Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

The Illinois State Genealogical Society will have a booth at the following events during the upcoming weeks of Fall 2011: October 7-8, 2011 - African American Genealogical and Historical Society of Chicago , 2011 Annual Conference featuring Tiffany Patterson. Click here for more information. October 15, 2011 - Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois , Fall 2011 Conference with Mark Lowe. Click here for more information. November 5, 2011 - Lake County Genealogical Society , 19th Annual Genealogy Workshop with Laura Prescott and Harold Henderson. Click here for more information. Stop by and visit us and also pick up a copy of our Insider's Guide to Illinois Genealogy as well as other publications! © 2011, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

The Illinois State Genealogical Society maintains a Surname Research Database over on its website at  http://www.ilgensoc.org/surname.php . The public is invited to search for their own surnames and use the Email Inquiry icon next to each listing to contact the respective ISGS member about a specific surname. Now, ISGS members can enter their own surname information on the ISGS website and also add alternate spellings or edit existing surname information. To do so, simply login at the ISGS website and click Edit Profile under the Members Section. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and start entering surname information for your ancestors. Only ISGS members can submit surname data - this is one of the many benefits of an ISGS membership. If you aren't already a member, click here to join us! © 2011, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

Tinley Moraine Genealogists will present "Italians in the Chicago Area" with speaker Dominic Candeloro at its November 3, 2011 meeting. Here are the details: TIME: DOORS OPEN AT 6:15PM BUSINESS MEETING AT 6:45PM PROGRAM BEGINS AT 7:00PM Guests are Welcome (Admission is free) LOCATION: TINLEY PARK PUBLIC LIBRARY 7851 Timber Drive (80th Avenue and 180th Street) Tinley Park, Illinois Italians have been a part of Chicago and its surrounding communities since the 1850s. There will be a slide show review of the history and culture of Italians in Chicago and a Review of how to learn more. The presenters books will be available for purchase. Dominic Candeloro was born in Chicago Heights. He graduated from Bloom High School, Northwestern (BA) and University of Illinois (Phd). He served...

Important changes are coming to all FamilySearch Centers (formerly known as Family History Centers) in Illinois when it comes to ordering microfilm for research purposes. Please see the very informative article at Tony's Genealogy Blog here for more information:  http://genealogywithtony.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/important-post-online-lds-film-ordering-coming-to-all-illinois-family-history-centers-fhc-on-september-21-2011/ © 2011, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

Tazewell County Genealogical & Historical Society presents: The Ninth Annual "Harvest Time for Genealogists" Workshop - October 8, 2011  from 9AM to 3PM at our library, 719 N 11 th St., Pekin. Join us again for a full day of genealogy (including lunch).  This year's speaker is Carol Whitton, CG SM (Certified Genealogist) from St. Louis, Missouri.  Carol will be making presentations on the newly redesigned Family History Library website (still free), migration from Virginia to the Midwest, German research resources, and a step-by-step process for researching your immigrant ancestors overseas─including finding their village of origin.  Carol's extensive background includes the following: Writes and speaks on various genealogical topics with specialization in German research, U.S. immigration & migration (specializing in Virginia migration to the Midwest), handwriting (paleography), and genealogical computing. Other specialties includ...

Yesterday, in our post ISGS Announces Its New Education Committee , we introduced you to this new committee.  Now, we’d like your input to help shape the work of this committee.  We’ve created a survey to help us get a feel for what genealogists are looking for in terms of educational opportunities.  The survey results will help the Education Committee determine what will be implemented in the future and how we will go about doing so. We'd like to hear from both ISGS members and non-members since some of our efforts will be geared toward the genealogical community as a whole.  Your honest and candid answers are much appreciated. As an incentive for completing the survey, those who are 18 years of age or older may provide an email address at the end of the survey to be entered in a drawing for a free one-year membership to JustAJoy.com .  There are five memberships up for grabs.  Only one entry per person. The contest ends October 10, 2011 . Click here ...

The Illinois State Genealogical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of an Education Committee for the purposes of:  Providing genealogy education to our members and the genealogical community as a whole. Educating the general public about genealogy in order to get people interested in discovering their family history, while promoting the study of genealogy. So far, ideas for genealogy education for members and the genealogical community include enhancing our annual conference, producing webinars or online videos, establishing study groups, developing instructional guides, and sponsoring research trips.  In order for us to figure out what to implement and how, we will be conducting a survey via our website starting Wednesday, September 21, 2011.  Look for the announcement tomorrow morning. ISGS also hopes to educate the general public about genealogy through community outreach projects.  We also plan to target our youth to get them interested at an ea...

Illinois State Genealogical Society Debuts New Guide for Family Historians with Prairie State Ancestors September 8, 2011 – Springfield, IL . The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) proudly announces the debut of the Insider’s Guide To Illinois Genealogy – a handy reference guide for family historians and genealogists. With the Insider’s Guide researchers will find everything they need to get started to find Prairie State ancestors. The Insider’s Guide To Illinois Genealogy laminated “quick card” contains: An overview of Illinois history in a timeline format A section on migration patterns related to how Illinois was settled Helpful research strategy tips for the beginning genealogist Over 130 different links to websites covering different aspects of Illinois genealogy over 26 subject sections including Census Records, Vital Records, Obituaries, Military Records, and more. The Insider’s Guide will be available in limited quantities during the Federation of Genealo...

Chicago Directories and Southern Illinois Diary Win Awards As Part of FamilySearch Research Wiki September 7, 2011 – Springfield, IL . The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) will award the top two prizes in The Great Illinois Genealogy Scavenger Hunt during the Old Fashioned Prairie Social event in Springfield, Illinois on Wednesday evening, September 7, 2011. The event is part of the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ 2011 Conference being held in Springfield, September 7-10, 2011. During the month of June 2011, ISGS in partnership with FamilySearch , hosted a virtual, online scavenger hunt and asked the public to submit their favorite Illinois genealogy resources to be included in the FamilySearch Research Wiki ( http://wiki.familysearch.org ). Described as “free family history research advice for the community, by the community,” the research wiki contains a page for each of the 102 Illinois counties as well as many other subject matters related to genealogy. The ...

Awards To Be Made At FGS 2011 Conference, Sepember 8, 2011 September 2, 2011 – Springfield, IL . On Thursday, September 8, 2011, seven individuals will be honored by the Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) with awards for their outstanding achievements in the field of genealogy. ISGS will present the awards at the upcoming Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Annual Conference – Pathways to the Heartland – September 8-10, 2011 in Springfield, Illinois. The recipients include: Robert G. Buecher , of St. Louis, Missouri will receive the ISGS Community Service Award for his work with the St. Clair County Genealogical Society. Buecher has indexed many cemeteries in Southern Illinois; translated numerous church records, created surname indices to historic St. Clair County newspapers, posted genealogy records online including a history of Millstadt, Illinois, and has published numerous books. Elizabeth A. “Libby” Grimm , will posthumously receive the Volkel Hall of Fame Aw...