Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society

LCIGS Monthly Meetings

Come Visit us!
Evening meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the following months at 7:00 p.m.:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October
at Fremont Township Public Library in Mundelein, IL.  The annual conference is held in November at another location.

Fremont Library is located at 1170 Midlothian Road (1/2 mi. north of IL Rte 176) in Mundelein.
The LCIGS telephone number is (847) 918-3208. There is voice mail if no volunteer is on duty.

Everyone is welcome!

Jan 13, 2009:  Lake Forest Day - 100 Years of Celebration - Laurietta Parsh
Laurietta's will bring back fond memories to many young and old alike as she discusses the 100 years of history of Lake Forest Day.

Laurietta Parsh taught in the Lake Forest Elementary District for 35 years.  During that time, she developed an interest in the history of Lake Forest.  She has been a volunteer at the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical society where she created data bases that are currently in daily use.  She also volunteers at the Lake County Genealogical Society where she helps researchers and serves as secretary for the group.

Feb 10, 2009:  How My Family Saved Abraham Lincoln's Life - Dr. Thomas F. Willer.
In 1858, Stephen Douglas, "The Little Giant" and Abe Lincoln traipsed across Illinois in a series of debates between these two Republican candidates for the Senate.  During the extended debate period, Abe left Kewanee in Henry county to speak with business leaders in a nearby town.  It was on his return trip that Abraham Lincoln came into contact with Tom's relative and a history-making, possibly life-saving encounter.

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 in the nick of time.  This remembrance-collecting proved immensely helpful in fleshing out the stories of generations of his genealogical family.  For him, the family stories helped bring genealogy alive!  He has written a couple of family history articles focusing on his father's experiences in India during World War II.  Tom recently retired from Hospira, a local pharmaceutical company in Lake Forest, Illinois.

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Mar 10, 2009: All Social Security Death Indexes Are Not Created Equal - Larry Olson.
Several websites are available for conducting Social Security Death Index (SSDI) searches, but they do not all provide the same data.  Larry has been tracking these sites for several years.  His presentation will offer a detailed comparison of the various websites, including an SSDI first posted on the GenealogyBank website in 2008.  This new index claims to be "the most comprehensive index online," and offers several special features.

Larry is a Minnesota native who moved with his family to the Chicago suburbs 20+ years ago.  He is a past president and officer of CAGG-NI (the Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois).  He started researching his genealogy in 1973, after he first heard a family legend that composer and band leader John Philip Sousa was a cousin of his German great-grandmother (a story he has not yet been able to substantiate).  He still enjoys indulging in this hobby and he hopes someday someone in his immediate family will appreciate all the work that he has done.

Apr 14, 2009:  What's New in 2009. - Ed Rosenthal
Ed Rosenthal, CAGG-NI's "Tech Guru," will present his very popular annual survey of emerging technologies.  Ed will share insights he gains from keeping tabs on new developments in the computing and digital imaging scenes.  He will provide a glimpse of what new tools will soon be available to leverage in our favorite obsession - genealogy!  Learn what makes the difference between good, better and best.  Find out who offers the lowest price along with top notch service.

Ed Rosenthal has served three terms as the president of CAGG-NI and has been doing family research for over 20 years.  He has been a user of Family Tree Maker® software for over 10 years.  Ed is employed by PepsiCo International in Chicago as the manager of the integrated Center of Excellence SAP plan in several foreign regions.  He is a certified project management professional with a masters degree in project management from Keller.

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May 12, 2009:  Knocking Down Brick Walls, Including Women - Nancy Salmela
Research blindness can prevent us from recognizing helpful information about our families, especially those hard to find women who were shadowed by husbands, fathers and other males. This program will open your eyes to new or possible forgotten research techniques and help you to knock down brick walls.  

Nancy Salmela began her genealogy quest in1982. She is a member of numerous genealogical societies including Lake County Genealogical Society.  She is president of the Zion Genealogical Society and was editor of their quarterly for eight years.  Nancy is employed as a legal assistant in a Waukegan law firm.

Jun 9, 2009:  Gmail and Google Reader for the Genealogist - Beverly Smallwood
In addition to Google's well-known search engine, Google offers many other free products of use to the genealogist.  Gmail is Google's free webmail service with built-in Google search technology.  With a little tweeking, it can manage even the busiest email list, highlighting messages that should be looked at first.  Google Reader tool manages RSS feeds of all types - including podcasts.  you can subscribe to any of the many genealogy bloggers to keep current with news, sources and techniques.  The Google Reader will help you search for a particular article or just show you what's new.

