Sam Fink's Index to Pre-Fire Chicago Marriages, 1833–1871

Marriage records with the word FINK in the license field were transcribed from a microfilm copy of the typescript Chicago Marriage and Death Index compiled by Sam Fink. Mr. Fink's compilation of pre-1872 marriages was an attempt to recover information about early Cook County marriages lost in the Great Fire of Chicago on October 8–10, 1871. The index includes the names of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage and the newspaper in which the marriage appeared.

The Sam Fink Index was microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and a copy of this microfilm is located at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. The only additional information that this depository can provide is the name of the newspaper in which the marriage appeared. Information entered into the Sam Fink Index was transcribed from the following Chicago area newspapers:

Chicago Tribune

Chicago Evening Journal

Chicago Democrat

Chicago Evening Post

Chicago Record–Herald

Chicago Daily News

Chicago Examiner

The Inter-Ocean

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