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State Genealogy Research Guides compiled by the staff of the Hayner Genealogy & Local History Library. If you click on a link, the file (PDF) will automatically open or download, depending on your computer settings. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Connecticut Genealogy Research
Elijah P. Lovejoy Bibliography - Genealogy & Local History Library
Alton Observer Newspaper 1836 - 1838
NewspaperArchive database
Beecher, Edward. Narrative of Riots at Alton in Connection with the Death of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. Alton, Illinois: G. Holton, 1838.
IR 977.3 BEE
http://archive.org/details/narrativeofriot00beec
Dedication of the Lovejoy Monument, Alton, Illinois, November 8th, 1897: in gratitude to God and in the love of liberty, the State of Illinois and citizens of Alton erect this monument, 1896-7. Alton, Ill.: Chas. Holden, [1897?].
IR 977.38 LOV
https://archive.org/details/dedication-of-the-lovejoy-monument-alton-illinois
Dillon, Merton Lynn. Elijah P. Lovejoy: Abolitionist Editor. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1961.
IR B LOVEJOY
Dimmock, Thomas. Addresses &c. St. Louis, Missouri?: publisher not identified, 1894.
IR LOCKED CASES 808.85 DIM
https://archive.org/details/addresses-by-thomas-dimmock
Dunphy, John, J. It happened at the River Bend. Alton, Ill.: Second Reading Publications, c2007.
IR 977.386 DUN
Elijah P. Lovejoy Memorial Annual Dinner: Commemorating the 175th Anniversary of the Legacy of Elijah P. Lovejoy and Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Elijah P. Lovejoy Memorial, Friday November 2, 2012. Alton, Ill: Elijah P. Lovejoy Memorial, 2012.
IR LOCKED CASES 977.386 ELI
Ellingwood, Ken. First to Fall: Elijah Lovejoy and the Fight for a Free Press in the Age of Slavery. New York : Pegasus Books, 2021.
IR B LOVEJOY
Gill, John. Tide Without Turning: Elijah P. Lovejoy and Freedom of the Press. Boston: Starr King Press, 1958.
IR B LOVEJOY
Heikes, Nelson Miles. Sketch of the life of Rev. Elijah Parish Lovejoy. Albion, Me.: Ladies of the G.A.R., 1923.
IR B LOVEJOY
History of the Elijah P. Lovejoy Printing Press. Alton, Ill: Hayner Public Library District Genealogy & Local History Library, 2018.
IR 681.62 HIS
Jameson, Melvin. Elijah Parish Lovejoy as a Christian. Rochester, N.Y.: Scranton, Wetmore & co., [1910?]
IR B LOVEJOY
http://archive.org/details/elijahparishlove00jameuoft
Knox, Regina. Elijah Parish Lovejoy: A Remembrance. Waterville, Me: Colby College, 1987.
IR B LOVEJOY
Lovejoy, Joseph Cammet and Owen Lovejoy. Memoir of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. New York: J.S. Taylor, 1838.
IR B LOVEJOY
http://archive.org/details/memoirofrevelijalov00love
Meisenheimer, Harold. Elijah Parrish [sic] Lovejoy: Articles and Photos. Alton, Ill.: H. Meisenheimer, 2003.
IR B LOVEJOY
Phillips, Jennifer. Elijah Lovejoy’s Fight for Freedom. [Shoreline, WA]: Nose in a Book Publishing, c2009.
IR B LOVEJOY
Preservation, Beautification and Rededication of the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Monument: 5:30 p.m., Thursday, September 25, 1969. Alton, Ill., Pride, Inc., 1969.
IR 977.38 PRE
Proceedings of the Ill. Anti-slavery Convention: Held at Upper Alton on the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, and Twenty-eighth October, 1837. Alton [Ill.]: Parks and Breath, 1838.
IR 973.7114 ILL
http://archive.org/details/proceedingsofill00inilli
Remarks of Richard B. Ogilvie, Governor of Illinois: Elijah Lovejoy Monument Rededication, Alton, Illinois, Sept. 25, 1969. Alton, Ill: Pride, Inc., 1969.
IR 977.386 REM
Remembering Elijah Parish Lovejoy. Alton, Ill.: Hayner Public Library District Genealogy and Local History Library, 2015.
IR B LOVEJOY v. 1 and v.2
Shifflett, Kizzie H. The Fifth Seal: Rev. 6 Chap., 9 Verse. Springfield, Ill.: Printed by the Edward F. Hartmann Co., 1922
IR LOCKED CASES B LOVEJOY
https://archive.org/details/fifthsealrev6cha00shif
Simon, Paul. Lovejoy: Martyr to Freedom. St. Louis: Concordia, c1964.
IR B LOVEJOY
Simon, Paul. Freedom's Champion--Elijah Lovejoy. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1994.
IR B LOVEJOY
Tanner, Henry. The Martyrdom of Lovejoy: An Account of The Life, Trials, and Perils of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. Chicago : Fergus Print. Co., 1881.
