LaSalle County Genealogy Guild

05/01/2026

Do you have an ancestor who enlisted as a minuteman in 1776? We want to hear about it!

04/29/2026

We got over 30 reactions on one of our posts last week! Thanks everyone for your support! 🎉

04/29/2026

04/27/2026

Exciting news for people whose ancestors were living in Ireland in 1926! Now you can track them in the first census taken of the new republic that year.

Search through historical census records with The National Archives of Ireland, offering access to essential data for genealogy and historical research.

04/25/2026

Special Webinar: Chicago Genealogical Society Commemorates America 250

Join the Chicago Genealogical Society on June 1, 2026 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. central for our CGS Zoom Webinar "18th Century America: Cultural Changes and Their Effect on Records" with Sylvia Tracy Doolos (CGS Member $0/Guest $10*). Registration required.

From colonial expansion to revolution, 18th-century America was a time of upheaval. Discover how political, cultural, and social transitions shaped recordkeeping, and learn where to find the surviving documents of your ancestors.

Our speaker, Sylvia Tracy Doolos, has been interested in genealogy for 45 years and has been working as a professional genealogist for over 10 years as the owner of New Leaf Genealogy. She is President of the Colorado Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (CAPG), and the Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England Family History Society (WISE), and Past President of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH). Sylvia is a proud graduate of ProGen 48 and has a B.A. in History with a minor in English focusing on linguistics, so she could study how language changes affected record keeping.

**Note this is our Annual Members Meeting**

* Registration is required via the Chicago Genealogical Society website at https://www.chicagogenealogy.org/event-6460257. Registration will close 1 hour prior to the event. This webinar is FREE for CGS members. Non-Members can register for the event for $10. No refunds. The meet-up will take place virtually via ZOOM. Everyone registered will receive an email the morning of the event with log-in instructions and a link. This information is not to be shared. Registering for this webinar signifies you accept responsibility to either show or hide your visage, voice, or both on the webinar screen and audio for this live presentation and ergo its recording.

Note: The Webinar will be recorded and available on the CGS website in the Members Only section at https://www.chicagogenealogy.org/Webinar-Archive.

Thank you for being a member of The Chicago Genealogical Society! https://www.chicagogenealogy.org/

04/24/2026

What's your experience with DNA research been like?

04/22/2026

Do you have a family bible? Many families listed their important life events in their bible long before the days of birth and death registration. A valuable genealogical resource!

04/22/2026

Join us for Independent Bookstore Day 📖 📚
We are thrilled to welcome local author and historian Rachael Mellen to Prairie Fox Books this Saturday!

Rachael will be sharing insights from her fascinating work, including From Camp Douglas to Vicksburg, which brings to life the Civil War letters of a LaSalle local. Stop by to meet her, chat about local history or genealogy, and support your favorite local bookstore!

Saturday, April 25th at 11 AM
Prairie Fox Books 🦊

04/18/2026

Thanks to Mollie Perrot for sharing the W.H.L. Wallace documentary today. It was really well done.

04/15/2026

The Guild owes so much to these early genealogical pioneers. Gone but not forgotten. 🥰

04/13/2026

Exploring the Guild’s attic

04/09/2026

Our vice-president Rachael is not the first person in La Salle county who came from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire! James Kinder is buried at Rockwell Cemetery and his tombstone recorded that his birthplace was Bromsgrove. He was baptized there on 29th July 1832 and by 1851 was a groom to a family in Lancashire. He immigrated to the US about 1855 with his wife Ann and oldest son Joseph, moving to Illinois to farm around 1863. The Guild also has his probate file.