The Back Door to Chicago

Most genealogy societies have been around long enough that they have a significant amount of history, including a written trail of published research results, queries, and transcriptions. Many local periodicals are not indexed. Many are indexed by surname only (making researchers of names like Smith or Jones apoplectic). Many are indexed one issue, or one year, at a time. And then you have to find those indexes.

Fortunately there is a trend to digitize these potential clue factories. Thanks to the Newberry Library and the Chicago Genealogical Society, the Chicago Genealogist now has volumes 1 through 39 (1969-2007) on line and searchable.

Anyone who might have Chicago people should check it out (and then you'll be happier, but as far behind on your day as I am!). But if you're looking for my piece on a Civil War letter from Samuel Lowe, son of Cook County's first sheriff, it's still too recent, but you can read it here.

And speaking of urban research, the front door is open in Pittsburgh, where Historic Pittsburgh has an impressive run of early directories. They are not fully covered in my usual go-to reference, United States On Line Historical Directories.



Harold Henderson, "The Back Door to Chicago," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 5 November 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Methodists in Meadville

Those who have research targets who were Methodists in western Pennsylvania need to know about the denominational archives at Allegheny College's Pelletier Library in Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. It would be a good destination anyway, but given the absence of early vital records from Pennsylvania it's a great one.

First of all, it's an archive, so don't try just dropping in. Use the contact information. Volunteer archivist William L. Waybright is very knowledgeable and helpful, but he can't be there all the time. It's by appointment only.

Second, don't expect the archives to be able to tell you whether your ancestor was a Methodist (or an allied denomination, such as Evangelical United Brethren).

Third, check the ancestor's own church first. As in most denominations, records reside at the local level. If a local church ceases to exist, its records may find their way to a denominational archive.

Fourth, be prepared to use a particular variant of cluster genealogy: what ministers were your research targets associated with? The archives will normally have much better records for those who carried the church's message than anyone else.

Fifth, don't be overly focused on western Pennsylvania. The archives has records and published reminiscences that cover adjoining conferences as well.

Sixth, when visiting, don't expect lots of space to spread out. We had the good fortune to meet other researchers who knew the area and resources better than we did, and we met them over what would be a normal-sized kitchen table.

Seventh, be alert to finding aids that area Methodist historians have prepared over the years. Pittsburgh-area Methodists published a weekly newspaper for about a century beginning in 1834, usually under the title of Pittsburgh Christian Advocate. Abstracts and indexes to its marriage and death notices have been published from through 1870. The newspaper itself has been microfilmed, but Meadville holds the films only up to 1890.

Finally, in the likely event that your Methodists went past Pittsburgh into the Midwest and West, additional regional resources do exist. The Chicago Genealogical Society's new blog recently posted on their instructional visit to Garrett Evangelical United Library in Evanston.


Harold Henderson, "Methodists in Meadville," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 24 September 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.]

Good news for Chicago genealogists

The April issue of the Chicago Genealogical Society's newsletter includes two items of good news, and Facebook adds a third:

* From CGS president Julie Ann Benson, CGS contributions have aided the Newberry Library in acquiring seven reels of Chicago "delayed birth" applications from the Family History Library. And contributions will also facilitate the digitization of nearly 40 years of the Chicago Genealogist quarterly.

* From CGS member Wesley Johnston comes news that the on-line Hyde Park Herald newspaper for 24 August 1960 published the full assessment list for Hyde Park Township, alphabetical by street name and then by street number within each. Names of landowners and valuations for improvements and land are included. No index. It's not really a head-of-household census but it's as close as we'll see until 2032!

* Writing at the Chicago Genealogy group on Facebook, Jennifer Holik-Urban alerts us all to the Newberry Library's online version of the Foreign Language Press Survey -- thousands of translations from articles of non-English newspapers made by Works Progress Administration employees during the Great Depression. I have yet to figure out the search function, but the collection is browseable in several ways. For additional information check this post at ChicagoGenealogy and this explanatory note on the FLPS web site. And bear in mind the usual methodological cautions: these words are not the original source. They were translated and transcribed from the original publications; if any fine points of meaning or spelling are involved, don't rest content with your own guess as to what the on-line material actuall says.

Historical note: this resource would not exist if the federal government had not combated the 1930s depression by hiring unemployed people to do needed jobs.

