East St. Louis City Directories

Don't get me started about the wonders of city directories. Illinois Harvest has somewhat revamped its interface -- it has colors but the search function is still idiosyncratic -- and its thematic collections include East St. Louis City Directories. (This is great, but why single out ESL and Champaign County only?) These are not transcriptions, they're full PDF (or text) images for 1900, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1912, 1916, 1924, and 1926. I was able to quickly find my mother's father's second cousin, the contractor Jesse Gedney, at 1717 Illinois, in 1900.

And if you are or would like to become a city directory nut, the most thorough article I've seen is "Effective Use of City Directories," by Kory L. Meyerink, AG, FUGA, at ProGenealogists. Let me know if you've seen better.

Southern Illinois resources from Illinois Harvest

Southern Illinois county histories recently digitized at Illinois Harvest:

Page, O. J. History of Massac County, Illinois. Metropolis: s.n., 1900? 383 pages, including 33 pages of "Pope County historical reminiscences" by J. E. Y. Hanna.

The Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin Counties. Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co., 1893. 619 pages.

Historical Souvenir of Williamson County, Illinois. Effingham: LeCrone Press, 1905. 200+ pages.

Leonard, Lulu. History of Union County. Anna: s.n., 1941? 124 pages.

Allen, John Willis. Pope County Notes. Carbondale: Museum of Natural and Social Sciences, Southern Illinois University, 1949. 95 pages.

Statewide Illinois Harvest

Newly digitized books of statewide interest at Illinois Harvest. The first two are also available on Google Book Search.

Peck, John Mason. A Gazetteer of Illinois. Jacksonville, IL: R. [actually C.] Goudy, 1834. 376 pages.

Carpenter, W. H. The History of Illinois, from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1857. 255 pages.

DeMotte, H. C. The Alumni Journal [of the Illinois Wesleyan University]. Bloomington:[Illinois Wesleyan University], Volume 2 (1872), Volume 3 (1873), Volume 4 (1874).

Caton, John Dean. Early Bench and Bar of Illinois. Chicago: Chicago Legal News Company, 1893. 252 pages.

Book of Memorial Memberships. Jacksonville, IL:s.n., 1929. 3rd edition. 212 pages. Illinois College. Portraits and brief biographies of close to 200 individuals, including a number of WWI casualties.

Piatt County, Illinois Harvest

Recently digitized books from the rural eastern Illinois county of Piatt, from Illinois Harvest:

White Heath Centennial, 1872-1972. S.l.:s.n., 1972? 48 pages.

Paugh, Myrta Grace. Biggest Little Town on Earth: DeLand Centennial 1873-1973. DeLand, IL?: Paugh, 1973. 91 pages.

Hammond Centennial Scrapbook 1973. Hammond, IL: s.n., 1973. Unpaginated.

Illinois Harvest in Knox, Stark, and Marshall Counties

More digital images of books about downstate from Illinois Harvest:

Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois. Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co., 1886. 1108 pages.

Toulon's 125th Anniversary Historical Booklet, 1841-1966. Toulon?: n.p., 1966. 44 pages. Stark County.

Tomlinson, M. Maxine, ed. Old Sandy Remembers: Evans Township. Wenona?: n.p., 1968. 131 pages. (Don't miss the Marshall County Sesquicentennial Place Mat!)

Yates City: A Time To Remember, 1776-1976. S.l.: s.n., 1976? 45 pages. Knox County

Illinois Harvest in Tazewell and Mason Counties

Recently digitized books at Illinois Harvest having to do with central Illinois just east of the Illinois River:

History of Tazewell County, Illinois. Chicago: C. C. Chapman & Co., 1879. 794 pages.

Graber, E. J. The History of Minier, Illinois. Minier: The Centennial Committee, 1967. Unpaginated.

Kilbourne Yesterday and Today. Kilbourne?: The Association, 1970. 94 pages.

Valentine, Mrs. Bill, et al., eds. History of Washington, Illinois, Sesquicentennial, 1825-1975. Washington: Sesquicentennial Committee, 1975. Unpaginated.

Chicago, Its History and Builders

So far I haven't found a web site that has digital images of all five volumes of Chicago: Its History and Its Builders, A Century of Marvelous Growth (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1912). But if you visit both Google Book Search and Illinois Harvest, between them you can view the whole thing.

