Genealogy

Cost for Obituary Look Up and mailing/emailing from the Geneseo Public Library District microfilms: $1.00 per obituary, other donations gladly accepted. For more extensive research contact our Historian at joleene521@gmail.com. She will contact you and other costs will be explained.

Local History and Genealogy Resources

Geneseo Public Library - Local History Collection blog

Genealogy/Historical Consultant: ccrawford@geneseo.lib.il.us

Black Life in America
Digitized local newspaper
Digitized Photos from Geneseo Public Library
Family Search
HeritageHub
Illinois Ancestors
Illinois Digital Gallery
Podcast for Genealogy from Genealogy Guys

All Genealogy material listed below is non-circulating material and must be viewed in the library.

Henry County Cemeteries

City of Geneseo :

Townships:

Alba Twp. (Goble, Maple Grove, Sacred Heart)
Andover Twp. (Rosedale)(Jenny Lind, Andover Twp., Old Methodist, Presbyterian, Cholera Stone)
Annawan Twp. (Fairview)
Atkinson Twp. (Spring Creek)
Burns Twp. (Cosner, Mt. Zion, St. John's near Galva)
Cambridge Twp. (Mascall, Mc Nay, Talbot, private burials)
Clover Twp. (Woodhall, Clover Chapel, private burials)
Colona Twp. (Colona, Dayton, Glennwood)
Cornwall Twp. (Grandview, Liberty, St. Anthony's)
Edford Twp. (Edford, St. John's)
Galva Twp. (Galva)
Geneseo Twp. (Mizpah Cemetery)
Hanna Twp. (Hanna, Colbert)
Kewanee Twp. (Kewanee Township Cemetery, Kewanee South Pleasant View, Kewanee Pleasant View Cemetery and Mausoleum, Old Kewanee, Russian Orthodox, Garden of Peace, St. Michaels/Lutheran Church of Redeemer, St. Mary's, Mount Olivet, Msgr. Burke Addition to Mount Olivet)
Loraine Twp. (Kemmis, Loraine, Bollen)
Lynn Twp. (Ophiem - Grace Lutheran)
Munson Twp. (Greenlee, Hillcrest Home, Pleasant Hill)
Osco Twp. (Grace Episcopal, Morristown)
Oxford Twp. (Oxford, Summit Level, Alpha)
Phenix Twp. (Pink Prairie, McHenry, Ebenezer)
Weller Twp. (Red Oak, Bishop Hill, Piatt)
Western Twp. (Western, Orion Lutheran, Cholera Stone)
Wethersfield Twp. (Cavanagh, Evergreen Memory Garden, Saxon, Wethersfield)
Yorktown Twp. (St. Mary's, Hoophole is also known as Mt. Zion, Swedona Lutheran Cemetery)

Alphabetical Listing of those buried at Henry County Infirmary.

Whiteside County Cemeteries

Fenton Cemetery, Fenton, IL

Rock Island County Cemeteries

Bowlesburg Cemetery, Tenth Street, Silvis, Illinois

Atlases and Land Maps

Located in wooden Atlas File.

Whiteside County, Illinois 1872 Atlas & Index
1875 Atlas of Henry County; Plat Book of Henry County 1893;
1910 Plat Book, City of Geneseo; 1911 Henry County Atlas
Pictorial Atlas Whiteside County, IL 1982
1957 Official County Plat Book and Rural Directory of Henry County, Illinois
1961 Plat Book - Henry County Illinois
1965 Farm Directory, Henry County, IL
1966 Farm Directory, Henry County, IL
1968 Farm & Ranch Directory, Henry County, IL
1971 County Directory, Henry County, IL
1972 Illinois Farm Bureau Atlas & Plat Book for Henry County
1973 County Directory, Henry County, IL
1974 Illinois Farm Bureaus Atlas & Plat book of Henry County, IL
1975 Rural Directory, Henry County, IL
1975 Henry County, Illinois Plat Book
1975 Plat Book of LaSalle County, IL
1978 Farm & Ranch Directory, Henry County, IL
1980 Rural Resident Directory, Henry County, IL
1980 Land Atlas and Plat Book, Henry County, IL
1982 Rural Directory, Henry County, IL
1985 Rural Resident Directory, Henry County, IL
1987 Land Atlas & Plat Book, Henry County, IL
1989 Farm & Home Directory & Plat for Henry County
1990 Farm & Home Directory & Plat for Henry County
1990-1991 Henry County, Illinois TAM Services
1995-2012 Farm & Home Directory & Plat for Henry County
2000 Land Atlas and Plat Book - Rock Island County, IL
Henry County, Illinois TAM Maps 1990-1991 ; 1992-1993 ; 1996-1997 ; 1998-1999 ; 2001-2002 ; 2005-2006 ; 2007-2008, 2009-2010
Henry County Answer Book - 1994
Rock Island County, Illinois TAM Maps 1990-91 ; 1998-99 ; 2005-2006
Whiteside County, Illinois TAM Maps 1986-87 ; 1994-95 ; 1996-97 ; 2005-2006
Official County Plat Book and Farmer's Directory of Whiteside County, IL --- no date

Farm & Home Plat Directory of:

Bureau County, IL - 1995 & 1998
Knox County, IL - 1995, 2001
La Salle County, IL - 1995, 2001, 2005
Lee County, IL - 1994
Marshall/Putnam County, IL - 1994 & 1997
Mercer County, IL - 1992 & 1996
Peoria County, IL - 1997, 2011
Stark County, IL - 1995 & 1997
Whiteside County, IL - 1992

Funeral Home Records

Kewanee, Illinois: Cavanaugh & Schuenneman; Schueneman & Tumbleson 1917-February 2004

Obituaries

Civil War Soldiers Obituaries Found in Kewanee, IL Newspapers

Census Records

Federal Census of Henry County, Illinois (book at circ desk) - 1850 and 1960
Federal Population Census - 1900
Henry County Census (on microfilm) - 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930
Mercer County Census (on microfilm) - 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1930
Rock Island County Illinois census - 1850
St. Clair County, IL Census Substitute - 1890
St. Clair County, IL Federal Census - 1870

Geneseo Church Histories

First Congregational Church; 150 years of worship and services.
Loraine United Methodist Church
St. John's Lutheran Church 1869-1944, 1869-1969, 1869-1994
St. Peter's Evangelical Community Church, 1873-1998
Ties that Bind - Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 1996

Geneseo Church Directories

1995, 2000, 2004, 2006-2007
Celebrating 150 Years - Concordia Ev. Lutheran Church
Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church 150th Anniversary 1864-2014
First Congregational Church 1856-1986
First United Methodist Church 1977, 1983, 1989,
Grace United Methodist Church 1973, 1985
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church 1996
St. John's Lutheran Church 1869-1944, 1869-1969, 1869-1994
St. Malachy's Catholic Church 1978
St. Malachy's Parish, 1989 ; 1996 ; 2002, 2012, 2016 - 150th Anniversary
St. Peter's Evangelical Community Church 1873-1998

Family Histories/Genealogies

A Freehill Family History
Aiston-Chamberlain Family HistoryWilliam
Ainsworth Memories
Allerton Family
An Ancestor to Remember: Johannes Laubach
Ancestry of Charlotte (Holbrook) Hammond of Wardsboro
Andrews Family in America
Bacon and Allied Families
Busenbark Family
Cady
Decker
Denz, Erdman, Hintz, Hollatz Families
Descendants of Casper Weber
Descendants of James Kay
Descendants of John Cox of Abington, Indiana and Joseph Cox of Hampton, Illinois
Descendants of Michael Roesner
Descendants of Neely Withrow and Mary Polly Eveleth
Descendants of Simeon D. Fuller
Edmund Schilling Family
Entrikin
Family of Ella McLellan Slocum
Family of John and Maria Magee
Frederick Thomas McDougall Family
Glenn
Gradert Family Tree
Guile-Gile-Guiles Genealogy
Hammond Genealogies volumes I & II
Hector and Stephanie DeShepper's Legacy
Hier Families
Homer Kiner Lambert
House at 113 South Ward Street (Goss, Fehlman, Hahn)
Humphreys
Kiefer
Krause German History 1652-2006
John Lee of Farmington, Conn. and His Descendants
John K. Liken
Harry Manville Family
McHose Family - A Clay Worker and His Works
Michael Mason Miller Family
Myers Family Genealogy
New - Andrew and Agnes (Irvan) Park and their descendants (box of folders)
Otto Schmidt Family
Our Paddleford Descendants
Pratt Family
Rahn Family
Rink/Hughes Connection
R.M. Bessee and Will D. & Bertha Clark Families
Rugroden Roots
Schumaker Families
Shrek Family History: Family of Paul & Bethamy Shreck
Stewarts, Dressers, Tafts & Cones
The Barker, Dederick, Ecklor, Olmstead, Salisbury, and Taylor Grandchildren Inherit the Patroon's Estate
The Barman Family
The Descendants of Baccus Atwood & Sarah Tulle (1st printing)
The Descendants of Baccus Atwood & Sarah Tuttle (revised)
The Fenners of Providence, RI
The Slater Family
The Varnums of Dracutt
Walter Thomas Family
William Gottlieb Neumann Genealogy 1790-1958
Young Family Records

Do you have a Family History book you would like to share? We are taking donations of Family History books to put in our genealogy collection. We request donations of hard or softbound covers only, not loose-leaf pages. They can be in 3-ring binders, spiral-bound, or folders for display. These books would be non-circulating material that will always stay in the library for public viewing.

Henry County and other Genealogy Links

Genealogy Society Newsletters

Blackhawk Genealogy Society
Henry County Genie
Illinois State Genealogy Society Quarterly
LaSalle County
National Genealogical Society Quarterly
New England Historical and Genealogical Register
Peoria County Genealogical Society
Randolph County Genealogical Society
Shelby County Historical and Genealogical Society
St. Clair County Genealogical Society Quarterly
St. Louis Genealogy Society Quarterly
The Palimpsest - Iowa magazine 1967, 1982, 1983 (not complete years)

These newsletters are donated items so they are not complete sets except for the Henry County Genie which we subscribed to beginning June of 2006.

Directories

1942 City Directory
Geneseo Mutual Telephone Directory 1921 and 1924
Geneseo Retail Merchants' Association 1903
Kelly's Geneseo City Directory, 1898
Prairie Farmer's Farm Directory (©1916)
The Mullin-Kille Geneseo, Illinois Con Survey city directory, 1965

Local Histories and Reference Material in the Genealogy Room

Bishop Hill, Autopia on the Prarie I.R.H.C. 977.3 IS
Bishop Hill: a Pictorial History and Guide
Bishop Hill Swedish American Showcase
Brandenburg Tavern
Calhoun County, Iowa Early Marriages 1856-1884
Centennial History, Atkinson, IL
Cordova Illinois, then and now, 1836-1976
County Corn, Commerce and Country living I.R.H.C. 977.338 CO
Covered Bridges in Illinois (notebook with articles & items)
DAR Patriot Index, vol. 1, 2, and 3 I.R.H.C. 929.1 DAR
Dating Old Photographs - Pamphlets in a box
Diary of an Illinois Farmer 1947-1950 I.R.H.C. 630.627 HA
Directory of the City of Davenport for 1856
Early History of Hoophole Village
Erie Centennial 1872-1972
Founding Fathers of Geneseo and Their Families ---notebook
Galesburg High School - Alumni Directory 1994
Geneseo Business Professional Women's Club scrapbook 1952-1954 (includes misc. box)
Geneseo Centennial History 1836-1936 I.R.H.C. notebook
Geneseo - The First 150 Years 1836-1986 I.R.H.C. 977.3 GE
Geneseo Home Coming, 1915 I.R.H.C. 977.338 GE|
Geneseo High School Football Programs - 1978-1985 Also Illinois State Football Playoff Programs 1976-1982 (in magazine type boxes)
Geneseo High School Various Sports Programs 1970's & 1980's (in magazine type boxes)
Geneseo Junior Women's Club scrapbook 1974-1975
Geneseo Optimist Club scrapbook "The Birth of Ball Field" April 1969-March 1970
Geneseo Parent Teacher Association Board Minutes 1956-1979
Geneseo Township Public Library Development Fund, Geneseo, Illinois - Pamphlet
Gilbert Brown Farm Records 1925-1969
Guide to County Records in the Illinois Regional Archives - 1988
Hennepin Canal State Trail
Henry County Branch of the Illinois Live Stock Breeders Association 1911-1919 ; Minutes, Members and Financial Reports
Historic Rock Island County I.H.R.C. 977.33 HI
Historical Buildings, Homes & Sites I.R.H.C. notebook
Historical Directory of One-Room Rural Schools of Henry and Stark Counties, Illinois
Historical Society of Henry County, IL - Secretary Book 1924-1930
History of Bettendorf and Pleasant Valley
History of Henry County, vol. 1 & 2 I.R.H.C. 977.338 KI
History of Henry County, it's taxpayers and voters I.H.R.C. 977.338 HI
History of Hillcrest Home (circ. desk - listed under Residents of the Poor Farm)
History of Orion, IL
History of the Village of Ulah
History of Whiteside County, Illinois I.H.R.C. 977.33 BA
Illinois Civil War Detail Report
Illinois State Library & Geneseo Public Library 1946
Index to St. Clair County, Illinois : Probated and non-probated Wills 1772-1964
Iowa VanBuren County Grave Registration survey 1939
IRAD Register
