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South
Suburban Genealogical Serving
south Cook and east Will counties, Illinois
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Research Sources at the SSGHS Library
In addition to our collection of over 11,000 books, there are many other sources of information at our library that are sometimes overlooked by researchers. The following will give you an idea of what is available. Our librarians will be happy to direct you to this material. Be sure to look at the "SSGHS - Visitors Guide" when you visit the library. You may also request research in these areas.
Index
Census Records
City
Directories & Phone Books
CD's, Microfiche, & Microfilm
Family History Books & Files
Hidden Treasures
Historic Maps
"How to Do Genealogy" books
Newspapers
Obituaries
Pamphlets
Periodicals
Where the Trails Cross
We define “our area of interest” as 20 townships in south Cook and east Will Counties. We have collected microfilmed census reports for these areas as follows:
All available Federal Censuses for our area for 1820 through 1930,
We have purchased or generated indexes for many of these years. We also have a finding aid to use with the 1930 census.
State censuses for our area for 1825 through 1865, and
A military census of able-bodied men (aged 18 to 45) which was taken between 1861 and 1862.
In addition to the above, we have scattered films for various areas and years.
In the most recent
census, we have gotten some films for the Roseland-Pullman area, the East Side
of Chicago, and western Lake County, IN. These purchases were made in
response to user requests.
Also, check catalog and
CD's for other areas.
CITY
DIRECTORIES & PHONE BOOKS
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What
follows is not a complete list of city directories to be found in the library,
but rather a list of a few large runs. All
the directories, with the exception of the Chicago directories in the cabinet,
are cataloged.
Microfilm:
MFL 977.311
D-CHI Chicago
City Directories 1871, 1880-1917, 1923, 1928-1929.
Hard copies in the cabinet:
Chicago City Directories
1878, 1889, 1892, 1894-1908, 1911-1917,
1923.
These are all in a very fragile condition.
Chicago Telephone Books 1900, 1903, 1903, 1903.
Classified, 1910, 1911, 1914, 1920, 1932, 1933, 1937,
1938, 1943, 1944
Chicago Reverse Directory 1950.
On shelves:
977.299
D-POL Hammond – includes Calumet City, Munster, and
Whiting. 1943,
1945, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961-1966,
1968-1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977
977.299 D-CAL Calumet Region Phone Books.
1946-1951, 1954, 1955, 1957-1964, 1966
977.3161
Pullman area phone books. 1911, 1948, scattered 1961-1985
Not cataloged – on shelves: Phone books for the greater Chicago area. 1970s+
CD's,
MICROFICHE, & MICROFILM
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There are
so many Indexes. Census and Bible Records, Family Trees, etc. in the this
collection that you will need several visits to look at them all.
Direction on how to use CD's are inside each case.
FAMILY HISTORY BOOKS & FILES
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We have many books that are surname specific as well as a large collection of surname specific files in the Family Files cabinets.
HIDDEN
TREASURES
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Naturalizations
in the Court at Calumet City
Index to Naturalizations and Declarations of Intent, Chicago Heights Public
Library
Records for the Fedde Funeral Home, Peotone, IL.
Records for the Carlson Funeral Home, Roseland area of Chicago
Records for the Claude E. Grissell Funeral Home
Will County World War II Inductees
Calumet City Burial Permits
Acme Steel corporate records and newsletters
Green Garden Township Assessor's books: 1901-1942 - Real Property - Personal
Property; Account Books; Plat Maps; and Road and Bridge Records
Our map case contains a variety of maps, many of which are listed in the file box atop the case. We also have some atlases, which are cataloged. In addition to those items, we also have a number of historic maps on microfiche. Here is a list of those.
1851 – Reed (Includes Cook, DuPage and Will Counties)
1861 – Flowers
1862 – Flowers (Published by Burhans and Van Vechten)
1870 – Van Vechten
1886 – Snyder
1890 – Snyder
1898 – Snyder
For Will County
1851 – Reed
1862 – Burhans and Van Vechten
Other
large plat maps are located in the cabinet opposite the computers. Here is
a list of them:
WPA
Plat Map - Green Garden Township, Will County.
The Real Estate Map Publishing Co's Atlas of Thornton in two volumes.
