On the first Thursday evening of each month an enthusiastic group of genealogists meets at Cook Park to share ideas, break down brick walls, learn a little, and have some fun. Last week we did all of the above. We welcomed a couple of new attendees this month and answered their questions about software programs…
One of my passions as a genealogy librarian is encouraging people to write their family history stories. I firmly believe that the names, dates, and places on our family trees are much more interesting to most of our family if they are shared in interesting stories. Are you ready to write your family story? Probably…
On May 24, 1999, the genealogy world welcomed the launch of a website called FamilySearch.org, a new and different way of researching ancestors with free images and indexed records. In the ensuing 20 years, we genealogists have come to rely on FamilySearch.org as one of the top online sites for our research. We find an…
On February 21, Michelle Wilson will be at the Cook Park Library in Libertyville at 7 p.m. to help us find out more about applying for membership in a lineage society. Wilson is the Registrar for our local Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter of the DAR so she will focus primarily on the DAR but will…
Have you ever considered what will happen to your years of genealogy research once you’re gone? Join popular genealogy speaker Thomas MacEntee in a live webinar on Thursday, January 17 at 7 p.m. at the Aspen Drive Library, as he addresses this important topic. Through a combination of planning, common sense, and new technologies, we’ll…
While researching a family story about brothers who emigrated from Sweden, genealogists on Facebook were the ones who helped me the most. My great-grandfather Herman Peterson was born in Sweden and lived in Princeton, Illinois after he came to America. As the story goes, Herman had a brother who emigrated with him from Sweden; one…
Here's another ancestor portrait from the year 1918, contributed by Pam from our Genealogy Networking Group. I love how Pam took clues from other people in Fidor's life and used them to guess at where Fidora was at the time. I also think it's important to note that even when we don't know every detail…
Responding to a challenge to write about an ancestor on a particular day, Tom from our Genealogy Networking Group shared this amazing day during the life of his wife's distant cousin. Charles G. Robson October. 27, 1858 Abraham Lincoln as portrayed by Dr. Thomas Willer It began like any other day but concluded very differently. …
At a recent Genealogy Networking Group meeting several people responded to the challenge of writing up an ancestor's profile on one particular day or year. They agreed to share them on the blog. Today we read about Pam's grandmother in 1918. Clara Smolen Krull This year a century ago This year a century ago, my…
Do you have ancestors who were adopted but don't know how to go about researching them? Having an adopted ancestor can often be one of the most frustrating and challenging aspects of genealogy research. In times past, records of adoptions weren’t as well kept as they are today, making searching for the link between birth parents…
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