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society - January 1937 - A colony settlement - Geneseo, Illinois 1836-1837 by Anson M. Hubbard (notebook with a copy)
Kewanee Story 1854-1954
Key to Genealogical Research in the Quad Cities Area of Rock Island County, IL and Scott County, IL
Kiwanis Club, Geneseo, IL 1939-1940
Kiwanis Club minutes from 1920-1924 plus items from 1970 - Geneseo, IL.
Knoxville through Five Generations
The Land Was Ours, Geneseo's Prairie Heritage, 1961
Ledger from the Geneseo Collegiate Institute - includes State Charter Bylaws and Board Minutes 1883-1904
Ledger from the Geneseo Collegiate Institute - Board Minutes 1904-1934
Ledger from the Geneseo Collegiate Institute - Banquet Book 1904-1913
Ledger from the Geneseo Collegiate Institute - Book of Accounts 1908-1921
Lillian's Diaries - Whispers from Galena's Past
Macomb Heritage Days
Monona County, Iowa - Early Marriages 1856-1880
Obituaries Found in Kewanee Illinois Newspapers to June 1955 and Served in the following wars: War of 1812, Mexican War, Spanish American, WWI
One Room School at the Crossroads : recollections of Smith School, Dist. #152 Edford Township, HenryCounty, Illinois. I.R.H.C. 977.3 HO
Osco School Reunion, August 4, 2007 - MEMORY BOOK
Our future is our Heritage - Andover 1835-1985
Past and Present of Rock Island County, Illinois 1877 I.R.H.C. 977.339 PA
Pennsylvania Genealogical Research
Pictorial History of Atkinson, IL
Portrait & Biographical Album of Henry County I.R.H.C. - Notebook
Quasquicentennial, 1982: Woodhull, IL
Recording of deaths from St. John's Church, Edford Township - 1916-1994
Recording of deaths from Concordia Lutheran Church, Geneseo, IL - 1864-1897
Residents of the Poor Farm at Henry County, Illinois 1862-1968
Rock Island Arsenal
Rural School Books - from Gertrude McKibbon
St. John's Church, Edford Township - Funeral Register 1866-1915
Shenanigans: The unofficial history of Monroe County, Iowa
They Came in Ships by John P. Colletta, Phd.
This Was Geneseo
Ties to our Past, Manlius, IL 1901-2001
Travels in Time, Milan, Illinois
Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria, IL - Confirmation Records 1873-1887
Walnut Centennial Book 1872-1972

Indexes

Birth Index prior to 1916, Henry County (4 volumes)
Death Index prior to 1916, Henry County (2 volumes)
Henry County Illinois Probate Index (4 volumes)
Henry County Court Naturalizations (1 volume)
Marriage Records for Henry County 1821-1939 (9 volumes)
Mortality Schedule 1860 - Vol. II - Counties: Fayette through Knox

Land maps:

1957 Official County Plat Book and Rural Directory of Henry County, Illinois 1961 Plat Book - Henry County Illinois
1965 Farm Directory, Henry County, IL
1966 Farm Directory, Henry County, IL
1968 Farm & Ranch Directory, Henry County, IL
1971 County Directory, Henry County, IL
1972 Illinois Farm Bureau Atlas & Plat Book for Henry County
1973 County Directory, Henry County, IL
1974 Illinois Farm Bureaus Atlas & Plat book of Henry County, IL
1975 Henry County, Illinois Plat Book
1975 Plat Book of LaSalle County, IL
1975 Rural Directory, Henry County, IL
1978 Farm & Ranch Directory, Henry County, IL
1980 Rural Resident Directory, Henry County, IL
1980 Land Atlas and Plat Book, Henry County, IL
1982 Rural Directory, Henry County, IL
1985 Rural Resident Directory, Henry County, IL
1987 Land Atlas & Plat Book, Henry County, IL
1989 Farm & Home Directory & Plat for Henry County
1990 Farm & Home Directory & Plat for Henry County
1990-1991 Henry County, Illinois TAM Services
1995-2012 Farm & Home Directory & Plat for Henry County
2000 Land Atlas and Plat Book - Rock Island County, IL
Henry County Answer Book - 1994
Henry County, Illinois TAM Maps 1990-1991 ; 1992-1993 ; 1996-1997 ; 1998-1999 ; 2001-2002 ; 2005-2006 ; 2007-2008, 2009-2010
Official County Plat Book and Farmer's Directory of Whiteside County, IL --- no date
Rock Island County, Illinois TAM Maps 1990-91 ; 1998-99 ; 2005-2006
Whiteside County, Illinois TAM Maps 1986-87 ; 1994-95 ; 1996-97 ; 2005-2006

