Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society Meetings 2011

Upcoming Society Meeting Information

The Society meets each month from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in either the Valparaiso Branch of the Porter County Public Library or the Lake County Library. Check the schedule below for the location.

April 16, 2011The

April meeting will take place at 10:00 am at the Dyer-Schererville Branch of the Lake County Public Library, located at 1001 West Lincoln Highway (US Route 30) in Dyer, Indiana [map]. Sally Phillips, NWIGS President, will speak on "Building Your Medical Pedigree."

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The May meeting will take place at 10:00 am at the Porter County Public Library, Valparaiso Branch, located at 103 Jefferson Street, Valparaiso, Indiana [map]. Grace DuMelle, author and historical research expert, will speak on "Using the Newberry Library."

Saturday, June 18, 2011

The June meeting will take place at 10:00 am at the Dyer-Schererville Branch of the Lake County Public Library, located at 1001 West Lincoln Highway (US Route 30) in Dyer, Indiana [map]. Lake County, Indiana, genealogist Marlene Polster will speak on "What Will Happen to Your Research When You Die?"

Saturday, July 16, 2011

The July meeting will take place at 10:00 am at the Porter County Public Library, Valparaiso Branch, located at 103 Jefferson Street, Valparaiso, Indiana [map]. Please join us as Lou Szucs will be providing a presentation the Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.com." Lou is Vice President of Community Relations at Ancestry.com and a national speaker on genealogy.

Finding Church Records in Indiana

GEN 929.1 CROO The Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook by Emily Croom c1994 This helpful books has information for finding old church records in Indiana on page 88.

• Indiana State Library contains many Roman Catholic diocesan records, church histories from many denominations.


• College of Indiana in Franklin **Baptist


• Diocese of Gary **Catholic


• DePauw University in Greencastle **Methodist


• Hanover College in Hanover **Presbyterian


• Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis **Disciples of Christ


• Mennonite Historical Library and Archives in Goshen **Mennonite


• Earlham College in Richmond **Quaker


• Historical Center of the Free Methodist Church in Winona Lake **Free Methodist


• Archives of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend **Catholic, including early New Orleans

Indiana Atlas of Historical County Boundaries

IND 911.772 ATLA Indiana Atlas of Historical County Boundaries editied by John H. Long c1996 This Atlas makes it easy to follow the chronology of Indiana state boundaries and individual county boundaries within the state. The Indiana Atlas of Historical County Boundaries also includes many useful maps, a Table of County Creation dates, a Table of Censuses, and Census Outline Maps. On page 189 there is a chronology for Lake County, Indiana

• 15 February 1836 Lake county is fully organized and detached from Porter county.

First few enteries from the Consolidated Chronology of Indiana State and County Boundaries p.9

• June 2, 1609 King James I granted a new charter to the Virginia Company of London, expanding Virginia's jurisdiciton westward and northwestward to the Pacific Ocean; included all of present Indiana.


• February 10, 1763 Treaty of Paris, ending the Seven Years' War between Great Britan (the Victor) and France and Spain, formally transferred to the British all of Canada (territory north of the Ohio River-Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River line), including present Indiana, and implicitly set the Mississippi River as the new western limit for the British colonies


• May 20, 1774 The British Parliament passed the Quebec Act, placing all territory north and west of the Ohio River, including present Indiana, under the jurisdiction of the province of Quebec.


• July 4, 1776 The United States declareditself independent of Great Britain, implicitly opening the possiblility that Virginia and some other states might claim territory north of the Ohio River and west of the Appalachian Mountians based on their colonial charters.

Historical and Genealogical Societies in Indiana

Genealogical and Historical Societies offer a wealth of genealogy information to genealogy researchers.
It is the local society members who compile biographical and historical information and make it available to the researcher through their websites and publications.

