The following article is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 1999 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. ------------ Subscription information: To subscribe to this free newsletter, send an e-mail message to the following address: listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com The message title is unimportant. The first line of text in the message must have the words SUBSCRIBE ROOTSCOMPUTING followed by your first and last names. For instance, if your name is Jane Doe, you would write a message of: subscribe rootscomputing Jane Doe That is the entire message; nothing else should be in the message text. ----------- FERGUS DIRECTORY OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO 1839, by Robert Fergus, pub. 1876. In September 1839, The common Council ordered the revision and printing, in pamphlet form, of the Laws and Ordinances of the city. The work was tendered to Messrs. Rudd and Childs, printers, but they, not being able to find sufficient funds, offered to transfer the contract to the subscriber, who accepted and fulfilled it. There were six blank pages at the end, and Mr. Childs suggested the filling of them up with the names of the business men of the city, which was immediately done; no canvass was necessary, and the names were never written- each name, as thought of, was forthwith set up by the subscriber, until the six pages were completed. It never was supposed that the names of all the business men of the City. It was published as the "Chicago Business Directory" and 500 copies were printed, 50 of which were sold to the citizens at fifty cents per copy. The balance of the 500 were never used in public. This "Chicago Business Directory" was reprinted and the subscriber began to complete the Directory. In the compilation of this Directory, much assistance has been rendered by many of our old and intelligent citizens who later pronounce it complete. Order No. 1158, 39 pages, 1 fiche - $ 4.00 Information on these products, as well as Ancestor Publishers' other products can be found at: http://www.AncestorSpy.com