17 August 2007
Chicago Ancestors dot org
Organizing information geographically is an excellent genealogical tool. For those with Chicago area ancestors a new piece of equipment in this toolbox has just been developed.
The Newberry Library is demonstrating a new website at the Federation of Genealogical Societies' conference in Ft. Wayne. I had the pleasure of seeing a quick demonstration of the at the library's booth just a few minutes ago. Rarely am I so excited as I am about this site. Chicagoancestors.org allows users to enter in an address, obtain google maps and see nearby churches and other items of genealogical interest.
The screen picture shows just part of my results for 339 Kensington Avenue, where my wife's great-grandmother was living when she 
was divorced in 1921. The church where her father married his second wife is shown (Elim Lutheran) as well as the church where she had her children baptized and where she married her second husband (Holy Rosary). The website even indicates if the Family History Library has microfilmed t
he church's records and the film numbers for those films. Wow.
Part of the screen I obtained when clicking on Holy Rosary is shown in this image.
Chicagoancestors.org gives users the ability of entering a Chicago address and learning about some resources located near that location. The site is still in development, but at this point one can see nearby Catholic and Lutheran churches, some homicides, some yearbooks, and more.
This site is still in development and staffers tell more additions are in the works.
Wow.
26 July 2007
Illinois Marriages
Researchers should keep in mind that starting in 1877 some Illinois counties asked for names of parents as a part of the marriage application. Of course, this does not mean that every couple provided the information. The marriage application shown partially here does not include parents' names for William I. Sargent, my great-great-grandfather. This is particularly unfortunate...but all couples were not forthcoming.
Cook County did not start asking for parents' names on marriage applications until the early 1960s.
The Illinois State Marriage index is online at the Illinois State Archives. Researchers who have not used the index should remember that it is incomplete and like any index, occasionally contains errors.
