where2look4ancestors

  • Our Genealogical Love Affair

    Before Husband and I were married, I asked him how much he knew about his family tree. Little did he know how important his answer would be! Because I am addicted to family history research. On the rare occasions I become bored with one branch of my family tree, another…

  • What I Learned at Gail Borden Library

    I wrote about my visit to Gail Borden Library here. We weren’t in the library for very long, but then it didn’t take very long to find two invaluable items to add to my family history. The Elgin Newspaper and Vital Record’s Index pointed me toward an obituary for William John…

  • Between the Cemeteries

    Cemetery field trips were just one of the highlights of our visit to Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Many thanks to our hosts; family and friends who always make our visits so much fun. Our first stop on this particular trip was breakfast at Perkins Family Restaurant & Bakery, 1720 North Broadway,  Menomonie, Wisconsin. Our…

  • A True and Accurate Extract from the Records

    Fifty-three years after her wedding in St. John’s Church in Cincinnati Ohio, Sophia Biedinger needed to prove that the event had taken place. You see her husband was a bit of a wanderer. In this instance his wanderings had kept him away from home for more than six months leaving his wife…

  • Elk Grove Cemetery

    Husband and I had just realized we missed a turn on the way back to our hotel when we saw Elk Grove Cemetery. This little cemetery appears to have been randomly dropped near a busy intersection of multi-lane roads and an expressway off-ramp. So imagine our surprise when we read…

  • Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum

    My maternal grandparents, John George Walton and Harriet Kathlyn (nee Tolf) Walton are buried at Rosehill. And my maternal grandmother’s maternal grandparents Peter August Tolf and Augusta Sophia (nee Landstrom) Tolf are buried at Rosehill. None of them are buried in the main cemetery. They are all in the separate section on the…

  • Norwood Park Home Cemetery

    North Newark Avenue (aka the gravel road) in Saint Adalbert Catholic Cemetery in Niles does more than separate one section of the cemetery from another (St. Adalbert is also known as Old Bohemian Cemetery, Old Polish Cemetery and Saint Stanislaus Cemetery). When we drove south on Newark, we stumbled upon…

  • Saint Adalbert Cemetery

    Friday’s plans included lunch with an old friend who recently bought a condo in Andersonville. Google Maps showed two options from the hotel to my friend’s new place. One route would bring us within blocks of Saint Adalbert Cemetery in Niles. “Wanna leave a little early so we can stop…

  • Mount Olive Cemetery

    I received Marilyn Yalom‘s The American Resting Place as a gift some months ago. If you haven’t yet read this book, I encourage you to do so. Genealogists and historians alike will find many items of interest among the 320 pages of text. Pages 184 and 185 in particular piqued my…

  • Acacia Park Cemetery

    The drive to Chicago was overcast and drizzly. That evening tornadoes touched down in towns to the north and west of us. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the people affected by these devastating acts of nature. Day Two dawned sunny and warm. We were relieved as we had hoped…