Illinois Spring 2009 Quarterly

Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly 41(1), Spring 2009

Margaret J. Collins and Daniel W. Dixon, "The Inventive McWorters of New Philadelphia, Illinois: Patents as a Genealogical Resource" -- some amazing drawings from Pike County African-American inventors of a century ago, plus a wakeup call about the existence of the Illinois State Library's Patent and Trademark Depository Library.

Mary Manning, "The Robert R. McCormick Research Center: Military Records and More," located at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, DuPage County.

Ann Wells, "Military Monument in Union Cemetery," Crystal Lake, Lake County.

Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, "Military Separation Papers as Record Source" -- although no longer a public record.

"Faces from the Past -- Identifying Photos with Marge Rice." A gallery of identified but as yet unclaimed images, 1895-1910.

Oriene Morrow Springstroh, "Aurora Historical Society: An Overview of Its Genealogical Resource Holdings."

Kristy Lawrence Gravlin, contr., "Family Bible Collection" -- Chapman, Crampton, Jones, Butler, Moulton, Ordway, and associates.

Oriene Morrow Springstroh, "Confessions of a Grateful Genealogist" -- including details of an 1855 Henry County estate sale.

"New Genealogical Publications at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library for 9 August-15 November 2008"

"Illinois Newspapers Available on Interlibrary Loan"

The New Philadelphia story

Today brings a press release from the University of Illinois about another year's archaeological work on New Philadelphia, Hadley Township, Pike County, Illinois, the first town platted and subdivided by a black man -- "Free Frank" McWorter, who used his own work and the proceeds of subdivision to buy family members out of slavery in the 1830s and even after his death in 1854. The town was integrated and peaceful; it's not named in the 1860 census but a browse of the township in HeritageQuest Online shows families designated "M" (mulatto) or "B" (black) on images 16, 18, 26, 28, 29, and 33 of the 33 imaged pages of the township. (It's a telling point that although the from asks for color -- "White, Black, or Mulatto" -- the census taker evidently saw no need to record the race of the white people in the township.)

This township map from Pike County Genweb gives the geographical location; many more detailed maps and further reading are at U of I anthropologist Christopher Fennell's website.

There's a video link in the release. Also on line is an article from the 2004 Living Museum giving some more background and showing a little bit about how land and census records have been used to help design the essential and ongoing archaeological digging.