Paul, The Illinois State Journal's predecessor was the Sangamo Journal, it began in 1831. The Illinois State Journal, which is now the State Journal-Register, began in 1847. The early newspapers did not print an obituary as we know it today. Obituaries which give a lot of detail about the deceased tend to start appearing in the late 1870s to the 1880s. There is an index to the Illinois State Journal for the years covering 1847 to 1850 located in the new Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield. This index is geared more towards legal matters which appear in the newspaper. The Sangamon Valley Collection at the Springfield Public Library which is know as the Lincoln Library, has an card index geared toward obituaries. This would be the best source for researching specific obituaries in Sangamon County. Copies of the microfilm cost a minimum of $50.00 each and thus are too expensive for the Sangamon County Genealogical Society to purchase, where the other newspapers are less expensive through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL). The ALPL will do searches for specific names only if they have a specific date. I think they charge $10.00 but am not sure on that fee. It is possible that your ancestor may have an obituary which appears in the Springfield paper, but your best bet might be to check with the cemetery board if you know the cemetery in which they were buried or the church from which they were buried. We have a book on the Mechanicsburg cemetery which could be searched. There are no newspapers for Waggner but a check of the Litchfield or Girard newspapers might help. Please feel free to email me on any other questions you might have regarding Sangamon County. Sincerely, DAN Dixon Sangamon County Genealogical Society Office Library 2856 South 11th Street (approx. 3 blocks north of Stevenson Drive and approx. 2 1/2 blocks south of Bunn Golf Course) Springfield, Illinois Phone: 217-529-0546 Email: [email protected] Open Wednesday nights 5:30 to 9:00 or by appointment Web Address: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilsangam/scgs/scgs.htm Dan Dixon - President/Editor PO Box 1829 (Mailing Address) Springfield, IL 62705-1829 Email: [email protected] Phone: 217-529-0542

Dan I ordered the register and it was like looking at USA TODAY There was little information about Springfield and none about the surrounding areas. Thanks for Your reply and information. Paul ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 6:17 PM Subject: [ILLOGAN] Sangamon County newspapers > Paul, The Illinois State Journal's predecessor was the Sangamo Journal, it > began in 1831. The Illinois State Journal, which is now the State > Journal-Register, began in 1847. The early newspapers did not print an obituary as we > know it today. Obituaries which give a lot of detail about the deceased tend to > start appearing in the late 1870s to the 1880s. There is an index to the > Illinois State Journal for the years covering 1847 to 1850 located in the new > Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield. This index is geared more > towards legal matters which appear in the newspaper. The Sangamon Valley > Collection at the Springfield Public Library which is know as the Lincoln Library, > has an card index geared toward obituaries. This would be the best source > for researching specific obituaries in Sangamon County. Copies of the microfilm > cost a minimum of $50.00 each and thus are too expensive for the Sangamon > County Genealogical Society to purchase, where the other newspapers are less > expensive through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL). The ALPL > will do searches for specific names only if they have a specific date. I think > they charge $10.00 but am not sure on that fee. It is possible that your > ancestor may have an obituary which appears in the Springfield paper, but your > best bet might be to check with the cemetery board if you know the cemetery in > which they were buried or the church from which they were buried. We have a > book on the Mechanicsburg cemetery which could be searched. There are no > newspapers for Waggner but a check of the Litchfield or Girard newspapers might > help. Please feel free to email me on any other questions you might have > regarding Sangamon County. Sincerely, DAN Dixon > > Sangamon County Genealogical Society Office Library > 2856 South 11th Street (approx. 3 blocks north of Stevenson Drive and > approx. 2 1/2 blocks south of Bunn Golf Course) > Springfield, Illinois > Phone: 217-529-0546 > Email: [email protected] > Open Wednesday nights 5:30 to 9:00 or by appointment > Web Address: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilsangam/scgs/scgs.htm > > Dan Dixon - President/Editor > PO Box 1829 (Mailing Address) > Springfield, IL 62705-1829 > Email: [email protected] > Phone: 217-529-0542 > > > > > ==== ILLOGAN Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Logan County List if you are in mail mode, send to [email protected] If you are receiving messages in the digest mode, send to [email protected] > > >