Chicago book and event

The April newsletter of the Chicago Genealogical Society brings word of a long-awaited publication: Chicago Cemetery Records 1847-1863, 296 pages of sexton's reports and certificates, treasurer receipts, deeds, and undertakers' reports for $50 + $5 shipping. If you have pre-Fire research targets, either buy it or start a campaign for your local library to do so.

CGS and the Newberry Library co-sponsor a May 2 workshop with Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective -- we're already too late for the early-bird registration discount.

Chicago Genealogist for Fall

The Chicago Genealogical Society's flagship publication continues a spree of featuring an under-utilized class of records, including high-school graduates of 60 years ago expressing ambitions they might not enjoy hearing about today...

"Austin High School, 'The Maroon & White' Yearbook, June Class of 1948," submitted by Jeanne Larzalere Bloom.

"John L. Marsh Grammar School, Graduation Class of February 1935," submitted by Richard L. Salik.

"Confirmation Class of March 25, 1934, Ev.Lutheran Church, Windsor Park, Chicago," submitted by Richard L. Salik.

Chicago Genealogist, Summer issue

From the Chicago Genealogical Society:

"Additional Late 19th and Early 20th Century Chicagoans in Photographs," by Craig Pfannkuche

"St. Thomas the Apostle High School: Classes of 1939-1942," submitted by Ellen C. Courtney

"The Family of James Joscelyne," by Ben Joscelyne

"Saint Dominic High School --'The Torch' Yearbook, 1956," submitted by Joseph L. Rhodes

"Wedding Photograph of Otto Daniel Meister and Agnes Uber," submitted by Doris Carlson Sturm

"St. Francis de Sales High School, Graduating Class of 1954," submitted by Thoams J. Draus

Chicago Genealogist, Spring 2008

It's school daze in this quarter's Chicago Genealogist with transcriptions of graduates' data from three high-school yearbooks:

"Austin High School, The 'Maroon & White' Yearbook, January Class of 1948," submitted by Jeanne Larzalere Bloom

"Saint Dominic High School Graduates, 'The Torch' Yearbook 1955," submitted by Joseph L. Rhodes

"William Howard Taft High School, January and June Classes of 1947," submitted by Roy Rauschenberg

Hmmmm. We caution our children and grandchildren about putting too much information on line, but how about those Austin graduates who listed as their ambition "To get my M.R.S. degree"?

Chicago Genealogical Society turns 40

Articles in the 40th anniversary issue of Chicago Genealogist (Fall 2007):

"'Did You Know Our Great Great Uncle Was a Mayor of Chicago,'" by Earl J. Beese

"Renamed Streets of Chicago -- 1900," by Gail Santroch (reprint)

"Index Listing of Obituaries from Illinois Staats Zeitung," by Debbe Hagner (reprint)

"The Alwards of Woodbridge, Scipio, South Bend, Niles and Chicago," by Timmins Alward Dodson. This family largely followed a classic migration pattern from northern New Jersey to Cayuga and Livingston counties, New York; Berrien County, Michigan, and St. Joseph County, Indiana; Cook County, Illinois, and points farther west.

"Class 7A-7B of Bateman School, 1939-1940," by Doris Carlson Sturm

"Kindergarten Class of Bateman School, 1934," by Doris Carlson Sturm

Genealogy at the Newberry Library in Chicago

Long a magnet for Midwestern genealogists, these days Chicago's Newberry Library also has a significant web presence. Its Chicago Ancestors site (blogged here) is unique AFAIK; most of the library's voluminous holdings are now catalogued on line; and the Local and Family History Department's Newberry Library Genealogy News is a uniquely useful source for upcoming meetings, library events, and research tips. On that same page you can scroll down for links to articles like Jack Simpson on the history of German street name changes in the Bucktown neighborhood and Grace Dumelle on Chicago school records.

Back in the physical world, the library will host two genealogy events open to the public this Saturday (2 Feb): Ginger Frere will give an introduction to genealogy at 9:30 am, and Jeanne Bloom will speak on "Genealogy and Writing" at the Chicago Genealogical Society meeting at 1:30 pm. (Future CGS meetings are here.)

Out-of-towners with plenty to read, and better things to do than try to drive and park in downtown Chicago, should know that the Newberry is a short bus ride (or a brisk 20-minute walk) north of the Loop commuter train stations, which come in from as far as Kenosha, South Bend, Joliet, and Aurora. Directions and links here.