Free books that may contain your relatives names

Free books of general interest

Digitized by TMCGS

 

A Place We Called Home

Compiled and Edited by Ruth Cobb

By permission of Illinois Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Children’s School

Historical Preservation Society

An important part of Normal’s history.

To Open 155 mb file, click on image to the left

To Open smaller file that is word searchable, Click HERE

New – Surname Index (Check your name here)

Civil War Diaries of James W. Jessee by

Alan D. Selig and William P. LaBounty

Produced by TMCGS.

Company K, 8th Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry

People, Places, Maps, Events

Click on title page to left to open a pdf version of this document in a new window

Copyrighted in 1997, but entered into the Public Domain so long as attibution to source.

Fifty Years of Genealogical Service by TMCGS

This is our Society’s history, and we have a lot to be proud of.

Thousands of volunteer hours have been donated to assist others in their quest for information.

You may download the book in .pdf by clicking on the title page to the left.

 

Elmer E. Garst’s Little Black Book

Amateur historian E. E. Garst of Stanford, Illinois had a hobby of recording vital statistics of Stanford residents.

He was born November 12, 1869 to Elias and Elizabeth Garst.

Births and Deaths of Stanford residents are recorded and shown in alphabetical order.

 

Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois of

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows

1891 Proceedings

In 1896, the World Almanac showed the Odd Fellows as the largest among all fraternal organizations.

This book is OCR word searchable to check for surnames.  Click on the cover to download to a new tab.

Many names and many towns listed.

 

Harry Martin Waite’s book of Spanish American Veteran graves in McLean County

Harry Martin Waite was a veteran of the Spanish American War.

He remembered his comrades by walking the McLean County Cemeteries and placing flags on Memorial Day

This book is his walking guide to those graves with names of the veterans and some service information.

 

History of the Illinois Conference of the Evangelical Church 1837-1937

Writen by Rev. John G. Schwab and Rev. H.H. Thoren, this history begins with the first circuit rider arriving in Illinois in 1837 and the development of Evangelical churches throughout the state.

The Illinois State Genealogical Society has indexed over 11,000 names and events in this volume.  Use this index to search for relatives!   It is available here:  https://ilgensoc.org/cstm_ILcmbDB.php

You may download the .pdf version by clicking on the title page to the left.

 

McLean County Cemetery Locations by TMCGS

Compiled by Liz Veselack in 1993, this 65 page guide gives information on known McLean County Cemeteries.

After you compile a list of possible cemeteries your relative may be in, goto our publication store to obtain cemetery memorial listings.

You may download the book in .pdf by clicking on the title page to the left.

 

The First One Hundred Years of Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, Illinois

Written by Roy A. Ramseyer in 1956

The 1800’s found the need for ministers exceeded supply as the country moved West

Congregational Ministers allowed expansion

An important part of history.

Hundreds of names who played a role

Surname Index (Check your name here)

Two Valuable Books

The Good Old Times in McLean County, Illinois

Two Hundred and Sixty-one Sketches of Old Settlers

Written by Dr. E. Duis, Published in Bloomington 1874

Index of The Good Old Times compiled by Alice Taylor Steinberg

Published by Bloomington Normal Genealogical Society (Now TMCGS) 1969

Over 500 Early Names Indexed to the Book !

Click on image to left to select a book.

 

Pathways on the Prairie

A Field Guide Approach to Allin Township

By Lyla Lemke Coppess – Maps by Jill Freund Thomas

Published in 1990 by Illinois State Department of Geography and Geology, this is a guide to explore Allin Township 

Pack a lunch and visit the many beautifuls spots that are highlighted and described

Test runs of this itenerary averaged 3 hours.  It’s time to explore.

Thanks to Lyla for waiving copyright and allowing TMCGS to publish

 

Troyer News 1948 Graduate Edition

Mennonite Hospital School of Nursing 1948 Class

Edited by student/graduate Jane Davis

A souvenir for members of the 1948 class gives insight into

the struggles and fun had as the women worked to become nurses.

Interesting and fun – many photos

Thanks to the McLean County Museum of History for loaning it’s copy.