Discovering Baptism Records from the Chicago Catholic Diocese

In 2011 familysearch.org released their collection titled "Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925" online  (There is a wiki available through the website).  These are the actual images of the parish registers of the diocese.  That may include baptism, marriage, confirmation, and death registers.  Some parishes chose to index these registers by last name as they became full.  Although, if a name does not appear in the index it should not be ruled out as a possibility.  In some cases the person indexing the register could have missed a name.  Discovering the actual record is sometimes simple.  It is determining which parish your family attended that can sometimes be challenging.  Below is a system for locating baptism records within this collection of records.

Begin with a birth certificate of the individual you would like to locate.  In this case the information needed has been highlighted in a yellow box.  The baptism record being sought is for Helen Feehan born February 17, 1912.  The place of birth is recorded as 2625 Lowe Ave. Chicago.  The residence of the mother has ditto marks indicating the same address.  The parents are identified as John and Alice Feehan.

With the address for the residence of the mother a search for likely parishes can be made.  The Newberry Library of Chicago has a website named ChicagoAncestors.org.  This website was developed specifically with genealogist and local historians in mind.  With this website an address can be entered and it will give you a list of parishes both existing and extent.  Once on the homepage enter the address of the mother gave as her residence.  Once you have entered the address click the search button. 

Once you hit search you will be brought to a search results page.  Scroll to the bottom to "Religious Institutions" and select "Roman Catholic Churches". 

The map zooms into the neighborhood and puts a numbered pinpoint to represent each of the parishes.  The blue star on the map represents residence entered on the first page.  In this case four Catholic parishes were found within a half mile of the residence.  One is named designated as St. Jerome Croatian.  This church would be less likely since the Feehan family was of Irish descent.  By clicking on the names of the church additional information is provided. 

To help narrow down the search an alphabetical list of Chicago Catholic churches can be consulted.  As well as being alphabetical this list categorizes the church by the ethnic background of the parishioners.  When the list is consulted the following information was learned.

First we learn that All Saints and St. Anthony has merged their parishes.  Additionally this is an Irish parish.  Santa Lucia-Maria Incoronata and St. John Nepomucence are an Italian and Bohemian parish respectively.   With the knowledge of All Saints-St. Anthony you may go to familysearch.org and begin browsing the images of the registers.  The images are divided in an alphabetical list according to parish.  

In the instance of All Saints-St. Anthony (located in the Bridgeport community) some of their records have been confused with the other All Saints (located in the Roseland community).  This is the case for the baptism register and index for the years 1905 through 1917.  Also, notice that there are two selections for All Saints.  One before the merger with St. Anthony and one after.  

The baptisms for the year 1912 appear on pages 119 through 134.  When examining the year an entry is not found for Helen Feehan.  However, one does appear for Ellen Dorothy Feehan on page 121 of the register.  This should be examined for the possibility Helen and Ellen are one in the same.  Additionally,  that year Berenice Catherine Feehan was baptized.  While examining the register it is important to look for other members of the family.  In this case the first cousins were baptized the same year at the same church.  

Upon examining page 121 an entry is discovered for Ellen Dorothy Feehan.  She was baptized on March 24, 1912.  The birthdate of February 17, 1912 corresponds with the birth certificate. The name of the parents are given as John Feehan and Alice McCabe.  By finding this entry we discover the maiden name of the mother.  The maiden name blank was not filled in by the physician when he filed the birth certificate.  The is one question left now.  Which is the correct first name?  Helen or Ellen?  Currently a death record is being sought.  It is known that she died prior to 1918.  A death certificate could answer the question of the first name.  

While searching this baptism register index an additional entry was found for another cousin.  He was baptized at All Saints in 1914.  When he married in 1939 the church he married at contacted All Saints with the details of his marriage.  This included the name of his wife, date of marriage, and place of marriage.  This information was recorded in the baptism register along with date of baptism.

This method of research has also been successful when locating an entry in marriage registers.  When a priest signed the marriage license he often put the address.  The address they often provided was that of the church or rectory.  By following the above steps it is possible to find the marriage register the marriage was recorded in.