ILMACOUP-L Archives

Archiver > ILMACOUP > 2002-03 > 1015386687


From: "Mark Strohbeck" <>
Subject: [ILMACOUP-L] Macoupin Probate Files / Mental Health Records
Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 21:57:54 -0600


Hi all,

You might recall that I asked a couple weeks ago if anyone was going to the
Macoupin County courthouse (or clerks office, not sure if they're in the
same place) if they would be willing to look in one of the probate boxes for
me and make copies, for which I was willing to pay of course. I was
surprised that no one wanted an all expense paid "vacation" to the Macoupin
County Courthouse;-) Has everyone migrated south for the winter? I'd
appreciate if you'd keep me in mind in the future, if you ever happen to be
headed that way, in case I don't figure out how to get the file another way.

One person who responded said that she called the clerks office and they
told her to send a check for $9 and there is a researcher who comes in and
makes copies. $5 is for the search and $4 for the copies. The person who
wrote me was skeptical that $4 would cover the cost of copying a large
probate file, which I am too.

Has anyone else heard of this? If so, does anyone happen to know WHO the
researcher is who comes in and does the searches? I'd really like to
contact the person directly, if possible, to discuss what I'm looking for as
I don't want someone spending a bunch of time making copies of a file which
may not be pertinent. Right now I'm just working on a hunch.

Also, this is probably well known to everyone, but another respondent
pointed out that I could look in the Morgan County records to see if my
target, John WATT, was listed as a patient of Jacksonville State Mental
Hospital. And indeed, I found him there on the 1870 census. Encouraging to
me, it says he was from Ireland. (I've noticed several Watt's in Macoupin
who were from Tennessee; the ones I'm looking for are from Ireland.) That
inspired me to check what records IRAD had for Jacksonville State Mental
Hospital. They appear to have some potentially useful information on family
relations, especially in the "commitment" files. However, when I contacted
IRAD, they informed me that all Mental Health records in Illinois are
closed. They provided a name I could contact to pursue it, but I assume
that means I'd be taking some kind of legal action to open the file. That's
a bit much for a hunch. Maybe if my hunch proves out some day I'll pursue
it.

Anyway, if anyone other than me is still unaware of it, Illinois has closed
all mental health records, apparently back as far as they go. Maybe not a
bad deal for protecting privacy, but unfortunate for us genealogists, and
especially unfortunate for my search for my great great grandfather Robert
Watt.

Take care.

Mark Strohbeck
Houston, Texas

This thread: