Archive for the ‘Recommended’ Category

Retired Major Pettigrew is a widower who leads a quiet life in a quaint English village of manor house and charming cottages. His “old” values of proper manners, family history, and their place in society have put him at odds with his son’s brash modern ways. When the Major’s friendship with the widowed Mrs. Ali, shopkeeper of Pakistani descent, blossoms into romance, it has the townsfolk talking. The story follows the Major’s relationships with his son, Mrs. Ali, and his village friends with surprising mishaps and humorous Continue Reading

Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States is a gold mine of information for genealogists!  In one place we can find the names, addresses and phone numbers of all repositories of naturalization records in the United States, its territories and possessions.  The author, Christina K. Schaefer, organizes state information by state, county and city.  She lists all locations of naturalization records of residents of United States territories and possessions.  The locations of Continue Reading

We often hear comments such as “She looks like her mother,” or “Heart disease runs in the family.” Our genetic family history can affect our personalities, our appearance, and our health. Explore what is known about the effects of our ancestors’ genes on our own lives. In Your Genealogy Affects Your Health,
F. Clarke Fraser, Ph.D., M.D., explains basic information in terms that we can all understand. Find this book in the Illinois Room of Hayner Downtown Library.
(IR 929.1072 FRA)

Over time, the Illinois Senate seat races have run the gamut from hotly contested to quietly boring.  In this book the contestants’ personalities show through, exhibiting various ideologies and distinctly different manners of meeting their responsibilities.  This reference volume contains portraits, timeline graphs, and more to lay the foundation for deeper research into Illinois’s government. (IR 328.73092 KEN)

The title of this book sums up the contents without the need for further explanation. It is designed to help the user translate documents that have been written in German. The listings in this guide focus primarily on the words, symbols, and abbreviations found on genealogical documents. Using it in conjunction with a standard German-English Dictionary, the user needs no prior knowledge of the German language to be able to obtain accurate translation results. The listings are defined in one word or simple short phrases, keeping the user from Continue Reading

After forty-eight years of marriage, Joseph Weissmann announces he wants a divorce from his wife, Betty, and claims irreconcilable differences; but the real reason is his young assistant, Felicity. Joe intends to be generous in the divorce settlement, but with Felicity’s help, that doesn’t happen. To Betty, this is devastating, but she views life as a “picnic” and leaves her elegant New York apartment to live in her wealthy Cousin Lou’s run-down, quaint cottage on the beach in Westport, Connecticut. Her two daughters join her: Miranda, the Continue Reading

With the help of this book, looking for ancestors in the “Windy City” doesn’t have to make you feel like you are chasing the wind! Author Grace DeMelle has put together a guidebook that is great for beginners. Whole chapters are devoted to answering specific questions about the “who, what, and where” of researching in the Chicago and Cook County areas. So, before you head north in search of family connections, stop by the Illinois Room of Hayner Downtown Library and take a look at this simple-to-understand and very informative step-by-step guide. (IR 929.107207731 DUM)

Divorces and Separations in Missouri (1808–1853) is a small, 35-page, soft-cover book with a bold yellow cover. Unfortunately, it may be overlooked because of its size, but the information contained within its pages can be a genealogist’s dream come true. Early divorces, and especially separations, are not the easiest records to locate, but when we do find something relating to family disputes and marital breakups, we get a glimpse of our families in a little different light. If you have an elusive Missouri family from this time period, don’t overlook this small book. It just may hold the Continue Reading

Myra loves her free-spirited, wild life growing up on Bloodroot Mountain in Appalachia. Raised by her Granny Byrdie from a young age, Myra was born with “haint blue” eyes; a color mountain folk believe removes curses. Byrdie hopes the spell placed on her family generations ago will finally be lifted, but trouble comes to Myra when she runs away to marry Johnny Odom. From the Great Depression to the present, four generations are depicted in this family saga written in alternating character voices. It is a story of a family living under hardships from a curse Continue Reading

The Irish potato famine struck Ireland in the winter of 1845–46, forcing thousands of citizens to leave their homeland in search of food and a better life.  This began the first mass movement of a single people to the United States. Between the years of 1846 and 1851 more than a million Irishmen and their families migrated to the U.S. and Canada, mostly through the port of New York. The Famine Immigrants is a seven-volume set of books covering this period of migration. Information found within the pages of these wonderful resource books are names of ships, names of passengers, Continue Reading