I am looking for info about the descendants of my great-grandfather's sister, Maria Valeriano (Mary Valerio). She was the daughter of Guglielmo Valeriano (William Valerio) and Caterina Enrietto. She was born in Italy about 1874. She married Bernard (Barney) Perona on December 16, 1892 in Braidwood. He was the son of Thomas Perona and Maria Perona (according to Barney and Mary's marriage license) and was a miner. According to notes from my great aunt, Barney and Mary had the following 7children: Theresa Perona m. Mr. (Giovanninni?) who had a shop in Dwight, Livingston County. Kate Perona m. Dominic Gomora who was a deputy sherriff in Joliet. Mary Perona m. Dominic's brother, Bombassaro Gomora. Rose Perona m. Francis Wagner. Margaret Perona m. Leo (Delorenzo?). Bernice Perona m. Mr. Anderson and their only son, Tom Perona m. Marie Knowles from S. Wilmington. Mr. (Giovannini) and Theresa Perona had 2 children - a boy and a girl - names unknown to my aunt. Dominic Gomora and Kate Perona had a son Leslie Gomora who married Vivian Barnes. Bombassaro Gomora and Mary Perona had at least 3 children: Delores Gomora m. Mr. Cavalino and probably lived in Lockport. Marguerite Gomora m. Unknown and lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bernard "Bunny" Gomora never married and was a drummer in an orchestra (dance band?) Francis Wagner and Rose Perona had 2 sons: Robert Wagner married Bea Unknown (my aunt says she was a "bar girl from Joliet") and Tom Wagner married a woman named Smith who played a horn. Leo (Delorenzo?) and Margaret Perona had a son, Donald who was born with a crippled hand. Mr. Anderson and Bernice Perona had a daughter, Dawn Anderson. Tom Perona and Marie Knowles had a daughter, Sharlene Perona. My aunt said the Valerio family left Torino, Reed Township and moved to Coal City, Grundy County in 1920. She said the Perona family left Torino before the Valerio family. They moved to Joliet and Barney and Mary got a divorce eventually. Do these names ring a bell with anyone else here? I believe some of them may still be living in Joliet. Surnames above in parentheses with a question mark indicates I am not sure of the spelling of the name. Barry Jernigan

Looking for info on any McVicar family members who lived in Will County during the late 1800's. Specifically trying to find descendents of Mary McVicar who married Francis Ford in 1881 and her sister, Elizabeth McVicar who married the same year. I believe that Mary had two children by the census of 1881, Agnes and Donald.

Hello Will Co. listmembers, The On-line index for Illinois Marriages lists Andrew MITZLER (actual spelling is METZLER) and Eliza KASSABAUM, 2/2/1871, License No. 4306 in Will Co. What information am I likely to receive if I write to the Will County Office Building? Will there be an application on file was well? Andrew METZLER was born 10/3/1846 in Centre Co, PA, the son of John METZLER and Christianna Dianna SUNDAY. Eliza KASSABAUM was born in IL. I do not know her parents. Andrew had a younger brother, John, born 11/1/1857 in Centre Co, PA and supposedly died in IL before 1879 in a railroad accident. In 1924, Andrew and Eliza's son Harvey B. METZLER married for the second time, in Harrisburg, PA and the application stated that his mother was deceased and his father was living in MN. Any help on the 1871 marriage will be greatly appreciated. Of course, I would to love to find others researching this family. Yours Truly, Emery "Em" Metzler NW Pennsylvania Join 18 million Eudora users by signing up for a free Eudora Web-Mail account at http://www.eudoramail.com

Looking for information on Elizabeth Dunn who was born on Nov 3, 1865 in IL. and died on April 13, 1925 in Oak Park, IL. She is buried in Evergreen Cem in Barrington, IL. Her parents were Cornelius DUNN (1828 ENG - 1911 Will Co, IL) and Margaret. Elizabeth is listed on the Wilmington, Will Co. 1860 Census. She was married to Mr. PRITCHARD and they had 2 daughters: Cormelia (1887) and Louise (1888). She then married Edwin Wallace COOL of Cook Co. IL. The Dunn family lived in Will County. Thanks in advance, Joan

October 25, 1999 Hello Chris and other ILWill listers, You asked where the Diamond mine was located? Before giving you my answer, I should warn you to contact someone from the area who knows where the mine is specifically. THE COAL AREA The Wilmington Coal Fields included parts of at least four adjacent townships -- Grundy County's, Felix and Braceville townships; plus Will County's, Wilmington and Reed townships. The field stretches south from there. Straddling the border of Felix and Braceville was the village of Diamond. The village also reached into Will County. In other words it was in the heart of the coal field. WHERE WERE THE MINES? If you use as an example Coal City, a couple miles west, the mines go under the town. There were actually several shafts right in town. TO FIND THE AREA TODAY IL state 113 runs along the border between Felix and Braceville and straight through Diamond. At the town's east end it crosses I-55 where there is an interchange. WHAT IS IT LIKE TODAY? Near us is Jackson, Michigan which once had coal mines in town. These days, each decade or so someone's garage or backyard falls into a hole in the ground as an abandoned mine collapses. Maybe it's like that. Please remember all this is guess work from maps and miscellaneous readings. Those who live there will provide you the facts. I wanted to give you a little color. Best of luck in your research. Cordially, Mike Burns [email protected] Researching SMITH and WELDON in Will County, IL ________________________________________________________________ Get FREE voicemail, fax and email at http://voicemail.excite.com Talk online at http://voicechat.excite.com