A search on the title in quotes at Google Book Search produces three hits. At least on my machine, the top one is volume 5, the second one is volume 4, and the third hit is volume 1. Click on the title page image to make sure what you've got.

Illinois Harvest has four of the five volumes at the following URLs:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 5

Since Volume 4 and 5 have the biographies, this could make a difference.

Illinois Harvest in Effingham County

Now better known as the crossroads of interstates 57 and 70, Effingham County's in southeastern Illinois and has some histories recently digitized by Illinois Harvest:

Perrin, William Henry. History of Effingham County, Illinois (Chicago: O. L. Baskin & Co., 1883).

Teutopolis Centennial Souvenir Program and Historical Sketch, 1839-1939 (Teutopolis: Teutopolis Centennial Committee, 1939). 64 pages.

Teutopolis quasquicentennial 1964 (Teutopolis?: s.n., 1964), unpaginated.

Pulliam, Peggy. Towns of Effingham County, Illinois (Effingham: The Comission, 1975). 25 pages.

Illinois Harvest in Christian County

Recently digitized books at Illinois Harvest from central Illinois' Christian County:

McBride, J. C. Past and Present of Christian County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1904. 582 pages.

Pana, Illinois, City of Roses, Centennial, 1856-1956. Pana: Pana News-Palladium, 1956. 56 pages.

Assumption Century of Progress, Assumption, Illinois. Assumption: Prairie State Tribune, 1953. 77 pages.

Illinois Harvest in Greene County

Western Illinois' Greene County books recently digitized by Illinois Harvest:

Clapp, Clement L., comp. History of Greene County, Illinois. Chicago: Donnelley, Gassette & Lloyd, 1879. 771 pages.

Miner, Ed. Past and Present of Greene County, Illinois. Chicago: S.J. Clarke, 1905. 645 pages.

Rockbridge Centennial, 1871-1971. Rockbridge: Rockbridge Centennial Committee, 1971? Unpaginated.

St. Clair County, Illinois, Harvest

Southwestern Illinois' hub, St. Clair County, has a number of relevant books available on line through Illinois Harvest:

Prairie Farmer's Reliable Directory of Farmers and Breeders of St. Clair and Monroe Counties, Illinois. Evansville, IN: Unigraphic, 1978. 323 pages. This is a republication of the 1919 edition, published by Prairie Farmer, and it promises unique genealogical (or microhistorical) data: it includes a tractor owners' directory including the make of each tractor.

The Birthplace of the Midwest, Cahokia, Illinois. [250th anniversary celebration souvenir program.] N.p.: The Association, 1949. 28 pages.

Nebelsick, Alvin Louis. A History of Belleville. Belleville: Township High School and Junior College, 1951? 272 pages.

O'Fallon Centennial Celebration, 1854-1954. O'Fallon: n.p., 1954. 89 pages.

Reflections of the Belleville, Illinois, Sesquicentennial, 1814-1964. Belleville: Belleville Sesquicentennial Commission, 1964. 32 pages.

Coles County, Illinois, Harvest

Recently digitized books of genealogical interest on eastern Illinois' Coles County from Illinois Harvest:

Perrin, W.H. et al., compilers. The History of Coles County, Illinois. Chicago: W. Le Baron, 1879. 699 pages.

Allison, Etta Mae. Pioneers of Coles County, Illinois. S.l.: s.n., 1942. Unpaginated.

Summers, Alexander. Mr. Mattoon's City. Mattoon: The National Bank of Mattoon, 1955. 30 pages. Revised from a 1946 edition.

Mattoon Memories. Mattoon: Gazette Printing, 1955? 88 pages.

Still more confusing Chicago City Directories!

Back in April I blogged about the many books hiding under the simple guise of "Chicago City Directory for [year]." Besides the free sites Newberry Library's Chicago Ancestors, Chicago History Museum, and Illinois Harvest, Footnote.com is also in the fray.

Key new information here: what Footnote.com calls the 1871 Chicago City Directory is apparently identical to Illinois Harvest's Edwards' ... annual directory ... of Chicago. v.14 I say "apparently" because the Footnote.com version includes two additional title pages, one characterizing it as a "Fire Edition" and claiming that its information has been carried up to December 12, 1871, but so far the pages I have viewed contain the same information in the same format as before.

