The April 2015 meeting of the Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Edwardsville Public Library on Thursday, April 9, at 7:00 pm.

President, Robert Ridenour, called the meeting to order.

The following is the Treasurer's report for the month of March:

• Total Assets as of March 1, 2015 - $19,066.06
• General Fund - Beg. Balance $6,813.44 - Income $117.35 - Expenses $46.36 - End Balance $6,884.43
• Publications Fund - Beg. Balance $12,252.62 - Income $82.90 - Expenses $12.90 - End Balance $12,322.62
• Total Assets as of March 31, 2015 - $19,207.05

Do you have a family member that is interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A membership in the Madison County Genealogical Society would be a very thoughtful gift. A gift card will be sent to the recipient of any gift membership.

The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $20.00
Patron Annual Membership $30.00
Life Membership $250.00

Contact our Secretary, Petie Hunter, at [email protected], about a gift membership.

On April 9, 2015, Tom Pearson, Subject Specialist in the Genealogy Room of the St. Louis Publio Library, presented a program titled, Prairie Pedigrees: Researching Illinois Ancestors.

Mr. Pearson discussed the many sources of information for persons searching for information on their Illinois ancestors. You can do a ton of preliminary searching for Illinois ancestors using the Internet. Thorough research, however, will likely involve at least one trip to Springfield, Illinois, or at least one trip to a county courthouse (or IRAD library for that region).

The Springfield area contains many collections of interest to genealogists. The names and locations of these collections are given here. Mr. Pearson's handout from this meeting can be found at http://hgdept.blogspot.com/2015/04/prairie-pedigrees.html or an email to Mr. Pearson at [email protected] asking for the handout for Prairie Pedigrees: Researching Your Illinois Ancestors should get an electronic copy of the list sent to you.

1. Illinois State Archives, Margaret Cross Norton Building, Capitol Complex, Springfield, IL 62756, (217) 782-3556,
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/home.html

2. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, Reference Department, Old State Capitol, Springfield, IL 62701, (217) 524-7216
http://lincolnlibraryandmuseum.com/

3. The Illinois State Library, Reference Department, 300 South Second Street, Springfield, IL 62701, (217) 782-5823
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/

4. The Illinois State Museum, Spring & Edwards Streets, Springfield, IL 62706-5000, (217) 761-3712
http://www.museum.state.il.us/

5. The Illinois State Military Museum, Department of Military Affairs, Camp Lincoln, 1301 North MacArthur Boulevard, Springfield, IL 62702-2399, (217) 761-3910
https://www.facebook.com/Illinois.state.military.museum

6. The Illinois Department of Public Health, Division of Public Records, 605 W. Jefferson Street, Springfield, IL 62702-5097, (217) 782-4977

7. The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs, 833 Spring Street, Springfield IL 62794, (217) 782-6641
http://www2.illinois.gov/veterans/pages/default.aspx

8. The Illinois State Genealogical Survey Library, Reference Department, 469 Natural Resources Building, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820, (217) 333-5110
https://www.isgs.illinois.edu/

9. The University of Illinois at Springfield, One University Plaza, Springfield, IL 62703, (217) 206-6600
http://library.uis.edu/archives/collections/oral/oralindex.html

10. Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation, 320 Washington Street, 3rd Floor, Springfield, IL 62786, (217) 785-0800
https://www.idfpr.com/licenselookup/licenselookup.asp

The Illinois Regional Archives Depository System contains records from county facilities that have limited storage and protection capability.

Illinois Regional Archives Depository Library System (IRAD) (Central & Southern Illinois)
University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS), P.O. Box 19243, Springfield, IL 62794-9243, (217) 206-6250

Southern Illinois University (SIU), c/o Special Collections, Morris Library 6632, Carbondale, IL 62901-3040, (618) 453-3040
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/IRAD/home.html

There are also several museums and memorials in the Springfield area which may have information of interest to genealogists:

Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War Museum, 503 South Walnut Street, (217) 544-0616
http://www.duvcw.org/headquarters.html

Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum, 629 S. 7th Street, (217) 522-4373
http://www.civilwar.org/civil-war-discovery-trail/sites/grand-army-of-the-republic-memorial-museum.html

Illinois Korean War Memorial, Oak Ridge Cemetery, (217) 782-2717
http://www.oakridgecemetery.org/memorials.html

Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Oak Ridge Cemetery, (217) 782-2717
http://www.oakridgecemetery.org/memorials.html

There was also included in the handout a list of websites of interest. This list is not published here but can be found at http://hgdept.blogspot.com/2015/04/prairie-pedigrees.html or an email to Mr. Pearson at [email protected] asking for the handout for Prairie Pedigrees: Researching Your Illinois Ancestors

This program was interesting and well received. It generated quite a few questions and responses.