Cook County Recorder of Deeds

Cook County Recorder of Deeds
Term length
  • 4 years (second incarnation)
Inaugural holderR. J. Hamilton (1st incarnation)
James Stewart (2nd incarnation)
Formation1831 (first incarnation)
1872 (second incarnation)
Final holderEd S. Kimberly (first incarnation)
Edward Moody (2nd incarnation)
Abolished1848 (first incarnation)
December 7, 2020 (second incarnation)

The Cook County Recorder of Deeds was the recorder of deeds of county government in Cook County, Illinois, prior to the position's abolishment in 2020.

History of office

An early incarnation of a dedicated county recorder of deeds was established with the creation of Cook County in 1831. In 1848, it was eliminated, being merged into the position of clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County (which was renamed "clerk and recorder"). For decades thereafter, the clerk of the Circuit Court served as the ex-officio county recorder of deeds.

An independent position of Cook County recorder of deeds was re-created in December 1872.

On November 8, 2016, Cook County voters approved a binding referendum to eliminate the office, merging its functions into the purview of the Cook County Clerk. The office formally ceased to exist on December 7, 2020.

Officeholders

1831–1848

Recorder of Deeds Term in office Party Notes Cite
R. J. Hamilton 1831–1839 Democratic
Eli R. Williams 1839–1843
William A. Eagan 1843–1847
Ed S. Kimberly 1847–1848

1872–2020

Recorder of Deeds Term in office Party Notes Cite
James Stewart 1872–1876
James W. Brockway 1876–1884 Republican
Wiley Scribner 1884–1889 Republican
Abel Davis 1904–1912 Republican Elected in 1904 and 1908
Joseph F. Connery 1912– Democratic
Joseph F. Haas
Salomea Jaranowski
Clayton F. Smith
Edward J. Kaindl Democratic
Victor L. Schlaeger
Joseph T. Baran
Joseph F. Ropa
Edmund J. Kucharski 1956–1960 Republican Elected in 1956; lost reelection in 1960
Sid Olsen December 1976–December 1984 Democratic Elected in 1976 and 1980
Harry Yourell December 1984–December 1, 1988 Democratic Elected in 1984
Carol Moseley Braun December 1, 1988 – December 1, 1992 Democratic Elected in 1988
Jesse White December 1, 1992 – January 11, 1999 Democratic Elected in 1992 and 1996; resigned in January 1999 to serve as Illinois Secretary of State
Eugene Moore January 1999–December 2012 Democratic Appointed in January 1999; elected in 2000, 2004, 2008
Karen Yarbrough December 2012–December 3, 2018 Democratic Elected in 2012 and 2016
Edward Moody December 4, 2018 – December 7, 2020 Democratic Appointed in December 2018

Recent election results

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Officers of Cook County The Names of Officer-Holders from the Beginning". Chicago Tribune. December 12, 1867. Retrieved February 5, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Andreas, Alfred Theodore (1885). "From 1857 until the fire of 1871". A. T. Andreas. p. 663. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Cook County, Illinois, Merge Offices, (November 2016)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Cook County Vital Records moving to county building in Chicago". Daily Herald. November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  5. 1 2 History of Cook County, Illinois: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. A.T. Andreas. 1884. p. 352.
  6. ↑ "Col. Scribner". Chicago Tribune. September 9, 1888. p. 10. Retrieved March 23, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ 'Official Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of Cook County, Illinois.' Cook County, Illinois Board of Commissioners; 1889, Official Proceedings, Board of Commissioners, Cook County, Illinois, Monday September 29, 1889, The Honorable Wiley Scribner, pp. 703–704
  8. ↑ "Who's Who in our Citizen Soldiery - 1921". American Hebrew. 110: 80. December 2, 1921. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  9. ↑ Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1913. p. 532.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Johnson, Charles B. (1960). "Growth of Cook County; a history of the large lake-shore county that includes Chicago". [Chicago] : Board of Commissioners of Cook County. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  11. ↑ "Illinois Blue Book, 1947-1948". www.idaillinois.org. 1947. p. 666. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  12. ↑ Heise, Kenan (August 19, 1994). "COOK COUNTY GOP STALWART EDMUND J. KUCHARSKI, 78". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  13. ↑ Eltagouri, Marwa (June 16, 2016). "Eugene Moore, former Cook County recorder of deeds, dies at 73". nydailynews.com. New York Daily News. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  14. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1984" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
  15. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1988" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 3, 2008.
  16. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1992" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 10, 2008.
  17. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1996" (PDF). voterinfo.net. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2008.
  18. ↑ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on March 1, 2005.
  19. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER, 2000 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  20. ↑ "FINAL RESULTS SUMMARY REPORT COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS GENERAL ELECTION TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  21. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Official General Election 11/4/2008 Summary Report Cook County Unofficial Results" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  23. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Cook County and the City of Chicago Combined Summary Report General Election November 6, 2012" (PDF). Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  25. ↑ "General Election Cook County and The City of Chicago Tuesday, November 8, 2016 Combined Summary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 29, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.