Genealogy First Tuesdays

Join us next Tuesday for our drop-in genealogy group. Bring your questions or research, utilize the library's genealogy resources and meet other enthusiasts. We meet in the Genealogy & Local History Room from 2-4:30pm.

Searching the National Archives

There are still seats available in our "Search the National Archives" class on Wednesday, April 30 at 2pm. Register online or call the Reference Desk at 847-729-7500 x7700.

Free Civil War Records

Fold3 has opened up it Civil War Collection for free until April 30! Start searching for those Civil War ancestors!

RootsTech 2014

The RootsTech conference was held in February but sessions from the conference were recorded and are now available online. Learn about the newest technology to enhance your genealogy research and family trees!

Here's the keynote speaker from the opening session.

Kennicott Exhibit at The Gove

A new exhibit at The Grove focuses on the life Dr. John A. Kennicott.

An excerpt from a recent Chicago Tribune article:

This is the first exhibit at The Grove to focus on Kennicott, the patriarch of the family. His son, Robert, had been The Grove's focus for many years, Swanson said, having founded the Chicago Academy of Sciences, served as a Smithsonian scientist and been the first naturalist for the state of Illinois. He was also one of four principal people to purchase Alaska from Russia.  

"Dr. Kennicott has really been kind of eclipsed by him," said Swanson. "But we decided we really wanted to look at Dr. Kennicott's life and all his achievements."  

Kennicott, who was born in 1802 in New York, became one of the area's first physicians when he came to Glenview, then called West Northfield, in 1836. He started The Grove Nursery & Garden in 1842 and called for the first Illinois State Fair in 1853.  

Kennicott also had national reach. He lobbied for a federal agricultural bureau, now the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and went to Washington to petition for the Land Grant College Act. 

He helped draft a bill in the state legislature to create an "Illinois university."  

"If you got to any of the A&M universities, those are agricultural and mechanical universities, they're a direct result of the Land Grant College Act and he was the principal person that moved that act forward and was passed by U.S. House of Representatives and Senate," Swanson said.

Learn more at the Tribune and The Grove National Historic Landmark.

DuPage County Genealogy Resources

This week the New England Historic Genealogical Society showcased some genealogy resources for DuPage County.

DuPage County Genealogical Society

DCGS has a lot of great resources on their site:

• Cemetery Indexes for Addison, Downers Grove, Lisle, and York townships
• DuPage Families contains information about people who have lived in DuPage County
• Newspaper abstracts for Hinsdale Doings and the Wheaton Illinoian
• Other useful links for DuPage genealogy research 

Argus Obituary Index
Obituaries published in the Villa Park Argus from 1931 to present. This database was created by the Villa Park Public Library.

Bronswood Cemetery Burial Index
An excellently made index by the Oak Brook Historical Society.