Rex, I completely agree with you on most of your comments. The map Mrs. Forbes copied had to have been HUGE, not to mention fragile. Along with the county map there were town maps and "pictures" of a few citizens, houses and businesses, and advertising. I doubt very much if every publication of the Society will ever be online. I would be very surprised if they take in $500 a year from these (half of that I spent) and if people knew they were available and how reasonably priced they are it could even help. Ruth could probably give us an accurate figure. I think the 1861 reprint was only $7 or $8 and the 1917 Hixson was like $2 or $3. Maybe Bob can find a way to make the list of the ones available a little more prominent, as well as the info on the Society itself, perhaps a link on the "Home" page. Right now it's listed under "Other". In a previous message to Ruth I mentioned the dwindling membership, this could most certainly be reversed if more people knew about the Society and it's activities. You don't have to live here to belong. While having certain info online is very handy, I, for one, much prefer to have it on paper or in a book. I would never consider giving up anything in my collection, original or reprint, just because it's online. Todd At 12:16 PM 6/20/01 -0700, you wrote: >Greetings to all, > Sorry for my confusion about the 1861 map vs. 1870 Atlas. It was the >1861 Thompson map that was on the web-site. > Ruth, thanks for the encouragement to get back into the Knox County >Genealogical Society. If I seem touchy about this, it is only out of a >deep seated respect for the all those members, living and departed, who >devoted so many hours to the Knox County Genealogical Society and its >various endeavors including publications. Yes, Ruth, you and your >husband, Floyd are among those. I feel so lucky to have gotten to know >so many who worked on these projects. Jean Forbes did more than just copy >an atlas, it was never an atlas before Jean did her work to make it into an >atlas. It was a wall map and that would have been a real challenge to >scan! When all those volunteers started this work for the KCGS they did >not use scanners or computers. It was hard work and due respect should be >shown for that. > Bob, you are doing a terrific job and I know you are dedicated and >devoted. Thank you for all you are doing. Hopefully the Knox County >Genealogical Society, if approached the right way would be >cooperative. Many comments are made about the wonderful genealogical >collection at the Galesburg Public Library. This is there through the >courtesy of the Knox County Genealogical Society. Some of the materials >were direct donations but the society's sale of publications did a fair >share to fund that collection which we all enjoy. If all this goes on web, >likely the sale of publications will suffer and hence funding for the >library collection is diminished Apart from the monetary >aspects, hopefully proper credit and acknowledgement can be given to those >who did the primary work when something goes on the web. In this way the >legacy lives on and is not forgotten. >Rex > > >

Hi Todd, Thanks for your emails. I have only seen one copy of the Thompson Map of 1861 and it was about five feet square. These were used in school rooms, according to what I have been told. The room had a wolrd map, a U.S map, an Illinois map and a Knox County Map. When Jean put her book together she used some of the mateial from the decorative border, such as the picture of William McMurtry in the book, the town plats, etc.. It has been a while but someone mentioned the Knox County Highway Dept. having one of these or a duplicate copy of a Thompson Map. You might check if you would like to see one. The one I saw is now in New York. Hopefully if approached the right way people will give permission to have their works put on the web-site. They could benefit a lot of people. If KCGS isn't getting a lot of revenue from publications these days, then the chances of getting permission would seem better. I know what you mean about having the books. I can make out details in the old maps that you can't see on the web. Good luck and let's hope KCGS will give permission to put some of the publications on the web. Rex