The book has many old photos and current photos and really makes you think about what was here that is now gone. Old streets, neighborhoods, lives. Do you realize just how much of the city has been destroyed? Changed? How many streets no longer exist because of expressways or university campuses?

Check out the book and consider the areas in which you ancestors lived and how those areas have changed.

Dr. Bill Smith – Springfield, MO

Stephanie Fishman – Columbus, OH

Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana – Kane County, IL

Terri O’Connell – Chicago, IL Travel

Caroline Pointer – Houston, TX

Would you like to write for Examiner.com? Use my link and I will get credit once you start writing.

Happy Holidays!

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How can you get a copy?

A limited number of signed hardcover copies are available for purchase through my website. Just order from the right column.

You can visit Lulu.com to get a copy for your Apple IPad or unsigned hardcover copy.

Have a NOOK or Kindle? You can get copies there also!

And CreateSpace has the book in paperback.

Happy Holidays!

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There are times during Census research that a page by page search of an enumeration district in a Chicago Ward is required. A Look At Cook has several maps of each Census year’s Wards and enumeration districts. This is a fabulous resource when you need to do a page by page search.

Need more help – use online map resources like MapQuest to help pinpoint where the street is today. Especially useful if you have to do street conversions for numbers before or after 1909. Just remember, some streets in Chicago no longer exist – there are now college campuses, hospitals or expressways where those streets used to be.

I was looking for an address in the 500 block of Gilpin Place in the 1910 Census. I searched the Ward Maps. I then narrowed it down to one Ward and two enumeration districts. Sometimes the odd numbers of a street fall within one enumeration district and the even numbers in another. I then compared this to a Mapquest Map with streets surrounding Gilpin Place.

I searched page by page by page and came up with nothing. The street was not in either enumeration district. Very frustrating.

Next I consulted Tillotson’s Pocket Guide for 1925 Chicago. It has a list of streets and maps. The street list tells you which page in the book they are on and provides a list of street name changes. Gilpin Place was not listed as a name change. Looking at the map there was a small street called Gilpin Place. Moving across the page onto the next page where Gilpin Place would have been, it was called Ewing.

Now, I knew some people I was looking for lived on Ewing. But where was Gilpin Place? Did the census taker miss that small section of his enumeration district? A death certificate I had for 1913 said Gilpin Place. An obituary I found said Gilpin Place. A Chicago Tribune article about the Probate Court approving wills in 1913 said Ewing. Same house number, same person, same heirs as the family I was trying to find.

So what happened? I’m guessing at some point the part of Ewing where Gilpin Place was “supposed” to be underwent a name change at some point. Yet nothing I have found tells me that for sure. What I do know is several members of this family and related families used Ewing and Gilpin Place interchangeably. If it had not been for the paper trail I discovered and the Chicago street maps, I never would have put two and two together.

When you search the census and come up empty, consult street guides and make sure your street wasn’t something else where it “should” be located. Check Mapquest to help narrow down the enumeration district(s) within a Ward to search. Also look for other documents or news articles to help prove the address. You too may uncover some new information following the paper trail along a Chicago street.

Have you had a similar experience with Chicago streets? Tell us about it in the comments.

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This week I got an email from someone I had contacted who had pulled information. He had pulled Marie Holik information into his tree. I have two Marie’s in my tree – Marie Holik and her sister in-law Marie nee Rataj Holik. Many people just assume the records they see are for the same person. Nope.And the Marie he attached my stuff to did not, to my knowledge, marry the person she was married to.

Through several emails this person and I have determined we have the same Marie Holik. Not the Marie nee Rataj Holik. She was married twice. I knew about her second marriage – at least who that person was. We are now working together to examine her family and update the tree with records.

If that wasn’t great enough – turns out this person is also related through my Schubert lines! Small world isn’t it! Even in Chicago!

I am very thankful to have met someone who was willing to discuss the information they pulled and work through the reasons why so we could determine if we had the same person in our trees.

Many photos were shared, stories were told, questions were asked and of course, we ate. There was apple pie, kolacky, houska, poppyseed cake, veggies and dip and crackers and hummus. Lots of coffee and tea was drunk as the afternoon progressed.

I realized I was playing hostess and did not get to sit and actually talk very much with a few of my guests, but they were all having a good time pouring over four large albums of photos I had. I pulled out a copy of my book when my cousin Dennis mentioned he bought it (thank you!) and my other cousin LeRoy was telling us about Robert Brouk. I pulled out all my Holik and Privoznik and Brouk files. LeRoy read through his older brother’s WWII Individual Deceased Personnel File. In it were handwritten letters by his mom. I think he was very touched as he read it.

You know I did not enter one thing into the family tree. I took a few notes and need to give a few people some information on where they can locate records for their parents. I need to scan some pictures for a cousin. But the day was fantastic. Next time I’ll add and update information in the database.

It was a very successful meeting and I plan to host a gathering again soon! Hopefully my cousins who are my age will be able to come with their kids. But my twins had a fun fun time playing with their cousin Kathy! She loves Star Wars, big dogs, riding bikes and playing basketball (even with little boys who take her points).

So what are you waiting for? Gather your relatives together. I’ll be doing this again in a few weeks with the Kokoska/Kokaska side of the family. Stay tuned for more on that!

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The two I have attended so far are at the Fountaindale Library in Bolingbrook and Schaumburg Township District Library.

What do these two genealogy groups offer members?

• Free admission. There are no society dues.
• Great blogs with fantastic content!
• Program handouts.
• Amazing, knowledgeable speakers.
• The chance to connect with others who share your genealogical passion.
• Genealogy research areas in their libraries.

I have yet to attend a meeting at the Darien Indian Prairie Library but it is on my list to do before the year ends!

I belong to a few area societies but cannot always, or do not always wish to make their meetings. If there is a speaker I have heard give the same presentation before or something that is just way outside my research work I will choose to attend something else. It is a great idea to keep these libraries in mind when searching for a genealogy society or group to join.

I am compiling list of as many area groups as I can find so keep checking back. If you know of a group, please let me know in the comment section.

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View from my outside office in the burbs.

As was common in many Italian families, everyone is named the same. The Iozzo family named their kids Frank, Michael, Vito, Nicholas and and Anthony thrown in at times. Makes it very confusing.

This week I will go to the National Archives to get naturalization documents for two of Frank Iozzo’s brothers. I have yet to locate Frank’s papers. Hopefully learning more about his siblings will lead to more information on him.