Discover Your Heritage With Help From Chicago Public Library

Have you thought about tracing your ancestry but aren’t quite sure how or when to start? Read what one Friend discovered on her genealogy journey.

I think any day is a good time to start, but why not choose Genealogy Day – the second Saturday in March – to mark the beginning of your search? How to start? Visit our neighborhood Edgewater Branch Library where you’ll find books especially useful to amateur genealogists. Take a look at this list of resources that awaits you.

There are guides available on how to construct a family tree and tutorials on how to perform the research to fill it with names, dates, and perhaps photos of your ancestors. Census, immigration, military service, and so many other historical records are digitized now; much of your sleuthing will be done online. There’s no charge to use a computer at the library to search records on Ancestry.com or the archives of the Chicago Tribune.

My fascination with family history began many years ago when I learned that Roger Williams - who sailed to Salem in 1630 and founded Rhode Island six years later - was my 9th Great Grandfather. I couldn’t wait to find out more!

Since then, more than five major branches on my family tree have been traced to the English and German ancestors who were the first to come to this country. I’m still filling in names and dates on “twigs” on the tree and writing the stories of notable family members such as the Patriots who served during the Revolutionary War.

Whether you start tracing your ancestry this month or next year, I urge you to take advantage of the wealth of assistance available at our public library. Your genealogy journey may start as an interesting pastime but could soon become a passion project that provides many rewarding hours of discovery.

By Cindy Clark
Communications Committee
Friends of the Edgewater Library

Genealogy Resources

Edgewater Library resource list
Chicago Public Library genealogy resources

Chicago Tribune & Other Chicago Newspapers Historical Archives and other archives, including U.S. and U.K. census and immigration records and Civil War service records.
The Chicago History Museum research library - Chicago area families only
You can often find historical family data in recorded wills found in cities’ public records offices. Check with the City Hall in your birth city.