Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

Karen Stanbary, MA, LCSW, CG®, BCG Trustee, is an author and national lecturer focusing on topics related to using genetic evidence correlated with documentary evidence to solve genealogical brick walls. A Chicago local, she holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Chicago and has completed advanced graduate study in Social Anthropology at the Colegio de Michoacán, Mexico. Her genealogical practice specializes in Midwestern U.S., Chicago, and Mexican research as well as complex problem-solving, unknown parentage, and DNA analysis. She is a coordinator and faculty member at GRIP, IGHR, and SLIG. She received the NGSQ Award for Excellence for her complex evidence case study incorporating traditional documentary research and autosomal DNA analysis in the June 2016 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly . Most recently, she published “Drowning in DNA? The Genealogical Proof Standard Tosses a Lifeline” in Debbie Parker Wayne’s book Advance...

For more than 100 years, it lay forgotten in a box of family photos and papers.  Now, it belongs to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The document is a transcript of Martha Ten Eyck's speech in 1912, recalling how she begged Lincoln for his help nearly 50 years before, in 1864, to get her husband released from Confederate captivity. It worked. Her husband, Union Capt. Tenodor Ten Eyck, was released in the autumn of 1864. Five months later, Tenodor Ten Eyck was one of the honor guard at the assassinated president's bier in Columbus, Ohio. On Wednesday August 21st, 2019, Ellen Peirce, Martha Ten Eyck's third great-niece, presented the original transcript of the speech, found in a family "box of stuff," to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. ISGS President Laura Kovarik and ISGS Quarterly  Editor Richard Anderson also attended the presentation ceremony in Springfield. ISGS published Martha Ten Eyck's speech, and...

EXCITING NEWS for Illinois Researchers with doctors in the family! The Illinois State Archives is happy to announce that the Physician Database is now available on CyberDriveIllinois ! The database consists of more than 62,700 physicians and surgeons who registered for licensure with the Illinois State Board of Health and the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation. The records span August 1877 to February 17, 1937.   The new database is easy to search! Physician names can be searched by last name, and you can also search by first name, as long as the first two letters of the last name are also entered. What information will you find on the database? Physician's name Certificate number Line number on image Original volume and page numbers Year of license Residence/location within the Illinois Counties listed. Even more exciting,  scanned images of the registers are also available to view (see the example below) and are linked to the physicians i...

Chris Staats is a Cleveland, Ohio-based professional genealogical researcher, presenter, and writer.  Chris has given presentations covering methodology, resources, technology, and other topics at genealogical societies and libraries across Ohio. He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, chapter representative for the Great Lakes APG chapter, and Seminar Chairperson for the Western Reserve Historical Society's Genealogical Committee.  He has also written articles for  Family Tree Magazine, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly , and other publications. ISGS is thrilled to have Chris Saats as one of our Fall Conference Speakers! Chris was kind enough to take the time to tell us more about his background and genealogical interests, plus give us a sneak peek of one of his exciting lectures for the Conference! How did you become interested in genealogy?  How long have you been researching? Although I was interested in geneal...

The Genealogical Society of Southern Illinois (GSSI) will be hosting their annual Family History Conference THIS SATURDAY, August 10th, at the Ray Hancock Conference Center of John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois. GSSI preserves the family history of the 28 southernmost counties in Illinois, and ISGS is proud to count them as one of our Associate Members! This year's conference will feature ISGS' own Caron Primas Brennan who will be teaching attendees about newspaper research, using DNA, online resources, and European roots. The Conference will also include door prizes and a Vendor Fair, sure to be educational and fun for everyone! Visit GSSI's website to learn more about them, and this weekend's conference, at http://ilgssi.org/ http://ilgssi.org/ . And don't forget to register for the ISGS Fall Conference, October 25-26, in Naperville Illinois! Learn more and register at  https://ilgensoc.org/  . © 2019, copyright Illinois State Genealogical...