Illinois. Office of Secretary of State

The Office of Secretary of State, successor to the territorial Secretary, was established by the 1818 Constitution to keep both the state archives and a register of the Governor's official acts. The Secretary was appointed by the Governor until the 1848 Constitution made the office elective. In 1873, the Dept. of Archives and Index was created to "make and keep proper indexes to the executive records and all public acts, resolutions, papers and documents" filed with the Secretary of State. This Dept. concerned itself primarily with the care of current records until the establishment of an Archives Division within the State Library in 1921 allowed for the transfer of non-current records from the Index Dept.

From the description of Index of state laws relating to counties, 1812-1905. (Illinois State Archive). WorldCat record id: 35832558

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