Parish Registers of the Catholic Diocese of Belleville in Southern Illinois: An Introduction

The Society copied the original security** microfilm held by the diocesan archives.  By agreement, SCCGS edited out any records from 1931 to present.

**Security microfilm serves as a “backup copy” of parish registers should a fire, flood, or other catastrophy occur. The microfilming process includes little, if any, records organization.

Indexes

Not all registers are indexed nor are the book indexes all-inclusive. Indexes available on film were retained whenever possible, Consult the Descriptive List for years covered by an index.

Often unnumbered, early parish registers generally were in chronological order. The Descriptive List notes events recorded out of sequence.

Records in baptism, marriage, death, communion and confirmation books through 1930 appear on the microfilm unless the event occurred after 1930. Note that baptismal records sometimes noted a marriage sometime after 1930 and were retained since marriage records are not restricted in Illinois. It was physically impossible to retain parts of pages.

Communion and Confirmation records hold the fewest genealogical clues. In general, only the name of the person receiving these sacraments was noted in the register. These records were often recorded among baptisms during the year performed.

In some cases duplicate or rewritten registers were prepared by a parish. Both are on SCCGS’s reels, provided the original and the copied registers were microfilmed by the Diocese.

Legibility

The condition of the original church registers varied greatly which in turn were reflected on the microfilm. Writing instruments, inks and handwriting all contributed to the legibility or lack thereof.

Faded ink was barely legible during the 1860s- 1870s. A few security microfilms were damaged prior to the project (image scraped off). Consequently this damage is reflected on the duplicate.

Closed Parishes

When unable to locate a particular record in the parish expected, researchers should consult parish registers in surrounding areas.

In cases where the microfilmed record is unreadable, first consult the digital images at FamilySearch (see Introduction).

Parish records are private records, hence, a request for an ancestor’s record after 1930 might be refused. The Diocese of Belleville website provides contact information.

When a parish closes its registers are sometimes given to a neighboring parish. Some are preserved at the Belleville Diocesan Archives. Closed parish records are noted in the Descriptive Lists. The diocesan archives cannot perform research for you. Use the digital images at Family Search. Consult the diocesan web site for its research policy.

The St. Clair County Genealogical Society extends its sincere thanks to the Diocese of Belleville, Reverend Kenneth J. York, Chancellor, and Sister Mary Kenan Wolff, Archivist, for the opportunity to make this set of records available.

Latin language aids
French language aids
French surname variations (the dit name), introduction and link to *an Excel* file, courtesy of American-French Genealogical Society.
Names from English into any language, a free database.
Given names translated from French and Latin into English , courtesy American-French Genealogical Society.

Bibliography

Annotations to the Parish Finding Aid and the Descriptive Lists were taken from:

• Burnett, Betty. A Time of Favor: The Story of the Catholic Family of Southern Illinois. St. Louis, Mo.: Patrice Press, 1987.
• Centennial Heritage Festival and Picnic. [Belleville, Ill.]: The Diocese of Belleville, 1987.

Locally, a complete set of microfilm and may be viewed at the

• Belleville Public Library, 121 East Washington Street, Belleville, Illinois 62220
• St. Louis County Library, 1640 Lindbergh Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri 63131.

Catholic sacramental registers

• Precede civil vital record registration
• The event is recorded at or very close to the time it occured; this makes the record a highly reliable resource.
• The priest entering the data performed the ceremony in nearly all cases, thus indicating the record’s high accuracy level.
• Baptisms often cite a birth date and parental names.
• Sponsors and witnesses are named, many of whom are often related to the one receiving the sacrament.
• Marriages provide parental information for the bride and groom and occasionally provide the age and place of residence.
• Death and burial registers often record both dates as well as the decedent’s age and name of the spouse.
• For Illinois, births and deaths were first registered in counties late 1877; at the state level in 1916. Marriages recorded since the earliest times have some omissions.