Each of these online sources has its good points, and each has directories the others lack.

The Newberry's site is linked with other very useful resources for Chicago research, including a mapping function and the Chicago History Museum's book documenting the 1911 street renumbering in PDF format. It also breaks the directories up into units by letter so that you don't have to download the whole thing. It has directories designated as 1866, 1870, Edwards' Census 1871, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1892, and 1900. (Check my earlier post for more detailed citation proposals, especially for the confusing 1870-1872 period.)

Illinois Harvest requires you to download the whole thing, but it prints up very nicely and it preserves the original page order, which is no small matter if you've struggled with Footnote.com. As far as I know IH has only two directories, Edwards' volume 12 (1869-1870), and Edwards' volume 14 (1871, not the same as "Edwards' Census" displayed at the Newberry site).

Footnote.com, the only pay site discussed here, has more directories than anyone -- 1843-1849, 1851-1889, 1902-1903, and 1908-1909. You can search across years and save wanted pages in a "gallery." But. The last three years are incomplete as of midday 27 July 2008. And many of the complete directories have their pages out of order. Each directory's unpaginated front matter is dumped at the back, making it an adventure to find the title page for proper citation, and the variously paginated portions of the directory are usually presented, not in their original sequence (which heaven knows was arbitrary enough), but by page number. For example, the residential directory's page 21 is followed by the business directory's page 21, and so forth. Also, Footnote.com has taken the liberty of renaming the 1874-5 directory as "1874," 1875-6 as "1875," and so forth through 1878-9. The print quality is a bit below the Newberry and Illinois Harvest standard. (Some related discussion on Michael John Neill's Rootdig blog and on the Association of Professional Genealogists' listserv, both of which are free and should be lurked on by any wannabe genealogist.)

Lest we forget, the Chicago History Museum has the 1928 "criss-cross" Chicago directory on line (and many other on and off line resources). But you will need to know the street on which your research target lived in order to find him or her, as (from my point of view) the directory only has the criss and not the cross. I found it a little touchy to get loaded but it would probably help to have the latest PDF reader.

The fact is that Chicago researchers who don't live next door to a major genealogy library can't do without any of these four sites. And we can't afford to call "1871 Chicago City Directory" an adequate citation, either.

McLean County Harvest in Illinois

Illinois Harvest has recently digitized the following McLean County histories:

Custer, Milo. Soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812 Buried in McLean County, Illinois. Bloomington: ?, 1912. 32 pages.

Marker, Charles A. A History of Heyworth. Heyworth: Heyworth Star, 1926? 44 pages.

Official Souvenir Program, McLean County Centennial, Aug. 27, 28, 30, 1930. Bloomington?: McLean County, 1930? 56 pages.

Bellflower, 100 Years, 1871-1971. Bellflower: ?, 1971. Unpaginated.

Saybrook Sesquicentennial. Saybrook?: The Historical Committee, 1975. Unpaginated.

Heritage of the Prairie: A History of LeRoy and of Empire and West Townships, McLean County, Illinois. LeRoy Bi-Centennial Commission, 1976. ~100 pages. A second volume is said to have been published by the LeRoy Historical Society in 1985 but does not seem to be on line.

Vermilion County Harvest in Illinois

Vermilion County, Illinois, histories recently digitzed by Illinois Harvest:

The Centennial Book, Vermillion [sic] County, Illinois. [S.l.: s.n.], 1926. 128 pages.

Tuggle, L. A. Stories of Historical Days in Vermilion County, Illinois. Danville: Interstate Printing Co., 1934? 103 pages.

Souvenir Book of Rossville, Illinois Centennial, 1859-1959. Rossville: 1959. 88 pages.

Hathaway, Louise G. The Mann's Chapel Country. Rossville: Mann's Chapel Restoration Committee, 1959. 20 pages.

Cannon, Dick. Centennial, Fithian, Illinois, 1870-1970. Fithian: Fithian Centennial Book Committee, 1970. 127 pages.

Hoopeston Centennial. [S.l.]: The Corporation, 1971. Unpaginated.

Centennial Celebration, Westville, Illinois, 1873-1973. Westville, 1973. Unpaginated.

Potomac, The Artesian Village. Potomac: Centennial Committee, 1976? 147 pages.

