Illinois Fall Conference October 24 in Elgin

No, it is not too early to be thinking about fall conferences. No time or money for the big national events? There's good stuff closer to home. Western Illinois' own Michael John Neill is the featured speaker at the one-day, four-session conference of the Illinois State Genealogical Society at Elgin Community College Saturday, October 24. Also Craig Pfannkuche on railroad research, Lesley Martin on "Finding Your Roots in a Chicago Building," and Tina Beaird on preserving family heirlooms, and more. Program and directions here and registration here.

Coming up at Allen County Public Library

If just researching there isn't enough of a draw, three upcoming multiple-day programs may just entice you to Fort Wayne:

22-23 May, Climbing Your DNA (PDF) with Roberta Estes

18-20 June, 2009 National Palatines to America Conference

29-31 October, International Black Genealogy Summit: Reconnecting Lost Links

Indiana conference and databases

Members of the Indiana Genealogical Society have a conference Saturday in Indianapolis, featuring military records and Pamela K. Boyer. The stay-at-homes have four new members-only databases on the website to explore, three of them offering leads to military records (these are not images of the records themselves and should not be cited as such):

Revolutionary War Veterans Living in Indiana Who Received Pensions (1835)

Students of Earlham College, Richmond (1859)

Roster of 79th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War (1861-1865)

Public Service Company of Indiana Employees Serving in World War II (1944), list from the Danville Republican newspaper

Three cemetery indexes from Noble and Wabash counties are newly available to all visitors.

April in St. Louis

The St. Louis Genealogical Society's April 12 conference (PDF) -- billed as "the largest such single-day event in the Midwest" -- has nine speakers in 15 sessions. If I could make it, I'd want to attend

Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, on ancestral places of origin and old settlers' organizations

Ann Carter Fleming, CG, CGL, on St. Louis research (she co-authored Research in Missouri)

Tom Pearson on Illinois internet research

Scott Holl on resources for German genealogy at the St. Louis County Library

These regional-level conferences are more affordable and accessible than the nationals, and if going there is too much, you can pre-order audio CDs of specific presentations now.