"Our purpose is to encourage the science of genealogy, to help others gather genealogical information, to preserve, and publish material of historical and genealogical nature, all for educational purposes."

---

DECEMBER......NO MEETING

COMING PROGRAMS FOR 2010 January -Steve Whaley-Navy Vessel from WWII February – Janelle Johnson - Code of the Underground Railroad Quilts March – Verna Cinnamon – Neponset Historical Society April 26 – We will meet at Kewanee Historical Society 1:30p.m. Our speaker will be Dr. Thomas F. Willer. Title: "How My Family Saved Abraham Lincoln's Life; Genealogy Meets History."       In 1858 Stephen Douglas, "The Little Giant," and Abraham Lincoln traipsed across Illinois in a series of debates between these two Illinois Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate. During the extended debate period, Abraham Lincoln temporarily left Kewanee in Henry county to speak with business leaders in a nearby town. It was on his return trip later that same day that Abraham Lincoln came into contact with Dr. Willer's relative and a history-making and possibly life saving encounter. Please join our speaker as he touches on the life of President Lincoln's controversial genealogy, Dr. Willer's family genealogy, and how his family may have changed the course of American history!        Dr. Thomas F. Willer is a long time Illinois resident and avid genealogist. Getting the genealogy bug a little late, he started interviewing a few elderly relatives. For him, the family stories helped bring genealogy alive! It put flesh on the skeleton of bare bones facts. He has also wrote a couple of family history articles focusing on his father's experiences in India during World War II. In 2008 Dr. Willer retired from Hospira, an internationall pharmaceutical company headquatered in Lake Forest, Illinois. May- Sue Rousch- Orphan Train June – TBA July – Steve Morrison – Computer with Roots magic August – Ron Wallace – Early surveying of Henry County September – Elizabeth Marchon – Hennepin Canal October – TBA November - TBA