RICIGS Research
We will do research for you! RICIGS members or non-members must pay for research. The cost is $10 per hour, 1 hour minimum to a 3 hour maximum. Payment must be paid in advance for 1 hour of research.
Customers must submit a $10.00 non-refundable research fee with each genealogical reference request. Staff will not undertake any research without the prepaid fee. Customers will be contacted if more than one hour is needed.
If you would like to submit a research request, fill in the form below and pay for one hour of research with a credit card via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account, just a valid credit card. We will contact you for more specific details on your request.
In the Research Request box below, please provide the name of the ancestor(s), any dates of births, marriages, deaths, and place of residence. Please state what information you are trying to find.
If you prefer to mail in your request, send your family group sheets with sources of data, and detail your problem area. Be sure to include an email address or phone number where we might be able to reach you should we have any questions. Send requests and a self-addressed, stamped envelope and your payment to:
Rock Island Co. IL Genealogical Society
PO Box 3912
Rock Island, IL 61204-3912
*Disclaimer: We cannot do research on living people due to privacy laws.
Rock Island County Clerk Office Information
Vital records are only recorded in the county and state the birth, marriage and death occurred. It doesn’t matter where they last lived. The State of Illinois did not make it law to record vital records until 1916. The county clerk’s offices in Illinois are the only locations that have these records prior to that year. After 1916, the State of Illinois has master copies of Births and Deaths. They do not have marriage licenses…they only keep marriage statistics like how many are issued in a certain timeframe.
In Rock Island County:
-Births – start at 1877 (many people were born at home and didn’t record the birth, so there is a chance that no record will be found prior to the turn of the 1900’s) – 75 years must pass before it qualifies as genealogy.
-Deaths – start at 1878 (hit and miss prior to the 1900’s) – 20 years must pass to qualify as genealogy.
-Marriages – start at 1834 (Prior to the 1900’s, the only information on these records is the bride’s name, the groom’s name, where they were married, who married them and the date of marriage.) – 50 years must pass to qualify as genealogy.
These records prior to the 1900’s are in a very flared script of cursive handwriting. It important to recognize and convey to others the importance of everyone being aware that some schools are no longer teaching cursive handwriting to our youth all across the United States, yet these vintage and fragile vital records will be here forever, for many generations past ours. Cursive handwriting can be difficult for to read and interpret correctly.
Visit the Rock Island County Clerk Office website