1926.
Sidwell Maps for the following townships:
Lemont
Bremen
Rich
Bloom
Worth
Calumet
"HOW
TO DO GENEALOGY" BOOKS
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We have books on basic genealogy research, cemetery research, Chicago and Cook County research, immigration, forms, ethnic groups, court records, etc.
We have the following newspapers on microfilm:
MFL 977.3151 P-SOU-C Daily Calumet: April 25, 1919-August 13, 1919 and July-Dec 1887
MFL 977.3161 P-CAL-I Calumet Index: Scattered dates from January 1932-April 1949. Look at the boxes for the exact dates.
MFL 977.3161 P-SOU-R South End Reporter: 12/31/29 - 5/21/31
MFL 977.3167 P-HAR Harvey papers Misc.: Scattered dates from 1891 to 1940
MFL 977.3167 P-HAR-C Misc. Harvey Tribune-Citizen: Jan. 13, 1905 to Sept. 11, 1914
MFL 977.3167 P-HAR-T Misc. Harvey Tribune: June 3, 1893 to Dec. 29, 1933, July 25, 1940
MFL 977.3167 P-SOU-H South Holland Star Tribune: January 1, 1978 to December 31, 1982
MFL 977.3251 P-NEW New Lenox Community Reporter: Nov. 17, 1983 to Feb. 26, 1986
MFL 977.3254 P-MON-R Monee Review: Dec. 20, 1917 to Sept. 24, 1931
MFL 977.3256 P-PEO-V Peotone Vedette: Feb. 2, 1894 to June 3, 1920
MFL 977.3256 P-PEO-E Peotone Eagle: April 1876 to Dec 28, 1889
MFL 977.326 P-KEN Kendall County Record: 1983
MFL 977.326 P-LED Ledger Sentinel (Oswego, IL): Vol. 34:1 (1983)
There are a number of loose newspapers in the cabinet underneath the CDs. These are not cataloged. Each drawer has a list in it of the papers found in the drawer. These papers have not been filmed.
Dolton/Riverdale Pointer: 1917-1942. Scattered issues - see list in the drawer
Harvey Tribune and other Harvey papers: 1902 - 1966. Scattered issues - see list in the drawer.
The file cabinet behind the Librarian’s desk contains obituaries pasted onto file cards. They are arranged in alphabetical order. They begin about 1968. Most of them come from the Chicago Heights Star although other papers are represented. This collection is continued in notebooks which are shelved according to the location of the newspaper. Years covered include 1977 through 1985 and 1987 through 2000. Each notebook is indexed.
Obituaries from other
papers include those from:
Crete Record 1993-2000
Peotone Vedette
1979-1997
Misc. other papers plus
funeral cards (mostly from the Roseland area)
The following materials on the shelves contain obituaries:
977.311 D-CHI Vital Records from Chicago Newspapers 1883-1848
977.299 D-HAM Times Obituaries - Calumet Region of Indiana and Illinois. November 1980 - January 1, 1982
977.299 D-Ham Hammond
Times Obits. Misc. 1982 and Jan 2 -
May 8, 1988
Research Series
publications which could contain obituaries include:
Vol. 4 - Greater Roseland Area Newspaper Extracts 1882-1894
Vol. 6 - Harvey, IL Newspaper Extracts April 11, 1891 - Jan 11, 1902
Vol. 8 - South Side Snippets Oct 11, 1906 - June 29, 1907
Where The Trails Cross
Look in WTTC Volume 25:2 for obituaries and newspaper extracts published by us. Volume 34:1, contains extracts from Harvey newspapers from 1890 through 1918. Indexes to the Blue Island Sun-Standard obits are found in three different issues of Where the Trails Cross (WTTC). Obituaries may be ordered from the Society. The obits are $5.00 each plus a SASE.
We have the
following newspapers which could contain obituaries:
MFL 977.3251 P-NEW New Lenox Community Reporter:
Nov. 17, 1983-Feb. 26, 1986.
MFL 977.3254 P-MON-R Monee Review: Dec. 20, 1917-Sept. 24, 1931.
MFL 977.3256 P-PEO-V Peotone Vedette: Feb. 2, 1894-June 3, 1920.
