St. Elizabeth Hospital (Belleville, Illinois) Marriages (1925–1931)

History

Upon settling in a small, vacated building behind the Church of St. Peter in Belleville (1875), the hospital Sisters of St. Frances from Muenster, Germany, began visiting critically sick and injured patients in homes and at their makeshift hospital. The first St. Elizabeth’s Hospital was completed in 1881 with seven Sisters assigned to the two-story facility. A quit claim of the property to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital by St. Peter’s (the Cathedral of the Diocese of Belleville since 1887) was executed in 1917 and recorded in 1929, ending a long-standing controversary over ownership. Groundbreaking for a new facility, the largest hospital in Illinois south of Springfield, occurred on 24 May 1951. As each new portion was completed, patients moved from the old St. Elizabeth’s to the new which culminated with the Dedication in 1958. Changes and challenges in medicine were met, not only in diagnosis, department advances, specialties, technology, and treatment, but in administrative which transitioned to lay persons as the Hospital Sisters’ community aged, retired, and returned to the Motherhouse. In late 2017 the hospital moved into the new facility at O’Fallon, Illinois. Today the hospital is an affiliate of the Hospital Sisters Health System.

About these records, this database, caveats

• The Society and the compiler recommend researchers verify information provided on the SCCGS website with the original record extracted from images are online at FamilySearch. Also, verify the information with records filed by different authorities, for example, a civil marriage records and newspaper articles on anniversary dates. Courthouse, IRAD, and library addresses.
• Researchers are urged to correlate information here with that found in other records before forming conclusions about a person, family, or relationship. Further research (scroll down).
• There were no death or baptism register images on FamilySearch; inquire at the Archives of the Diocese of Belleville at (618) 722-5057 if other records are in their holdings.
• Square brackets [  ] indicate wording added by the compiler to clarify an entry.
• Terminology reflects the time period and Roman Catholic Canon Law, both have changed over time.
• Cramped handwriting, faint images, possible transcription errors, and names spelled phonetically or with diacritical marks will undoubtedly affect this compilation. Search tips may help locate an ancestor’s name if misspelled.
• Given names abbreviated in the church book are spelled out when the English equivalent is certain (Elizabeth for Eliz., Louis for Ludovicus). When no apparent equivalent was known or ambiguous, the Latin name or initials were transcribed.

Sample citation to a specific record in this database

Gloria Dettleff, compiler, “St. Elizabeth Hospital (Belleville, Illinois) Catholic Marriages (1925 – 1931),” St. Clair County Genealogical Society (https://stclair-ilgs.org : date viewed) ; [ancestor’s name, date of burial].

Sample citation to a digital image of the original church register

The FamilySearch website provides a citation with each record.

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Further Research

• St. Clair County marriages filed at the courthouse (1906–1950) are indexed in the SCCGS Quarterly, Volumes 30 No. 2 – Volume 44 (2007–2021).
• Deaths and Stillbirths filed at the St. Clair County Courthouse (1878–1916) are abstracted in the SCCGS Quarterly, Volumes 31–43 (2008–2020). Use the surname index and Table of Contents to focus a search.
• If a person died in Missouri 1910-1968, access their death certificate on the Missouri Secretary of State website.
• The Illinois State Archives’ Statewide Death Index (1916 – 1950) is the gateway to order less expensive death certificates through the Illinois State Genealogical Society than the County Clerk’s office.

Translation Aids

• Latin language aids
• French language aids
• Given names translated from French and Latin into English , courtesy American-French Genealogical Society.

Bibliography

1. Vernier, Thomas C. Poor Ladies. . . .Rich Gift: The History of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis and Their Health Care Ministry at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville, Illinois. [Belleville, Ill.: publisher not identified]. 2010.