Illinois History and Genealogy Societies

Genealogy and Historical Societies often have a wealth of information. Many provide these services free while others charge a minimal amount. When asking for help, please don’t ask them to search for every Surname you are researching. Illinois State Genealogical Society BIGWILL Genealogists Cary-Grove Historical Society Computer Assisted Genealogy Group Computer-Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois Crystal Lake Historical Society Czech & Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois. Elgin Genealogical Society Genealogical & Historical Societies of Illinois Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois (GSSI) Huguenot Society of Illinois Illiana Jewish Genealogical Society Illinois Daughters of the American Revolution Illinois Heritage Association…

Charles J. Searle Oration

…to be fully completed by November 1, 1896. From all indications, it will be a grand and stately structure, an ornament, and the pride of the county for generations to come, and commensurate with the needs and demands of the county. It will perhaps remain the seat of justice of the county for a century. In it will be repeated, only on a large scale and in a more multifarious form, the history of the old court house. In it the county’s affairs will be hereafter conducted, justice will be administered, rights secured, guilt punished, innocence vindicated; the constitutional rights…

Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois

Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois

The process involved in publishing the “Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical” included employing a large team to gather materials from various sources, including carefully preserved letters, scraps of manuscript, printed fragments, memoranda, and public records. The county’s newspaper files were also thoroughly reviewed, and former citizens residing outside the counties were consulted to verify the information gathered. Despite the overwhelming amount of conflicting statements, discrepancies, and fallible and incomplete public documents, the publishers aimed to produce a record of events with some degree of accuracy. They gave preference to the preponderance of authority while acknowledging…

Biography of Ferdinand Bernard

Portrait and biographical record of Macoupin county, Illinois

Ferdinand Bernard, dealer in lumber and farming implements, of Brighton, established business in that place in May, 1884, as the successor of G. H. Aylworth. He carries all kinds of plain and dressed lumber and other building materials and also has a complete line of agricultural implements. He was born in Nassau, Germany, where his father, William Bernard, was also born and reared and spent his entire life as a teacher. He died in his native land when little past the prime of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Schmidt, was born and reared in Nassau, Germany, and…

Biography of Ferdinand Bernard

Portrait and biographical record of Macoupin county, Illinois

Ferdinand Bernard, dealer in lumber and farming implements, of Brighton, established business in that place in May, 1884, as the successor of G. H. Aylworth. He carries all kinds of plain and dressed lumber and other building materials and also has a complete line of agricultural implements. He was born in Nassau, Germany, where his father, William Bernard, was also born and reared and spent his entire life as a teacher. He died in his native land when little past the prime of life. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Schmidt, was born and reared in Nassau, Germany, and…

The Booth Family In Cherry Valley

Clayton L. Booth, born on August 4, 1902, lived in Cherry Valley, Illinois, from 1906 to 1918. His family moved from Chicago when he was four. They resided on South Mill Road, while his grandparents lived on East State Street. His father, William Booth, worked as a road commissioner and supplied materials for concrete work. Clayton attended local schools and was part of the first Boy Scout Troop in Cherry Valley. In 1918, the Booths returned to Chicago, where Clayton worked for Commonwealth Edison for over 47 years, retiring in 1967. His mother, Anna, remained active in community service. Clayton…

Coal Measures

…Hampton, where coal shafts have been sunk, are good seams from four to five feet thick. The Carbon Cliff mines were the earliest worked on the west side of Rock River. For many years extensive coal operations were carried on at this point but the limited supply of coal finally became so nearly exhausted that mining here was discontinued. The triangular piece of elevated land east of the City of Rock Island, bounded by Pleasant Valley, Rock River and the Mississippi, is a mass of coal materials, resting upon a Devonian or Upper Silurian formation of underlying limestone. All that…

Biography of Peter F. Ahrens

Peter F Ahrens

Peter F. Ahrens, senior member of the firm of Ahrens Bros., lumber dealers of Staunton, and a representative of one of the early families of the county, was born in the city which is yet his home January 25, 1864. He is a son of John M. Ahrens, a pioneer merchant and prominent citizen, who is now living a retired life. He was carefully reared, and in the common schools began his education, which was completed in the commercial department of the college of Warrentown, Mo. He was graduated in the Class of ‘80, when sixteen years of age and…

Biography of Rodolphus Childs of Dover, Illinois

History of Bureau County, Illinois Title Page

Rodolphus Childs, Dover, was born in Deerfield, Mass., October 23, 1815. He is the son of Erastus and Mercy (Hawks) Childs, who were born in the same village as their son and lived there until death. Our subject was one of seven children. He remained on his father’s farm until 1836, when he came to Bureau County, arriving here the day he was twenty-one. He came in company with Elijah Smith, for whom he worked the first year. In 1842 he began the improvement of his present farm of 200 acres, 160 of which he entered from the Government, forty…

Establishment of Rock Island County, Illinois

…of this advanced movement upon the Indian settlements was to evade the provisions of the treaty, by having the governmental title to the lands pass into the hands of the individuals, and thus obtain a pretext for removing its owners west of the Mississippi. By an act of the Illinois Legislature entitled “An act to establish Rock Island County,” approved and in force February 9, 1831, it was provided by Section 1 thereof what the boundaries of this county shall be. Section 2 provided that whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the presiding judge of…

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