Yes, Elgin, Kane County is near Chicago. My ancestors also lived in Alton, then St. Louis, then Chicago but in their case it was factory work. Brach Candies that's where my great grandmother Grace Mae Wayman Nixon worked. She was born and raised in Alton, IL where her father William Henry Harrison Wayman was a carpenter and her mother Lizzie Lee Jeans Wayman was the first woman wallpaper hanger in Alton. Cousin Myrtle Jeans was the 1st woman dentist in Alton. Elgin, Illinois had the Elgin Watch factory, infact I believe some of the old buildings are still there. The surname Davis, do you have chance a Harry Davis or a Herman Davis in your records? My girlfriend is working on her familytree and that's her mother's maiden name, they were from Chicago. Highland Park is considered North Shore Suburb of Chicago and a expensive suburb at that and it's near Lake Michigan but Elgin that's near the border of Kane County and Cook County. Elgin is considered a west suburb. Elgin is 38 miles from downtown Chicago and Highland Park is 26 miles. Highland Park is one the wealthy North Shore Suburbs. Colleen >From: BKEngrPCH@aol.com >Reply-To: ILMADISO-L@rootsweb.com >To: ILMADISO-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [ILMADISO-L] Alton & Elgin >Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 16:50:53 EDT > >Looking for a little history or geography lesson. >I noticed the THURMAN posting had these two towns listed, and it is similar >to mine. > >Washington MILLER and Julia SMITH were married in 1837 St. Louis, Missouri. >They lived in Alton, Madison, Illinois. I realize that Alton is about 25 >miles from St. Louis, so this seems reasonable. They remained in Alton >until >around 1880, then moved to Chicago. > >Their daughter, Julia Ann MILLER married Samuel Boyd DAVIS in Alton in >1858. >They remained there until around 1870, then moved to Chicago. > >Their son, Samuel Edward DAVIS was born in Alton in 1864. He married Grace >RYERSON in 1887 Chicago....where they lived until around 1905. They lived >in >Elgin from 1905-1915 (my gradmother was born there in 1907), then moved >back to >Chicago. He died in Highland Park, Lake County, Illinois in 1928. > >This family (DAVIS, MILLER, and the connecting DUTRO) were all in the >merchantile/grocery/produce/creamery business. Was it common for the >migration north >from Alton to Chicago to occur because of that occupation/railroad/etc? >Elgin, Kane Co., Illinois is near Chicago, correct? > >Thanks in advance for help.... >and hopefully someone has connections to these families. > >Pete Hanson >Cromwell, CT > > >==== ILMADISO Mailing List ==== >Cyndi's List of Genealogy Links-Lots of helpful links for your research. >http://www.cyndislist.com/ >