History of Sheldon Illinois, 1859-1959

Sheldon Centennial

The “History of Sheldon Illinois, 1859-1959,” compiled by the Sheldon Centennial History Committee, offers an immersive journey into the development of Sheldon, Illinois, over its first century. It seeks to celebrate and memorialize the efforts of those early settlers whose dreams and toil laid the foundation for the Sheldon we know today.

Records of the Malone Methodist Episcopal Church at Madison MD, 1883-1893

Church Record of the Malone Methodist-Episcopal Church of Madison, Maryland

This ledger contains the church record of the Madison Circuit of the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was an African American church in Dorchester County Maryland that included Malone Church. While the Malone Church member lists, probationer lists, and minutes date between 1883 and 1939, the Madison Circuit baptismal and marriage records date between 1883 and 1893. These records include significant information about church members including places of residence and parent names.

Business Men of Northern Maine

Winn Maine - Main Street looking East

The Northern Maine, its Points of Interest and its Representative Business Men manuscript provides historical sketches of the nine towns featured within it’s embrace, as well as biographical sketches of the businesses and the men and women who owned and ran those businesses found within the towns of Houlton, Presque Isle, Caribou, Ft. Fairfield, Danforth, Lincoln, Mattawamkeag, Winn, and Kingman.

Slave Narrative of Sarah Ross

Interviewer: Alfred Farrell Person Interviewed: Sarah Ross Location: Live Oak, Florida Born in Benton County, Mississippi nearly eighty years ago, Sarah is the daughter of Harriet Elmore and William Donaldson, her white owner. Donaldson was a very cruel man and frequently beat Sarah’s mother because she would not have sexual relations with the overseer, a colored man by the name of Randall. Sarah relates that the slaves did not marry, but were forced – in many cases against their will – to live together as man and wife. It was not until after slavery that they learned about the holy … Read more

Brown Genealogy

Brown Genealogy

In 1895, Cyrus Henry Brown began collecting family records of the Brown family, initially with the intention of only going back to his great-grandfathers. As others became interested in the project, they decided to trace the family lineage back to Thomas Brown and his wife Mary Newhall, both born in the early 1600s in Lynn, Massachusetts. Thomas, John, and Eleazer, three of their sons, later moved to Stonington, Connecticut around 1688. When North Stonington was established in 1807, the three brothers were living in the southern part of the town. Wheeler’s “History of Stonington” contains 400 records of early descendants of the Brown family, taken from the town records of Stonington. However, many others remain unidentified, as they are not recorded in the Stonington town records. For around a century, the descendants of the three brothers lived in Stonington before eventually migrating to other towns in Connecticut and New York State, which was then mostly undeveloped. He would eventually write this second volume of his Brown Genealogy adding to and correcting the previous edition. This book is free to search, read, and/or download.

Biographical Sketch of Andrew Ross

Ross, Andrew, of Vergennes, Vt., was born in the parish of Old Deer, county of Aberdeen, Scotland, on May 29, 1836. He was a son of Hugh and Isabella (Watt) Ross. Hugh Ross died in 1861, leaving a widow and seven children. Andrew came to Vergennes, Vt,, in October, 1866, and obtained employment in the spoke factory of Strong & Ross, and in 1873 he became book-keeper for the National Horse Nail Company. In 1880 he was made cashier of the National Bank of Vergennes, a position which he now occupies. He has also held several of the town offices. … Read more

Carl Lee Ross

1st Class Q. M. (Navy), 2nd Dept. Born in Wilson County; the son of Mr. and Mrs. S. H. Ross. Entered the service at Wilmington, N.C., May 18, 1917. Was sent to Harbor Island and from there to St. Helena, Va., transferred to New London, Conn. Was on Sub. chaser No. 124. Made one trip across, stayed 18 months in all. Was on barrage duty. Spent most of time between Greece and Italy.

Governor Stokes’s Uncompleted Plans

Governor Montfort Stokes, appointed Cherokee sub-agent in 1836, faced significant challenges at Fort Gibson, including inadequate office space and limited authority. Despite his complaints, he worked to protect Native American land rights, particularly for the Osage mixed-blood descendants of Auguste P. Chouteau. During his tenure, he mediated Cherokee factional disputes and safeguarded vital legal documents. Replaced in 1841, he later served as sub-agent for the Seneca, Shawnee, and Quapaw. Stokes died in 1842 at Fort Gibson, honored with a military funeral. A Revolutionary War veteran and former North Carolina governor, his dedication to public service spanned decades.

Logan County, Kentucky Wills – Book A, with index

Will book A, Logan County, Kentucky

The wills in this book come from Book A of the Wills found at the Logan County Court house in Russellville, Kentucky. The information was extracted in 1957 by Mrs. Vick on behalf of the DAR located in Russellville. The text in this book was done with an old manual typewriter and has the usual faint and filled-in type often found with such papers. On top of the difficulty in interpreting the print from the typewriter, the scanning process was also deficient, and led to the creation of a faint digital copy exacerbating the difficult to read text.

