Wait! What’s in That Cabinet?!

Have you ever noticed the small display cabinet in the Genealogy Section on the Lower Level of Cook Park Library? It has a glass cover and several shelves of books inside! Have you ever wondered about those books? Well, this two-part blog post will explore some of the items inside our very own cabinet of curiosities.

Many of the books in this cabinet are related to specific families and regions. There are genealogies of particular families (e.g., Braina/erd, Raymond, and Wo/irtz). Many are connected to local families, but others relate to the broader Midwest or the Northeast/Southeast, depending upon migration routes.

Some of the interesting titles in the cabinet include…

• • • • The Genealogy of the Brainerd-Brainard Family in America, 1649-1908 by Lucy Abigail Brainard (3 Volumes!)
      • The Goodbody Family of Ireland by Michael I.A. Goodbody.
      • Lake County, Illinois, Genealogies Including Fenlon, Cribb, Wilton, Wilmington, Rich, Hendee, Morrill, Kittredge, Fuller by Geraldine Fenlon Gaskins
      • A Photo Heritage of the Hutsell and Thedford Families by William David Hutsell
      • Virginia Heraldica: Being a RegistryoOf Virginia Gentry Entitled to Coat Armor, with Genealogical Notes of the Families by William Armstrong Crozier

These published genealogies are older/rarer, so you may not be able to find them anywhere else, including online. Come to the library and page through one or more of them if you think they will be useful for your genealogical research!

If you are interested in accessing one of these books, you can ask a librarian at one of the Adult Information Desks for help. If there is a librarian at the Lower Level desk, ask them to unlock the cabinet and retrieve the book(s) you want. These books cannot be checked out, but you can make scans/copies from them.

To explore all of the books inside this cabinet, check out our online catalog. As you can see, there are over sixty items inside this cabinet, which is often called the “Closed Stacks.” Perhaps one will have a helpful clue or the genealogical information that you need!

To Be Continued…