Rock Island County Illinois Genealogical Society

01/07/2026

RICIGS Past Board Member Sandra Derenbecker Passes Away

Sandra J. Derenbecker, 67, of Kenner, LA, passed away Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at her home. Sandra held a lifetime membership in Rock Island County, IL Genealogical Society. She previously held the Vice-President office on the board. Even though she lived in Louisiana, she had ties to this area through her ancestors. She attended and participated in most meetings. Our condolences to her family. She will be greatly missed. Sandra's Obituary

Sandra J. Derenbecker, 67, of Kenner, LA, passed away Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at her home. Sandra held a lifetime membership in Rock Island County, IL Genealogical Society. She previously held t…

12/26/2025

Did Santa bring anyone a Samsung TV for Christmas? I was happy to discover a Samsung Plus channel that is genealogy 24x7! Check out channel 2905 PBS Genealogy. Shows include ‘Finding Your Roots’, ‘Long Lost Family’ and ‘Genealogy Roadshow’ featuring one of our Society’s favorite speakers- Joshua Taylor.

12/12/2025

If you need your ancestors civil war record contact Brian (link below). He is much faster and cheaper than contacting NARA. These pension records are full of info that you might not find elsewhere. I know of several people that have used his service and they are very satisfied.

Nine years ago today, I was at work and had what I thought was a normal work day. I was working in shipping and receiving, and the whole team got called to a meeting. They let us know that they were downsizing, and effective immediately, we were all going to be let go. At 10:00 I was working at my desk, and by 10:30, I was being walked out the door with a box of my belongings.

It was definitely quite a shock. I hadn’t seen that coming. After the initial panic wore off, I decided to take advantage of the down time I now had, and I poured myself into genealogy education. I had always thought it would be great to make money doing professional genealogy, but I didn’t think I was ready. Plus, it’s hard to take the leap into that when you already have a steady job.

I did the Boston University course, ProGen, and attended GRIP for the first time, all in 2017. Along the way I met a lot of people who I still stay in contact with. I tried my hand at taking client work for traditional genealogy projects. I got a few clients, but nowhere near enough to support myself.

I also did something else for the first time—I went to the National Archives in order to get information for my own Civil War ancestors. I loved the city, I loved the National Archives, and decided I wanted to go back again. This was the beginning of what I do now. I accidentally started my own business, working at the National Archives in Washington DC.

I have my own website now (www.CivilWarRecords.com). I’m closing in on 12,000 Facebook followers, and I have a team with three employees under me. I’ve traveled around the country to various genealogy conferences, spoken countless times to different genealogy groups around the country, appeared as a guest on many different genealogy podcasts and YouTube channels, and even started to do work for one of my favorite TV shows, Finding Your Roots. Who would have thought that?

Nine years ago, I wouldn’t have had this on my radar in any way, shape, or form. I didn’t see my unexpected unemployment as a blessing at the time, but looking back, I do now!

10/31/2025

German ancestors? I saw this on Reddit: “Around „Allerheiligen“ (All Saints' Day), i.e. from October 30 to November 4, 2025, Ancestry in Germany is offering registered users free access to all German databases.”
To use this, navigate to ancestry.de and enter your ancestry login info.

Ancestry.de bietet historische Daten und Dokumente für Ahnenforschung. Erstellung eines Familienstammbaums online und Informationen und Tipps rund um die Ahnenforschung und Genealogie.

09/18/2025

RootsMagic has released Version 11 of their popular genealogy software. President Bruce Buzbee reviews some of the changes that have taken place. Also, they are offering $10 off the purchase price until the end of September for new users and also for upgrades for existing users.

Keywords: RootsMagic 11, What’s New, genealogy software, usability improvements, labeled view buttons, page-specific menus, new header, life summary panel, i...

09/15/2025

Here is a short but sweet description of the topic Josh Taylor will present to us.

Resources of the DAR: Beyond Revolutionary War Soldiers

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) actively collects and preserves resources essential for anyone tracing ancestors in the United States during the Federal period. Learn how to use the DAR’s resources to expand your research online and onsite.

I am totally sure it will help me, not just for any soldiers in my ancestry, but also non soldiers. Maybe even more. I cannot wait to find out!

A reminder, our September General Meeting begins at 6:15 on Tuesday, the 23rd with Josh's presentation following. Zoom only. It will not be a live program because of a work commitment Josh has.

Hope to see you in the Zoom gallery.

09/11/2025

Here is the bio for our next speaker, D. Joshua Taylor. It will be a recorded presentation because Josh has a work commitment that evening. It will be tailored to RICIGS and he has agreed to take questions afterwards in email format.
All you will need to do is the same as any Zoom only presentation, namely 6:15 General Meeting, followed by Josh's program (6:30ish).
This is on Tuesday, September 13.
I am looking forward to using D.A.R. more often than I do now. I am not very familiar with their website and am sure this will help me. May be helpful for you, also.

D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS, FUGA, is a nationally known and recognized genealogist. Passionate about the diverse and dynamic field of family history. Joshua is the President of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B), an organization dedicated to preserving the stories of all New Yorkers. Previously, Joshua volunteered in leadership positions for the Federation of Genealogical Societies and other organizations. In 2017, Joshua was named as one of Library Journal’s Movers and Shakers and in 2022 was named as a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association. A popular author and speaker, Joshua has been a coordinator for courses at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) and is the recipient of RootsTech’s Distinguished Presenter Award. He holds an MLS (Archival Management) and an MA (History) from Simmons College and has been a featured genealogist on Who Do You Think You Are? and can be seen taking America through their past as a host on the popular PBS series Genealogy Roadshow.

09/10/2025

JOIN RICIGS NOW AND GET THE REST OF 2025 AND ALL OF 2026 FOR $20!
Have you considered joining our genealogy society? Now is a good time for you to do that. Joining now will give you membership through all of 2026. This is a very active society with monthly general meetings (some in-person, all virtual) with nationally renowned speakers, as well as monthly 'Education Events’ discussion groups.

Members have access to a ‘Members Only’ area on the website. This area has content that is available only to paid members. There are birth records, marriage records, death records, cemetery records, newspaper abstracts, court records, county histories, and directories under the Members Only area.
You don’t have to have Rock Island County ancestors to belong to our society. Many of our members don’t. You just need to have an interest in family history.

To join, please visit https://ricigs.org/about-us/join-ricigs/ where you can join and pay your dues electronically or you can print a membership form to mail in.

RICIGS Membership You will be joining a group that will assist you in your genealogical research, collection, preservation, and publication of your family’s genealogy and history. The monthly…

09/06/2025

The Rock Island County IL Genealogical Society will be at Butterworth Center on Sunday, September 21st, for their Annual Porch Party "It's a Family Thing!" This event puts a focus on family history – yours and the Deere Family - at this activity packed afternoon. Please stop by our booth to learn more about our Society and get some freebies!

This should be a fun, family event with food trucks, live music, lawn games, selfies, tunnel tours, and loads of family-friendly activities!

Live Local Music throughout the day, including:
• 12 - 2:30 PM Pickled Beats, Deere-Wiman West Porch
• 12- 2:30 PM Donovan Gustofson Band, Butterworth Gazebo
• 2 - 3 pm – Jed Poust on the Butterworth’s Bennet-Stannke Organ
• 2:30 - 5 PM Bucktown Band, Deere-Wiman Porch
• 2:30 - 5 PM QC Jazz Messengers, Butterworth Garden Gazebo

Food Trucks including:
• Bent River
• Mexies
• Hibachi Fire
• Smoking Goodness
• Stans Ice Cream

09/05/2025

Mark your calendars for our next presenter, pictured below. Do you recognize this person? He has presented several times to RICIGS, always on Zoom.
Okay, he is Josh Taylor, our presenter for September 23, 2025. It again will be Zoom only.
More to follow on Josh and his program. Here is a hint...it involves the D.A.R.

08/16/2025

The Jamieson Children By Betty Hagberg RICIGS Member, Betty Hagberg, has submitted a 10-minute video presentation on her Jamieson great-grandfather and his siblings. An 1884 portrait of the 9 children of Alexander and Norah Helen Jamieson is used to share information about their lives in this video.

The Jamieson Children By Betty Hagberg RICIGS Member, Betty Hagberg, has submitted a 10-minute video presentation on her Jamieson great-grandfather and his siblings. An 1884 portrait of the 9 child…

08/15/2025

I normally would break this into 3 different postings, but realized there wasn't much time until we are invited to the Davenport Public Library at 4th and Main. The meeting is on Monday, August 25. Please note is not on Tuesday because the library closes at 6 PM.

Here is a picture of our speaker and a synopsis and her bio. The title of her presentation is: A Visit to the (Updated) Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Genealogy Center.

I have booked Meeting Room B in the Lower Level of the library for our beginning part of our meeting. Attendees can stay as late at 8PM. At 6:30, I can offer a brief Power Point presentation (approximately 10-15 minutes) and then a tour of our new space on the 2nd Floor.

Kathryn Whalen is the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Supervisor at the Davenport Public Library. She started the position in November 2017. She received her Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University, Bloomington with a specialization in Rare Book and Manuscript Librarianship and her English and History bachelor’s degrees from Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. She loves working with individuals and groups who are interested in local history and family history topics! She lives in De Witt with her husband, two daughters, and one rat terrier.