Beverly Smallwood has been researching her family history since 1990.  She has previously presented at LCIGS on the topics of Swedish research and 21st century census search tools, and at LCIGS conferences on Bygone's note taking software and Organization.  Ms. Smallwood has served as president, treasurer, and, most recently, webmaster for CAAGG-NI

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Jul 14, 2009:  Finding Online Newspapers - Sarah A. V. Kirby
In the last 5 years, the number of newspaper archives available online has mushroomed from a few dozen major papers to many thousands of local and international papers.  While focusing on American newspapers, this talk will review some of the major databases where newspapers may be found, some individual titles, and the web and print resources that can help you locate the paper you are interested in searching.  Most of this information will be applicable to non-American papers as well.

Sarah has been researching her family since 1994 and has had a surname website since1997.  After obtaining her MLIS (Masters in Library and Information Science) in 2003, she began moving towards professional genealogy.  She is currently a member of APG, NGS, the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and several other local and regional societies.  Miss Kirby has been on the APG's Publications Advisory Committee since early 2007.  Her first career was as a NASA rocket scientist.  Her BS is in Aerospace Engineering.

Aug 11, 2009: Space-Time for Family Historians: Time warps and curved space aren't just for physicists - Daniel Hubbard, Ph.D.
Calendars, errors, oddities and trivia can lead you astray, and dates may not mean what you or the extractor determine.  The clock time in that old newspaper article or diary isn't the same as our time.  Finally, places, odd definitions and anachronistic boundaries can mislead the unwary.  Learn how to decipher the time, date and boundaries in genealogical records.

Dan has been doing genealogical research since he was about eleven years old.  He earned a Ph.D. in particle physics while doing research at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory outside Geneva, Switzerland. He lived just over the border in France for eight years until he and his wife left physics and moved to Sweden where he worked in telecommunications R&D for eleven years.  Recently they moved to Libertyville, Dan's home town, and he is presently working on a history of North America as experienced by his ancestors.  He also works as a professional genealogist.

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Sep 8, 2009:  Genetic Genealogy - Jeffrey Bassett
Genetic Genealogy is the latest  technique being used as a tool in genealogical research. Jeffrey will  explain how DNA testing works, and  then will present different case studies from the Bassett DNA project showing how DNA testing has helped in the research of different Bassett lines. The Bassett project was featured in the Spring 2004 issue of "The New England Ancestors" magazine published by the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. This project has grown to include more than 230 male Bassetts living in 7 countries around the world, making it one of the largest projects of its kind.

Jeffrey lives in Mundelein, Illinois with his wife and four  children. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois where he  received a B.S. in Computer Science from the College of Engineering  and an MBA from the College of Business. He currently works at  Packaging Corporation of America in Lake Forest where he is an  Information Technology Director.

Oct 13, 2009:  Skeletons in our Closets:  Researching a Family Scandal - Robin B. Seidenberg
Robin will reveal an intriguing tale of wealth, romance, betrayal, jealousy and murder.  After investigating rumors of an old family scandal that took place during the roaring ‘20’s in Chicago, she uncovered a sensational story that made newspaper headlines across the entire nation.  Find out who the “Kissing Blonde” was, and how Robin was able to unravel this family mystery by researching historical newspapers.

Long time Grayslake resident Robin Seidenberg currently serves as president of Lake County Area Computer Enthusiasts, and executive vice president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Illinois.  The former college French teacher has used her linguistic skills to translate family records from Polish and Old Cyrillic.

Nov 14, 2009 - Annual Workshop:  This and That in Genealogy

Brochure and Registration form 

Workshop program

About the Speakers

Elissa Scalise Powell, CG^SM is a popular and dynamic lecturer and instructor.  She is a western Pennsylvania researcher and former APG director; a Trustee for the Board for Certification of Genealogists; the instructor for the "Foundations" module in Boston University's Certificate in Genealogical Research program; coordinator for the Professional Genealogy Course at the Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research and co-coordinator of Salt Lake Institute's Accreditation/Certification Preparation course. She is a  regional and national speaker on methodology, Pennsylvania records, professional development, and society management.

Teresa Steinkamp McMillin is a professional genealogist who specializes in Germany and Midwest American research, as well as reading German script.  Ms. McMillin was the 2007 recipient of the National Genealogical Society's Home Study Course scholarship.  She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, and many local genealogical societies.  Teresa is the webmaster for the Northwest Suburban Council of Genealogists.

Matt Rutherford, MLIS, is Curator of Genealogy and Local History at the Newberry Library in Chicago.  In addition to managing the Newberry's renowned genealogy collection, he has spoken at the Illinois State Genealogical Society and the Conference on Illinois History, and several local genealogy societies.  Matt teaches seminars on a variety of topics, including researching pre-fire Chicago, adoption searches, non-population census schedules, and the Social Security Death Index.  he is the co-author of A Bibliography of African American History at the Newberry Library (2005).

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