The Indiana Historical Society http://www.indianahistory.org/ has a web page of local history contacts for Indiana Counties
http://www.indianahistory.org/our-services/local-history-services/local-history-contacts

Below are links from the Indiana Historical Society for Lake County Indiana
http://www.indianahistory.org/our-services/local-history-services/local-history-contacts/lake-county


The Indiana Genealogical Society www.indgensoc.org has a web page with Genealogical Societies in Indiana
http://www.indgensoc.org/chapters.php

United States County Histories

GEN
973.016
FILG
A Bibliography of American County Histories
Compiled by P. William Filby
c 1985

This book can be found in the Indiana Room at the Central branch of the Lake County Public Library. It has a nice compilation of County Histories for each state in the U.S. A description of this book from Genealogical.com can be found at the following link:

http://www.genealogical.com/products/A%20Bibliography%20of%20American%20County%20Histories/1825.html

County Histories are an important source of genealogical information. The biographical sketches give details about occupation, education, politics, military service, vital statistics and other background information. Sometimes there is a picture of the person and his business or farm.

Even if your ancestors are not included in the County History you can learn more about the history of the area where they lived. There are often sketches of important places in the county such as the courthouse, schools, churches and businesses.

Under Lake County Indiana the following county histories are mentioned on pages 100 and 101:

**Lake County, Indiana, from 1834 to 1872, by Rev. Timothy H. Ball. Chicago: J.W. Goodspeed, 1873. 364 pp.

**County of Lake, 1882, see Porter County.

**Lake County, Indiana, 1884; an Account of the Semi-centennial Celebration...with Historical Papers...Old Settler & Historical Association of Lake County, Indiana, ed. by T.H. Ball. Crown Point: T.H. Ball, 1884. 486pp.

**Encyclopedia of Genealogy and Biography of Lake County, with a Compendium of History...Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1904. 674 pp. (Repr. Evansville: Unigraphic, 1979.)

**A Standard History of Lake County, Indiana, ed. by William F. Howat. 2 vols. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1915

**History of the Lake and Calumet Regions of Indiana, Embracing the Counties of Lake, Porter and LaPorte...comp. by Thomas H. Cannon 2 vols. Indianapolis: Hist. Assoc., 1927.

**First Hundred Years of Lake County, Indiana, by Sam B. Woods. [Crown Point?: n.p.], 1938. 418 pp.

**This Is Lake County, Indiana: an Up-to-date Historical Narrative...by John Drury. Chicago: Inland Photo Co., 1956. vi, 250 pp.

Lake County Public Library has all the early Indiana County Histories on microfilm in the Periodicals Department. We also have a hard copy of many of the County Histories for Indiana.


We also have an Indiana Biography Index to the early County Histories and other Indiana History Titles. The actual list of names is on microfilm. The call number is 977.20099 INDT

Chicago Genealogical Society Program

Saturday, February 5th

Harold Washington Public Library--400 S State Street, Chicago IL: This is one of the largest public libraries in the world. Join Maggie Clemons, Librarian a the Harold Washington Public Library, for an informative genealogical tour. The tour starts at 10:00 am on the 3rd floor by security.



Saturday, March 12

From the Auld Sod to the New Prairie: Songs of Irish Immigration in Illinois
Weaving music with stories, Lee Murdock presents a compelling story of Irish immigrants in Illinois. As the Irish came to America to build their new lives in a foreign land, they were also building the canals, railroads, and towns that became Illinois and America. Both traditional ballads and modern historical songs are featured in this illuminating presentation. 1:30 at Newberry Library 60 W. Walton, Chicago, IL.

Illinois Genealogical Society's New Site

Illinois Genealogical Society
http://www.ilgensoc.org/

Visitors are invited to explore the new ISGS website and enjoy these features:

-The current issue of the ISGS Newsletter and archived copies back to 2008
-Listings of ISGS events and events for Illinois genealogical societies
-Highlights of various ISGS projects and initiatives
-Free databases filled with information on Illinois ancestors
-A list of Illinois research resources

Free Databases

The following indices and databases are provided free to the public:
Civil War Certificates - Direct Descendant
Civil War Certificates - Indirect Descendant
Certified Prairie Pioneers
Family Bible Records Surname Index
World War I Certificates - Direct Descendant
World War I Certificates - Indirect Descendant
World War II Certificates - Direct Descendant
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