Vital Records

Cemeteries

The following four cemeteries have over 60% of the Jewish burials in Chicagoland:

Waldheim (Forest Park): 150,000 burials from 1860s-present
Westlawn (Chicago): 48,000 burials from 1937-present
Silverman & Weiss (Forest Park): 26,000 from 1888-present
Free Sons (Forest Park): estimated 12,000 burials from late 1800s-present

The oldest cemeteries in Chicagoland are:

Hebrew Benevolent Society: 1500 burials from 1854-2001
Jewish Graceland: 5000 burials from 1857-2000
Rosehill: estimated 10,000 Jewish burials from 1860s-present
Waldheim, Silverman & Weiss, Free Sons: shown above

Complete list of Jewish cemeteries

We have also compiled an alphabetical list of all organizations and Congregations which have sections at one of the Jewish cemeteries in Chicagoland. By accessing this list you can determine which cemetery has the section you are interested in finding. This list can be found at:

Organizational Cemetery Sections

Funeral Homes

Three funeral home companies exist today which have historical records. Their records may include address of deceased, next of kin including address, phone number, burial plot location, Social Security number of the deceased, clergy, ...

Piser Chapels: records from 1900 holding files of former Original Weinsteins, Hartman-Miller, Gratch-Mandel, Albert & Jaffe, and J. (Jacob) Weinstein.

Weinstein Family Services: records from 1894 holding files of former Weinstein Bros., Palmer-Lauer, and Robert A. Weinstein.

Furth & Company: records from 1930s

Death Records including Certificates/Notices/Obituaries

Death certificates were not required by law in Illinois until after 1916. Some records do exist, however, going back as far as the great Chicago Fire in 1871.

Earliest (1871-1950):

Illinois State Death Index: 1871-1950 (on-line)
Family History Center (FHC) Wilmette: Certificates 1878-1947 (over half)
Newberry Library: Illinois death index 1916-1947
Illinois Regional Archives Depository: Indexes
Illinois Regional Archives Depository: Cook County Coroner's Inquest
         Record Index 1872-1911
Illinois Regional Archives Depository: Chicago Police Department
         Homocide Index 1870-1930

Modern (1940-present):

Chicago Tribune Historical Archive (on-line at local libraries)
Social Security Death Index (SSDI): 1962-present
Proquest: 1985-present (on-line via local libraries)
Chicago Tribune Online: 1985-present
Chicago Obituary Database: 1994-1998 (via Jewishgen)
Chicago Sun Times Online : 2001-present

All Years:

Cook County Vital Records (1871-present)
Newspaper microfilms (1849-present)
Chicago Public Library (Harold Washington): all newspapers
Chicago Historical Society, Newberry Library: some
Schaumburg, Arlington Heights Libraries: Chicago Tribune (1849-present)