Champaign County Harvest in Illinois

Champaign County, Illinois, books recently digitized by Illinois Harvest:

Mathews, Milton W. Early History and Pioneers of Champaign County. Urbana: Champaign County Herald, 1891. 164 pages.

Purnell, Isabelle S. History of Mahomet. Mahomet: [s.n.], 1955. 92 pages.

Robeson's Honors the Very Important People of Our Own Champaign-Urbana. Champaign: Robeson's, 1962. 22 pages.

Irle, Frances C. Thomasboro, Illinois, Centennial, 1864-1964. Thomasboro: City of Thomasboro Centennial Committee, 1964. 48 pages.

Smalling, Donna. St. Joseph, Illinois, 1972 Centennial. St.Joseph: [s.n.], 1972. 159 pages.

The Centennial Book, Gifford, Illinois. Potomac: Bluegrass Printing, 1975. 132 pages.

Philo Area Centennial, 1875-1975. [S.I.: s.n., 1975?]. 122 pages.

Homer Past and Present. Homer: Town of Homer, 1976. 55 pages, some reprinted from 1955 centennial book.

Madison County Harvest in Illinois

From southwestern Illinois, Illinois Harvest has recently digitized the following:

Hair, James T. Gazetteer of Madison County. Alton: James T.Hair, 1866. 292 pages.

History of Madison County, Illinois. Edwardsville: W. R. Brink & Co., 1882. 600+ pages.

Zimmermann, Henry W. His Story of Bethalto. Bethalto: [s.n.], 1921. 282 pages. Detailed accounts of local soldiers in World War I.

Flagg, James S. Our 150 Years, Madison County, Illinois, 1812-1962. Edwardsville: East 10 Publishing, 1962. 64 pages.

Shelby County Harvest in Illinois

Illinois Harvest has digitized a bunch of southeastern Illinois' Shelby County books:


Eiler, Homer. History of Tower Hill and Vicinity. ?: Shelby County News Gazette, 1973.

Early History of Cowden and Vicinity, 1801-1920. (36 pages, and R. E. Fritts at least signed the preface -- that's all the publication info you're going to get!)

Moweaqua Centennial, 1852-1952. Moweaqua?: Moweaqua Centennial Association, 1952.

Yesteryears of Windsor. Windsor?:?, 1956.

Stewardson, the First 100 Years. Stewardson: Clipper Print, 1974.

Strasburg, Illinois Hundertjahrfest, 1874-1974. Strasburg: ?, 1974?.

Illinois Harvest in southwestern Illinois

Recently digitized local histories by Illinois Harvest in Bond and Montgomery counties:

Perrin, William Henry. History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois. Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1882.

Traylor, Jacob L. Past and Present of Montgomery County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1904.

The Centennial History of Litchfield, Illinois. Litchfield: ?, ~1953.

Centennial History of Nokomis, Illinois, 1856-1956. Nokomis: Free Press-Progress Printers, 1956.

Irving Centennial, 1863-1963, Irving: ?, 1963.

Carson, Will C. Historical Souvenir of Greenville, Illinois. Effingham: LeCrone Press, 1905.

Witt Centennial. Witt: Witt Centennial Committee, 1968.

Illinois Harvest goes out of state

Recent additions to Illinois Harvest may be useful to Midwestern researchers outside the Sucker State:

Pryor & Co.'s Stillwater City Directory, 1876-7 (Stillwater, Minnesota: Pryor & Co., 1876)

The Civil War Literature of Ohio, by Daniel Joseph Ryan (Cleveland: Burrows Brothers, 1911)

Pioneer History of Milwaukee, from the First American Settlement in 1833..., by James Smith Buck (Milwaukee: Swain & Tate, 1881-1890), volume 1, 1833-1841.

Note to readers who have either (a) a deep interest in 19th-century Milwaukee or (b) an unimaginable amount of spare time: I know I saw three other entries for this book -- presumably the three remaining volumes -- but I've been unable to find them using Illinois Harvest's search function. If you type in a title, it's supposed to find only works containing all the words, but in fact it produces thousands of irrelevant results. In this case, the top two hits of 1,694 for "pioneer history of milwaukee" were a WPA publication on pioneer life in Illinois and an image of a building at Racine and Milwaukee in Chicago!

Hey, it could be me -- a free year's subscription to this blog to anyone who can reconcile their description of their search system with its actual performance.