Helen Sclair 1930-2009

Helen Sclair, known as The Cemetery Lady, was a local genealogy celebrity who had lived at Bohemian National Cemetery since 2001. Her cremated remains will rest under a granite stone bearing the inscription, The Cemetery Lady, An Advocate for the Dead.

Mrs. Sclair, 78, died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday, Dec. 16, in the Harmony Healthcare and Rehab Center in Chicago, where she had been recovering from surgery.

She did a presentation at the Glenview Public Library about local cemeteries on October 28, 2008.

Tax Lists

The Library owns two wonderful books that can help you advance your genealogical research by using tax lists.

The Sleuth Book For Genealogists : strategies for more successful family history research, by Emily Anne Croom, 929.1072 CRO. There is also a Reference copy at R929.1072 CRO GENEALOGY.

It is brimming with wonderful checklists, case studies, and novel approaches for using any number of genealogical source records.

The following brief excerpt from a review of this wonderful book is about tax records:

"Strategies for Using Tax Records, by Emily Anne Croom
...A number of states and towns have preserved tax records that date to their early years; others have not been so diligent. Nevertheless, the genealogist needs to use them whenever they exist... The surviving records are usually found in county courthouses or in state archives. Many have been microfilmed and are available from the Family History Library...Tax records are kin to land records because residents paid taxes on land they owned, as well as on slaves, horses, cattle, oxen, personal property, and luxury items... In some cases, specific items were taxed in a given year, such as certain items of furniture, mirrors, and window curtains in Virginia in 1815..."

The other book is The Beginner's Guide to Using Tax Lists, by Cornelius Carroll. 929.1 CAR

"This is a primer for making the best genealogical use of tax lists... [The author] differentiates between tax lists, quit rents, tithables, militia lists, censuses, and similar records and the laws that applied to them. Then, by focusing on the tax lists of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee, he demonstrates how tax lists can be used for determining parentage, birth and death dates, indentured servitude, slavery, manumission, and racial status. In conjunction with other records, tax lists can be used to help determine the parentage of a female, the date of a marriage, migration routes, and the accuracy of family traditions..."

Countdown to April 2, 2012

The National Archives website contains information about the release of the 1940 Census on April 2, 2012.

Information includes a countdown clock that counts the days, hours, minutes, and seconds; general information; how to start your 1940 census research; indexes and other finding aids; videos; articles; and links to online data.

NSGS Meeting: January 9, 2010

The North Suburban Genealogical Society invites you to its January meeting.

A genealogical question and answer period will be followed by readings of your favorite letters of sentimental value. You are invited to bring letters that are your favorites and listen to others read theirs.

When: January 9, 2010;
1 p.m.: Problem Solving,
2 p.m.: Program on Love Letters
Where: Glenview Library 1930 Glenview Rd., Glenview 60025

Contact: Jim Boyle 847 401 2579
Open to anyone interested in genealogical research. Free Admission

Giving Is Better

At this special time of remembering others in a spirit of generosity, give something back to the genealogical community.

There are numerous free online genealogical web sites that have helped all of us advance our family history research.

Here are some ideas for how to give others a boost up their family tree:

--become a volunteer for the FamilySearch indexing project

--adopt a state or county, do lookups, or help with other projects at U.S. Genweb and World Genweb

--do a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness for others

Where would these wonderful free websites be without the generosity of genealogical volunteers? This holiday season, pay it forward: give something back to them.

For more ideas, visit About Genealogy.

JGSI January Meeting

Sunday January 31, 2009 Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois will present Genealogical Resources at the National Archives and Records Administration - Great Lakes Region, Chicago lead by Barry Finkel at 2:00 p.m. at Temple Beth Israel, 3601 W. Dempster, Skokie, IL.

Learn which records are available at this NARA facility that can help you in your genealogical research.

The JGSI meeting facilities will open at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate members/guests who want to use our library materials, get help with genealogy Web sites on the Internet or ask genealogical related questions before the main program begins. For additional information please phone (312) 666-0100.

Do You Know Illinois?

In the 1930's Edward Hughes was Secretary of State and State Librarian of Illinois, and he composed a column which ran in many newspapers entitled "Do You Know Illinois?"

The columns were short Q & A pieces dealing with Illinois facts and history, and contain nearly 5,000 factual trivia and obscure facts about Illinois. They are now digitized and part of the Illinois Digital Archives.

Click each page in the left column to view more than 500 pages of this column. At the very end is an index.