MFL 977.3256 P-PEO-E Peotone Eagle: April 1876-Dec. 28, 1889.
MFL 977.326 P-KEN Kendall County Record: 1983.
MFL 977.326 P-LED Ledger Sentinel (Oswego, IL.): 1983.
MFL 977.3161
P-CAL-I Calumet Index: Scattered dates
from Jan. 1932-April 1949. Look at the boxes for exact
dates.
MFL 977.3161 P-SOU-R South End Reporter: Dec. 31, 1929-May 21, 1931.
MFL 977.3161 P-HAR-T Harvey papers. Misc. scattered dates from 1891-1940. Look at boxes for exact dates.
MFL 977.3167 P-SOU-H South Holland Star Tribune: Jan. 1 1978-Dec. 31, 1982.
Loose papers in the
cabinet underneath the CD's - these are not cataloged. Each drawer has a
list in it of the papers found in the drawer.
Dolton/Riverdale Pointer:
1917-1942 scattered issues. See list in drawer.
Harvey Tribune and other
Harvey papers: 1902-1966 scattered issues. See list in drawer.
Index to obituaries - we have the index; someone else has the obituaries.
977.299 D-LAK INDEX Lake County, Indiana and Illinois area obituary collection 1960-1970 Obituaries are at the Lake County Public Library in Merrillville.
977.299 D-HAM Index of obituaries from the Hammond Times 1940-1949
977.311 D-HOL Index to obituaries in Dziennik Chicagoski 1890-1929
977.311 D-HUS Deaths in the Chicago Defender 1910 - 1920
977.311 D-OBI Obituary dates from Denni Hlasatel
1891-1899, 1930-1939, 1940-1949
MFL 977.3168 D-STA-O Obituary Index to the Chicago Heights Star 1906-1993
Other clues to death
dates will be found in church records, Social Security Death Index, Illinois
Department of Health Death Index, funeral home records, cemetery readings,
necrologies, probate records, indexes to vital records, veterans’ burials,
etc. Many of these records, and these types of records, can be found in our
library.
1. One of the underused resources at the SSGHS library is
the pamphlet file. In the
file drawers are numerous newspaper clippings, church bulletins, lists of Boy
Scouts, 25 year and 50 year commemorative bulletins of clubs and churches in the
area. For Worth Township, there is
almost a full drawer of materials in the “Illinois, Cook County, Worth
Township” drawer. But be sure to
look at the Index, located in a yellow notebook on the Librarian’s Reference
Shelf, for numerous filing categories. We
have information on many countries (mostly European), states, and counties
within those states, plus filings by topic.
2. There are many types of maps.
Plat maps have the names of land owners on them. Road maps list names of
towns (the best are old maps which list villages long gone).
Insurance, sometimes known as Sidwell maps, give you the legal
description of homes. SSGHS has
these and many other types of maps. Many are stored in flat files just above the Librarians desk.
Most of the rest are located in the road and map atlases next to and
above the file cabinets. We have
maps from many states and many European countries.
Also, don’t forget that many books have maps within the pages or maps
of battles in war. Also check the
file boxes on the shelf with the encyclopedias.
The folders contain many early maps, as do the encyclopedia.
SSGHS Library receives quarterly and/ or newsletter publications from seventy-two genealogical societies on a regular basis. With the exception of the newsletters in boxes on the small shelf, all materials received are cataloged.
Access to the information in these and other periodicals on our shelves is through PERSI and GPAI. The Genealogical Periodical Annual Index is no longer being published, but early issues are on our shelves. PERSI is available in our library on CD. Materials are indexed in PERSI by location and by family name.
If a reference is found to a periodical in one of these indexes, check the catalog to see if we have the periodical. If we do not, there is information available on how to order the desired article from Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne (those in PERSI).
WHERE
THE TRAILS CROSS
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Over 30 years of mainly one-of-a-kind articles in our SSGHS Quarterly: "Where The Trails Cross" are indexed. See Vol. 30, number 4 for subject index.
3000 West 170th Place, Hazel Crest, IL. 60429 - 1174
Telephone: (708) 335-3340
E-mail to: ssghs@usa.net
Last update 26 October 2005