Hello Will County Researchers! Mary Dillman married John Mottinger 22 Dec 1864. I am assuming she died before 15 Dec 1883, because there is no mention of a widow in any of his obituaries. Are there any Dillman researchers out there who will help me out with some information about Mary and/or her family?

I am looking for information on family members of William Henry PETERS, my gr. grandfather. He was born March 4, 1844 and came from Hamburg, Germany in 1860/61, enlisted in 1861 and when the civil war was over he moved to Malcom, Iowa area abt. 1866. Went back to Will Co., Ill. abt. 1905 and married Sophia FAULKERS/FAULKNERS. She died 1913 in Frankfort. Wm. died in Frankfort, Ill. March 23, 1928 while living at his daugter's residence. Her name was Mrs. Max "Lottie" HAAS. He was brought back to Grinnell, Iowa for buriel. Would like to find out if he had brothers and sisters in the U.S. and hopefully his parents as well. Would greatly appreciate any information or suggestions where I might look for more information. Thank you, Dixie McNatt [email protected]

Hi Folks, The book"The Braidwood Story" available through the Fossil Rodge Library in Braidwood,Il -may have a brief account of the diamond mine disaster. If you have the date, you can check the newspapers at the wilmington public library for a full account. Wilmington also has a full obit index from abt. 1860 to current. The Braidwood library houses the collection of the Will-Grundy Genealogy Society and may also be helpful. Diamond is in GRUNDY county not Will County. Kathy

--part1_0.9a90df6.25449d7a_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Also check out the Grundy County GenWeb - a complete list of the names of the casualties is there as well. Barry Jernigan --part1_0.9a90df6.25449d7a_boundary Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Disposition: inline Return-path: [email protected] From: [email protected] Full-name: FINCH64 Message-ID: <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 00:38:55 EDT Subject: Re: [ILGRUNDY] County directory 1877-1878 etc To: [email protected] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 26 Surnames (and nationalities) of casulaties of the Diamond Mine Disaster taken from the files of the Wilmington Advocate of February 19, 1883 - reprinted in the Coal City Courant: McQuinston (Scotch Irish); Pearson (English); Niel (Scotch); Shatzel (German); Redmond (Irish); Nesbit (Scotch); Harper (Scotch); Orr (Scotch); Boyd (Scotch); Eadie (Scotch); Carroll (Irish); Scholtz (German); Rambart (German); Lenz (German); Chiller (German); Brokman (German); Polenas (German); Hacka (German); Stumps (German); Kae (German); Butskouskey (Poland); Gootes (Poland); Nevski (Poland); Ochenick (Poland); Denbroskey (Poland); Murray (Poland); Damm (German); Kloss (Poland); Cullock (Poland); Huber (German); Pearson (more - English); French (Scotch); Johnson (Swede); Anderson (Scotch); Smith (Scotch); Atkins (Welsh); Matts (German); Babington (Scotch); Wall (Irish); McBride (Irish); Costigan (Irish); Unger (German); Groter (German); Stewart (Scotch); Kalenberg (German); Sekora (German); Sullivan (Irish); Fulton (Scotch); McCulley (Scotch); Mattern (German); Smith (German); Klesser (German); Rodgers (Scotch Irish); Ramsey (Scotch Irish); Eadie (another - Scotch). I think some of these may be incorrect as to the corresponding nationalities - Murray (Poland?) and since the boundaries in Europe were not the same in 1881 as they are now - some of these "Germans" may have actually been Bohemian? Or I guess anyone from Austria-Hungary might have been considered German by the American press - regardless of their actual heritage: Hungarian, Bohemian, Slovak, etc. Barry Jernigan --part1_0.9a90df6.25449d7a_boundary--

Hello Chris and other Will County listers, Unfortunately, I have nothing on the above surnames. I write because I also have been unsuccessfully searching for info on the Diamond mine disaster. Should you discover anything you would be a great help in forwarding it. Hoping for your response. Best of luck in your research. Cordially, Mike Burns [email protected] Searching Will County for: SMITH and WELDON =============================================== On Sat, 23 Oct 1999 21:03:49 -0700, Lutke5 wrote: > Hello! > > I am looking for the following names: > > GICHTBROCK/GIEHTBROCK/MATTERN > > They were German immigrants who came to Braidwood around 1881. I > am also looking for information on the Diamond Mine Disaster on > February 16, 1883. My family lost three men in the accident. I > believe all were Catholic. So would be interested in church records. > > Thanks to all, > > Chris > > > ________________________________________________________________ Get FREE voicemail, fax and email at http://voicemail.excite.com Talk online at http://voicechat.excite.com