Rough Riders

Rough Riders

Compiled military service records for 1,235 Rough Riders, including Teddy Roosevelt have been digitized. The records include individual jackets which give the name, organization, and rank of each soldier. They contain cards on which information from original records relating to the military service of the individual has been copied. Included in the main jacket are carded medical records, other documents which give personal information, and the description of the record from which the information was obtained.

Biography of George Ross

Ross Family. Probably no one family contributed better and stronger men, and more devoted and unselfish womanhood, to Kansas from pioneer times to the present than that of Ross. The annals of Kansas give credit to more than one of that name who played a worthy and distinctive part in the early life of the territory and state. Many of the names are still found in Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties, and some of the finest farms around Dover are owned and occupied by the descendants of the first settlers. The first of the family to come to Kansas Territory were … Read more

Biography of George Brinton Ross

George Brinton Ross is chief grain inspector of Kansas. His residence is still at Sterling and in Rice County his activities as a farmer, business man and banker have been centered for over thirty years. Mr. Ross was instrumental in securing the passage of a bill by which the office of the state grain department was removed from Topeka to Kansas City, Kansas. This had proved a wise measure, since it had enabled the grain department to perform the business which this inspection service deserves. It had increased the volume of business performed by the department, since it places all … Read more

Stephenson County Illinois World War 1 Veterans

Honor roll of the Great War, Stephenson County, 1917-1919

This small booklet contains all the known men and women who participated in World War 1 and claimed their home of record as Stephenson County, Illinois. By participation, this record does not limit this to soldiers, but also contains the records of those men and women who served the Red Cross, Y.M.C.A., and other non-fighting positions. This book is free to read or download.

1921 Farmers’ Directory of Lincoln Township

1921 Farm Map of Lincoln Township, Audubon County, Iowa

Abbreviations: Sec., section; ac., acres; Wf., wife; ch., children; ( ), years in county; O., owner; H., renter.   Ahrendsen, Herman. Wf. Annie; ch. Lawrence, Arthur, Alta. P. O. Manning, R. 1. O. 80 ac., sec. 7; O. 80 ac., sec. 8. (9.) Aikman, Geo. R. Wf. Mae; ch. Ethel M. P. O. Audubon, R. 1. O. 120 ac., sec. 26. (38.) Aikman, R. F. Wf. Jennie; ch. Vera, Floyd, Olive, Donald and Myron. P. O. Audubon, R. 1. O. 120 ac., sec. 24. (34.) Asmus, Fred. Wf. Edith; ch. Dwight, Hazel and Harry. P. O. Audubon, R. 1. R. … Read more

Biographies of the Cherokee Indians

1830 Map of Cherokee Territory in Georgia

Whatever may be their origins in antiquity, the Cherokees are generally thought to be a Southeastern tribe, with roots in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, among other states, though many Cherokees are identified today with Oklahoma, to which they had been forcibly removed by treaty in the 1830s, or with the lands of the Eastern Band of Cherokees in western North Carolina. The largest of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes, which also included Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, the Cherokees were the first tribe to have a written language, and by 1820 they had even adopted a form of government … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Edmund G. Ross

Edmund G. Ross, one of the leaders in favor of a free Kansas, a pioneer editor of Topeka, afterward United States senator to succeed Gen. James H. Lane. He was born at Ashland, Ohio, December 7, 1826; mustered the printer’s trade, spent several years as a journeyman, and was engaged in newspaper work at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when Lawrence was sacked in 1856. He started overland in charge of a party of free-state men, who upon their arrival at Topeka, took the field with the anti-slavery forces. After the invaders had been driven out, Mr. Ross entered into partnership with his … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Jacob Ross

Jacob Ross, deceased, formerly a resident of Santa Ana, was literally the first pioneer in this place, coining here when the land was owned by the Spaniards, and buying some 2,500 acres of the Santa Ana de Santiago rancho. He also bought other lands near where the city of Santa Ana now stands, and improved a farm one mile west of the city, where Mrs. Ross now lives. He crossed the plains to this coast with wagons in 1865, and many were the hardships he endured. In the early days here his crops had to be guarded both day and … Read more

History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago Counties, Iowa

History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago counties, Iowa

History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago Counties, Iowa together with sketches of their cities, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and 641 biographies of representative citizens. Also included is a history of Iowa embracing accounts of the pre-historic races, and a brief review of its civil and military history.

Sons of Quebec 1778-1843

Fils de Quebec cover

The Sons of Quebec (Fils de Québec) were written by Pierre-Georges Roy and published in 1933 in a four volume set. They provide a series of short biographies of one to three pages of Quebec men from 1778-1843. Warning… this manuscript is in French!