It's my understanding that 1877 was the first year that the Illinois State Board of Health required documentation in addition to the marriage license. Even with this requirement, according to the kind folks at IRAD, this documentation wasn't always provided by the bride, groom, and/or officials involved. When you order a license from IRAD, they send everything that has been transferred to their files, unless the IRAD copies are so faint that they are illegible. When ordering from either IRAD or the County Clerk's Office, it's possible that original documents were damaged, misplaced or lost. Marcia Farina