MAILING ADDRESS: Rock County Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 711, Janesville, WI 53547-0711
LOCATION: The RCGS library and office are located at 933 Mineral Point Ave. (the corner of N. Jackson St. and Mineral Point Ave.) in the Wilson King Stone House building adjacent to the Tallman House Restoration in Janesville, Wisconsin.
HOURS: The RCGS library and RCHS archive are open to the public from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Wednesdays & Thursdays and Noon to 3 P.M. Fridays. Contact us by phone to confirm we will be open on a particular day or to request special accommodation.
EMAIL: The RCGS webmaster can forward your email questions or requests to the Society Librarian, our staff of researchers, the Society newsletter editor or others.
PHONE NUMBERS: RCHS Office: 608-756-4509 or the RCGS library at 608-752-5891.
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Buy any RCGS Full-version Index at: RCGS publications list.Search All On-line RCGS Indexes Simultaneously at: Search On-line
View our individual Online RCGS Indexes:
Free Online RCGS Indexes:Janesville Gazette (Rock Co., WI) Death Index 1845-1889. Index of Surnames & their Frequency
Janesville Gazette (Rock Co., WI) Marriage Index 1845-1862. Index of Surnames & their Frequency
Janesville Gazette (Rock Co., WI) Marriage Index 1863-1876. Index of Surnames & their Frequency
Janesville Gazette (Rock Co., WI) Marriage Index 1877-1885. Index of Surnames & their Frequency
NEW! Ancient History of Clinton Surname Index from book, Ancient History of Clinton, Wisconsin, 1898.
NEW! Rock County, Wisconsin Pioneers The Earliest Families through 1870.
NEW! 1858 Rock Co., WI Plat Map Twp. Maps, Land Owner Detail & Lithographs of Homes & Businesses
NEW! 1858 Janesville, WI Business Directory Name & Occupation Index linked to a directory Image
NEW! 1858 Beloit, WI Business Directory Name & Occupation Index linked to a directory image
NEW! 1922 Rock County Plat Map Full Name & Acreage Index & High Resolution Township Map Images
Wilbur Austin Photo Index (Janesville: 1960s-1990s). Index of Negatives Available to Family.
Ancestral Surname Index of the RCGS Membership. Surname, Location & Contact Info.
Roster of Largest Rock Co., WI Farms, 1855. Full Name, Acreage & Twp.
Rock Co. Poorhouse & Asylum Deaths, 1908-1923 Full name, Age, Cause, Dept. & Date.
Rock County Township Guides. Maps, research resources, early settlers and more (many towns completed).
Index to Delayed WI Birth Registrations. Pre-1907 births registered later for Soc. Sec. benefits (WSGS Index)
1853 Wisconsin Gazetteer. This is a searchable full-text historical book (MOA Books)
Earliest Rock Co., WI Vital Records. This is a table indicating which surnames appear in early Rock records.
Program Title: Documenting Your memories for Future Generations - Hints and Helps
Location: Meet at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 2921 Mt. Zion Ave., Janesville.
Cost and Invitation: Free and Open to the Public.
Program Presenter(s): Lynda Bary-Kawula, a writer and writing teacher. Lynda is a recipient of the Washington State Governor's Award for her novel, "The Good Times are Killing Me", which she adapted into a long-running off-Broadway play. The New York Times called her second novel, "Cruddy", "a work of terrible beauty". She received the 2003 William Eisner award for Best Graphic Album and American Library Association Alex award for her book, "One! Hundred! Demons!". Her newest book, about writing, memory and the creative process is called "What It Is". She lives and works in the Footville area where she and her husband, Kevin Kawula (a land restoration ecologist) have a native plant nursery.
Program Summary: Lynda illustrates how we can document our memories in a session that gets the audience involved. Bring pen and paper and be prepared for a memorable evening.
Program Title: Research using Ancestry.com & HeritageQuest.com
Location: Meet at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 2921 Mt. Zion Ave., Janesville.
Cost and Invitation: Free and Open to the Public.
Program Presenter(s): Lori Bessler is a Reference Librarian and Outreach Coordinator at the Wisconsin Historical Society Library Archives, where she has worked since 1988. She has lectured throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest on genealogical topics for over 15 years and has been researching family history for over 30 years.
Program Summary: Come hear Lori Bessler from the Wisconsin Historical Society Library Archives give a presentation about Ancestry, HeritageQuest as well as many other online resources for the genealogist. Ancestry is full of digital collections and databases that can assist the genealogist but this site can also be confusing to use. There are a lot of tools and techniques that will be explained in the presentation. Ms. Bessler will also show how Ancestry is just one of many sites to use when researching your family history.
Program Title: Ireland - Yesteryear & Today
Location: Meet at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 2921 Mt. Zion Ave., Janesville.
Cost and Invitation: Free and Open to the Public.
Program Presenter(s): Barb Henzelmann is founder and director of the Irish Emigration Library in Milwaukee. Mrs. Henzelmann served 2 terms as President of Irish Genealogical Society of Wisconsin, and is an invited guest working at the Hales Corner’s LDS Library since 1995, primarily to assist in Irish research. She attended a week-long genealogy seminar at Belfast and County Kildare, several summers of genealogy seminars at Brigham Young University, and has spoken at the Hales’ Corner LDS Church October seminars as well as various county genealogical societies. Between 1995 and 2000 she spent 5 weeks each year in Northern Ireland at the Proni doing research with her husband.
Program Summary: Barb Henzelmann will present a broad range of topics directly useful by researchers of Irish descent, including: What Does the Word Irish Mean? Perhaps Not What You Think; Customs; Names/Naming Patterns; Who Were the First Irish Immigrants To America?; Land Divisions; Church, Vital, Land, and Society records; and her impression of Ireland today following recent trips there.
Program Title: Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know about Your Family . . . But Really Didn't When You Found Out! (Or “Not in MY family!!”)
Location: Meet at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 2921 Mt. Zion Ave., Janesville.
Cost and Invitation: Free and Open to the Public.
Program Presenter(s): George Findlen taught writing for ten years and then followed that with twenty years as an academic administrator in colleges and universities. He reinvented himself as a genealogist in retirement and now researches his Irish and Acadian / French-Canadian ancestors. To stay out of trouble, he volunteers at the microforms room of the Wisconsin Historical Society and publishes articles on research he does. He enjoys speaking to genealogy groups.
Program Summary: All too often, genealogists come across information which is, well, embarrassing. So they shove it under the carpet. Hide it. Deny it. Threaten any and all family members with dismemberment if they even THINK they remember the information. They think of genealogy as assembling names with dates and places, not trying to explain what happened to their ancestors. They fall prey to the belief that descendants inherit the shame of their ancestors, and they avoid shunning by hiding anything that others would whisper about. Our presenter, George Findlen, argues that by digging into the available records for explanations as to why our ancestors did what they did we come to understand our ancestors as three-dimensional humans with hopes and fears, successes and bitter disappointments, not two-dimensional wire trees on which we hang dates and places devoid of any meaning.
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