This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/xg.2ADI/2845.1 Message Board Post: For the state archives a useful site to see what they have is the Illinois Secretary of State: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases.html . They have death certificates for 1916 - 1950 on microfilm. Pre 1916 are held either by the local government or sometimes the regional archives I think called IRAD (which you can find information about at the Secretary of State's site). The state archives also have state census records on site, or just about any record the state might have collected. I think somewhere on their site is a huge pdf file listing most everything in the archives. The Historical Library is now the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (at least I think we're talking about the same thing). They have a bunch of county biography books, DAR books, some county genealogical society books/letters, etc for about every county in the state. It also have a microfilm room containing old newspapers on microfilm from about every county in the state. There is also a name index for the county biography books. You didn't ask about this but if you go to the State Library (just up the road from the archives) you can get county plat maps for about any county in the state. Hope this helps.