Farm & Home Plat Directory of:

Bureau County, IL - 1995 & 1998
La Salle County, IL - 1995
Lee County, IL - 1994
Marshall/Putnam County, IL - 1994 & 1997
Peoria County, IL - 1997
Stark County, IL - 1995 & 1997
Knox County, IL - 1995
Whiteside County, IL - 1992
Mercer County, IL - 1992 & 1996

Military

Civil War Soldiers (obituaries found in the Kewanee, IL newspapers)
Service Record: World War I and II Geneseo and Community (I.H.R.C. 940 SE)

Newspapers

Geneseo Journal - 7 issues in 1860 on microfilm on reel M-15B and M-16A
Geneseo Republic 1856 - December 27, 2013 on microfilm
Henry County Arena - 1 issue in 1899 on microfilm on reel M-15B
Henry County News October 14, 1886-June 13, 1890 on microfilm
Milan Independent - Genealogical Abstracts May 1902 - Dec. 1906 (in Blackhawk Genealogical Society box)
Sun/Republic Geneseo, Illinois January 6, 1871-September 20, 1882 on microfilm
The Peoples Union Mission - 1 issue in 1895 on reel M-142
Union Advocate - October 11, 1861 - November 20, 1863 on reel M-36B

Volumes: (pictures, letters, misc.)

Geneseo Churches
Geneseo Schools vol. 1-10
Shearer Brothers vol. 1-5
Taylor momentous vol. 1-3
The Hammonds vol. 1-5 Hofstetter, Hosford & Hanford pictures of family & friends
The Johnson 1910 farm

Genealogy Material:

County Courthouse Book
Directory of Family Associations
Irish Records: Sources for family and local history
Passenger & Immigration Lists
The Genealogist's Address Book
The handbook for Genealogists

Geneseo High School Year Books: The Sphinx

1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956. 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (missing year of 1918)
"The Junior Sphinx" Geneseo Township High School Newsletters 1923-1928
Leaf Print Magazine - Fall 2011-12 ; Winter 2012-1013 ; Spring 2012-2013 ; Summer 2012

Geneseo Junior High/Middle School Year Books: The Oracle

1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011-2012.

St. Malachy's School Yearbook

1999-2000 and 2000-2001

Cemetery and Gravestone Websites

Access Genealogy - Cemetery Records
African American Cemeteries - African American burials
American Battle Monuments Commission - Cemeteries, memorials, burials
Ancestors at Rest - Free links to Coffin Plates, Funeral Cards, Cemetery Records, Cenotaph Records, German Death Cards, Wills, Church Records, Family Bibles, Vital Statistics
Australian Cemetery Records - An Australian gateway for tracing your family history
BCCFA - British Columbia Cemetery finding aid containing burials recorded in 264 cemeteries
City of the Silent - Claims to be the web's "Most extensive cemetery site"
Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Names of 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died in the two world wars
Find A Grave - The Largest compilation of burial information on the Internet
FuneralNet - The complete Yellow Book directory, plus other services related to funerals, obituaries, and cemeteries
GNIS (Geographic Names Information System) - An index to USGS Topographic Maps, best place to locate a named cemetery in the U.S.
JewishGen - Online Worldwide Burial Registry database of names
Political Graveyard - A database of Historic Cemeteries
t42 Cemeteries - Allen Wheatley's cemetery photographs

Genealogy Sites for Kids

Rootsweb

Whiteside County Items

Federal Census Books - 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930
Index to death certificates prior to 1916
Index to naturalization records
Morrison Merchant Buildings, Morrison, IL, Whiteside County
Morrison Inventors, Morrison, IL Whiteside, County
Morrison Post, Morrison, IL - newspaper articles from 2005-2006
Whiteside County Birth, by father prior to 1916 - 2 vols.
Whiteside News Sentinal, Morrison, IL - newspaper articles 1991-92, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003-2004, 2005-2006
Whiteside Sentinal Index 1911- 1920 - 2 vols.