For those of us in other parts of the U.S., it is so great to receive all of the large amounts of info that come across the Logan County rootsweb mail list. Without this interchange of info (so glad I am computerized, if you will) it would be a "snails mail" pace to receiving tid bits of into that can help to change a search direction. I have received so many directional leads for my own searches that I have gained from this mail list that I don't know if I will have the time to pursue them all but hopefully some day soon I too can share a mystery ancestor find in Logan County that will confirm persistence and patience does pay off. Pleases keep up this valuable exchange. Gratefully, JaneAnn Gifford, Member of Lee County Genealogical Society, Fort Myers, Florida Searches: Brazelton, Courtney, Craven, Green, Hazen, Robinson, Williams ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2005 6:17 PM Subject: [ILLOGAN] Sangamon County newspapers > Paul, The Illinois State Journal's predecessor was the Sangamo Journal, it > began in 1831. The Illinois State Journal, which is now the State > Journal-Register, began in 1847. The early newspapers did not print an > obituary as we > know it today. Obituaries which give a lot of detail about the deceased > tend to > start appearing in the late 1870s to the 1880s. There is an index to the > Illinois State Journal for the years covering 1847 to 1850 located in the > new > Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield. This index is geared > more > towards legal matters which appear in the newspaper. The Sangamon Valley > Collection at the Springfield Public Library which is know as the Lincoln > Library, > has an card index geared toward obituaries. This would be the best source > for researching specific obituaries in Sangamon County. Copies of the > microfilm > cost a minimum of $50.00 each and thus are too expensive for the Sangamon > County Genealogical Society to purchase, where the other newspapers are > less > expensive through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL). The > ALPL > will do searches for specific names only if they have a specific date. I > think > they charge $10.00 but am not sure on that fee. It is possible that your > ancestor may have an obituary which appears in the Springfield paper, but > your > best bet might be to check with the cemetery board if you know the > cemetery in > which they were buried or the church from which they were buried. We have > a > book on the Mechanicsburg cemetery which could be searched. There are no > newspapers for Waggner but a check of the Litchfield or Girard newspapers > might > help. Please feel free to email me on any other questions you might have > regarding Sangamon County. Sincerely, DAN Dixon > > Sangamon County Genealogical Society Office Library > 2856 South 11th Street (approx. 3 blocks north of Stevenson Drive and > approx. 2 1/2 blocks south of Bunn Golf Course) > Springfield, Illinois > Phone: 217-529-0546 > Email: [email protected] > Open Wednesday nights 5:30 to 9:00 or by appointment > Web Address: http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilsangam/scgs/scgs.htm > > Dan Dixon - President/Editor > PO Box 1829 (Mailing Address) > Springfield, IL 62705-1829 > Email: [email protected] > Phone: 217-529-0542 > > > > > ==== ILLOGAN Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Logan County List if you are in mail mode, send to > [email protected] If you are receiving messages in the > digest mode, send to [email protected] > >

For those on the Logan County list who may be looking for obituary information: You might find the public library in Springfield to be an excellent source. They have a huge listing of obituaries. I visited the library for a few hours a couple of years ago, while my wife was at a writers convention. It is downtown, just south of the big convention center hotel and a couple of blocks south and east from the old State Capital building. I think it was called the Abraham Lincoln Library, but that may have changed with the new Lincoln presidential library being opened last week. The main feature of interest for this purpose is a large bank of card catalog files on the second floor, which index the obituaries published in the Illinois State Journal (and Register) from some time in the 1800s to today. The card catalog is alphabetical by the name of the deceased. The card includes a reference to the date, page number, and microfilm number for the obituary. The room across the hall has microfilm readers and staff who get the microfilm for you and help you make the reader work. The card catalog is very nice, as compared to searching individual microfilms directly, as may be required in other libraries. In a few hours, I was able to find obituaries for numerous of my Stoll, Volle, Hagenbuch, Rentschler, and Dittus ancestors from the Mt. Pulaski-Chestnut area of Logan County, and for my father, brother, and nephew from the Beason area. The main limitation is that many of the obits contain only 4-6 lines, a sort of funeral notice. But more prominent persons tend to be covered in some detail. Older obits also seemed to have more detail. The library is a very nice facility, and contains lots of other family genealogy information -- I did not have time to look into it to see the scope of coverage. I worked on the east coast for many years, but am now retired in Bloomington, IL. Hope this is of some use to some of you. George Irwin