Hello! I am looking for the following names: GICHTBROCK/GIEHTBROCK/MATTERN They were German immigrants who came to Braidwood around 1881. I am also looking for information on the Diamond Mine Disaster on February 16, 1883. My family lost three men in the accident. I believe all were Catholic. So would be interested in church records. Thanks to all, Chris

Hi there, You might try the public library in Joliet. They did have microfilm copies of the old Joliet Signal newspaper. I was able to find an Executor's Notice of a public sale of belongings of my deceased 3rd great-grandfather in 1849. Good luck. Sharon in Surprise, AZ

Dear List I am looking for information on Horace HAFF. He died 1865 or 1868 at Joliet. Where would I go to find his obit? Thank you. R A Clark Highland,In

Ooops,sorry Gave you the wrong eBay auction site for the 1878 history of will county book. Here's the right one. Kathy Title of item: Original 1878 History of Will County,IL-NR Seller: [email protected] Starts: 10/18/99, 13:07:35 PDT Ends: 10/25/99, 13:07:35 PDT Price: Currently $30.00 To bid on the item, go to: http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=183974070 Item Description: Genealogy galore! Original 1878 History of Will County. General index,NOT an every name index. Leatherbound,1000 pages. Inscription written on flyleaf 31 Jan 1879 John Linebarger,Elwood,Illinois.Size 6 1/2"x 9 3/4". Spine has a piece of the leather off,but it's in the book. Both covers attached. NO RESERVE. Any questions,please email. Payment by check or money order accepted. Buyer pays fixed domestic shipping charges of $3.50. Thank You Visit eBay, the world's largest Personal Trading Community at http://www.ebay.com

Hi Everyone, I just put up for auction on eBay, the 1878 History of Will County. It's an original which I am selling for my local library. If you want to bid on the book go to eBay.com register as a user first-then up at the top of the page go to search and click. When the search page comes up, go down the page to item look up and enter the following number 183949259 and click. This will take you directly to the auction site. IF you are already a registered user with eBay, you can bid on the book. Or you can find the auction by using eBay's search by title 1878 History of Will County. I'm selling this book for my library, they get the profits. Good Luck! Kathy

Nice to see all our ILL WILL (Not true) people still out there. How 'bout searchers from WGGS? Found myself 2 excellent libraries for gen. research, Manhattan & Morris, IL. Walter ___________________________________________________________________ Get the Internet just the way you want it. Free software, free e-mail, and free Internet access for a month! Try Juno Web: http://dl.www.juno.com/dynoget/tagj.

Hello Walter; Thanks for the info. My IL-Will genealogy is long distance as I attack my relatives records from Wyoming. I was born and raised in Lockport with relatives all over Will County, including Manhattan. Bob Krieger

I am looking for information on Cora Lee GIDDENS who married Marcus MARQUEZ. and lived in Will County, IL. She was born 15 Oct 1900 in Ringold, GA. and died in Bollingbrook, Will Co., IL. in August 1978. I do not have any dates for her husband or their children. Unsure when or where she married Marcus MARQUEZ. They had children Robert, Leroy, Babe, & Mary MARQUEZ. I believe they also lived at one time in Lockport and in or near Rockdale, Will Co., IL. Does anyone know of this family? Thank you Gerrie Giddens

Looking for info on the following KESTER family members buried at St. John's Cemetery in Mokena, IL.. How are they related & what is their connection to the KOHLHAGEN family who resided in Frankfort, IL aft. 1865 to the 1950's. Father - Hebert Kester (1839-1885) Mother - Sophie Kester (1844-1893) Elizabeth Kester (1875-1929 Bridget Kester (189_ - 1980) Roy Kester (1899-1975) Charles Kester (1888-1908) Herbert Kester (1894-1944) Anna Henning (1872-1948)

Hi, My name is David from San Diego, CA. I am researching my family in Illinois and I am searching for more information on my Murphy line. I am looking for information on my GGGG Grandfather Patrick Murphy and GGGG Grandmother Ann Murphy). The preliminary information is that they had a son named David who owned the Murphy Bros. Livery Stable in Joliet in 1860's, 1870's?. They had a daughter named Johanna (my GGG Grandmother) born in approx. 1838 in Wexford Ireland. Johanna lived in Gilman, Illinois and married a John Mulvaney. Patrick came to Will, Co. in approx. 1850 and settled in the township of Troy. If you have any information regarding my Murphy family, please contact me. Thanks, David ===== __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Bid and sell for free at http://auctions.yahoo.com