The Illinois State Archives have indices for marriages 1763-1900 and deaths pre-1916-1950 online. If you have not found proof of marriage for your ancestors, you might check the Illinois State Marriage Index . you know, Illinois was a 'jumping off place' for people in transit and those on vacation . you would be surprised that checking up on people married in Illinois that the census around the marriage dates range from the East Coast to West Coast . and even Missouri and Nevada. The marriage index is only the names, date and county so you have no idea what the age of the people. Some indicate that she was a "Mrs." . no indication if she was divorced or widowed. I have found a large number of marriage for couples in the Merge database that only had estimates of marriage . and some had assumed wrong state. http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/databases.html The list of databases include: Records in the Illinois State Archives * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/data_lan.html> Public Domain Land Tract Sales Database * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/servant.html> Database of Illinois Servitude and Emancipation Records Databases of Illinois Veterans * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/ilvetproject.html> Database for the Illinois Veterans' History Project * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/war1812.html> Database of Illinois War of 1812 Veterans * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/winebago.html> Database of Illinois Winnebago War Veterans * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/blkhawk.html> Database of Illinois Black Hawk War Veterans * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/mexwar.html> Database of Illinois Mexican War Veterans * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/datcivil.html> Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/ilnavy.html> Database of Illinois Civil War Veterans Serving in the U.S. Navy * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/missouri.html> Database of Illinois Civil War Veterans of Missouri Units * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/spanam.html> Database of Illinois Spanish-American War Veterans * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/honorroll.html> Database of the 1929 Illinois Roll of Honor * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/quincyhome.html> Database of Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Home Residents _____ Illinois Statewide Vital Records Databases * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/marriage.html> Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 An Ongoing Project of the Illinois State Archives & the Illinois State Genealogical Society * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/death.html> Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 An Ongoing Project of the Illinois State Archives * <http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/idphdeathindex.html> Illinois Statewide Death Index (1916-1950) An index created by the Illinois Department of Public Health Bonita \\\|/// \\ ~ ~ // ( @ @ ) ----oOOo-(_)-oOOo---- Just Looking for clues ... Lady Bonita Nevada, USA High Desert Embroidery <http://www.highdesertemb.com> http://www.highdesertemb.com <mailto:highdesertembroidery@gmail.com> highdesertembroidery@gmail.com Wells Surname DNA Study Merge <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hillmer/DNA/index.htm> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hillmer/DNA/index.htm Hillmer Surname Database <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hillmer/index.htm> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hillmer/index.htm