So you did need to consult the "Wunders Cemetery Records Document" in order to know where to look for something.
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There are two reels of microfilm under call number 1215. I have digitzed both reels. The reels are nicely organized into the specific volumes, which are each reproduced in a separate PDF file here.
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There are three reels of microfilm under call number 1215, the same call number as Waldheim, since the cemeteries are adjacent. So the Forest Home reels are numbered 3-5. I have digitzed all three reels. The reels are nicely organized into the specific volumes, which are each reproduced in a separate PDF file here.
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