IR B LOVEJOY
http://archive.org/details/martyrdomoflovej00tann
Thompson, George, D. Prison Life and Reflections, Or, A Narrative of The Arrest, Trial, Conviction, Imprisonment, Treatment, Observations, Reflections, And Deliverance of Work, Burr, And Thompson, Who Suffered an Unjust and Cruel Imprisonment in Missouri Penitentiary, For Attempting to Aid Some Slaves to Liberty. Hartford : A. Work, 1850.
IR 306.362 THO
http://www.archive.org/details/prisonlifereflec7216thom
Trow, John Fowler & Lincoln, William Sever. Alton Trials: Of Winthrop S. Gilman, Who Was Indicted with Enoch Long, Amos B. Roff, George H. Walworth, George H. Whitney, William Harned, John S. Noble, James Morss, Jr., Henry Tanner, Royal Weller, Reuban Gerry, and Thaddeus B. Hurlbut; For the Crime of Riot, Committed on The Night of The 7th Of November, 1837, While Engaged in Defending A Printing Press, From an Attack Made on It at That Time, By an Armed Mob. New York : J.F. Trow, 1838.
IR LOCKED CASES 977.3 ALT
http://archive.org/details/altontrialsofwin00introw
Resources only available online:
Elijah P. Lovejoy Papers: 1804-1891, at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library The collection includes correspondence, sermons, lectures, newspapers, news clippings, and family memorabilia created by, or related to, Lovejoy and his family. The collection bulks with correspondence (1824-1853) and concerns abolition, temperance, religion, and theology. (Digitized) http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/ttusw/00063/tsw-00063.html
Green, Beriah. The martyr: a discourse, in commemoration of the martyrdom of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, delivered in Broadway Tabernacle, New York, and in the Bleecker Street Church, Utica. [New York]: American Anti-Slavery Society, 1838
http://archive.org/details/martyrdiscoursei00gree
Keep, John. An Address Delivered December 22, 1837: In the village of Lockport, N.Y., Commemorative of the Martyrdom of Rev. E.P. Lovejoy, Who Was Killed by the Mob, in the City of Alton, Ill., On the Night of November 7, 1837. Lockport, N.Y. : Printed by George Reese, 1838
http://archive.org/details/addressdelivered00keep
Stone, Thomas T. The Martyr of Freedom: a discourse delivered at East Machias, November 30, and at Machias, December 7, 1837. Boston: I. Knapp, 1838.
http://archive.org/details/martyrfreedomad00conggoog
Worchester, Leonard. A Discourse on the Alton Outrage, delivered at Peacham, Vermont, December 14, 1837. Concord, N.H.: Printed by Asa McFarland, 1838.
http://archive.org/details/discourseonalton00worc
Compiled by Lacy S. McDonald, Genealogy & Local History Manager. List complete as of November 2021.
USEFUL WEBSITES
http://www.altonweb.com/history/lovejoy/
http://www.state.il.us/hpa/lovejoy/bio.htm
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2427
http://www.illinoishistory.gov/hs/elijah_lovejoy.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/349544/Elijah-P-Lovejoy
HOW DID OUR IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS GET HERE?
Family historians look for an immigrant’s arrival record to establish when they put down roots in North America. But some immigrants are tougher to trace than others.
Here are three strategies to help:
1. Search multiple ports.
Many of us think of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. But that is not the only port to which immigrants came. If you can’t find your ancestor in the search section of the Ellis Island website, check the records of other ports. The free website Castlegarden.org has passenger lists of ships that came to the Castle Garden port in New York before Ellis Island opened. Ancestry.com (through a personal subscription), Ancestry Library Edition (log in with your Hayner library card), and Familysearch.org have databases of passenger lists at many other ports in the United States.
2. Check for companions.
Try searching for another family member—sibling, spouse, child—who may prove easier to trace. Then expand to cousins, coworkers, or neighbors within your ancestor's cluster community. This "back door" approach may lead to information about your own ancestor.
3. Seek alternative sources.
In some cases, your ancestor’s passenger list might not exist at all. Other records that may document immigration include church records, newspaper articles, town or county histories, naturalization papers, passport applications, alien registrations, border crossing records, and the 1900–1930 U.S. censuses. Search databases of these records on genealogy websites and on newspaper archive websites. Some books are compilations of old records, such as colonial Town Clerk and church records. We may spot immigrants in town and county histories, old settlers’ books, published family histories, church histories, and centennial books. We may be able to read digitized genealogical books on Archive.org, Google, or in the Catalog on Familysearch.org.
Staff at the Hayner Genealogy & Local History library can help you determine a search strategy for your immigrant ancestors.
Naturalization ceremonies, in McLean County courthouse, 1938, Rosea Kurta takes citizenship
Bowman, John S.; Naturalization ceremonies, Pantagraph Negatives Collection (Illinois Digital Archives), 2021-09-23, http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/p16614coll35/id/13531
Branching Out webinars available here:
Immigration and Citizenship Research (January 10, 2022)
U.S. Military Research (November 29, 2021)
Cemetery Research (November 15, 2021)
Property Research (October 18, 2021)
Newspaper Research (September 20, 2021)
Courthouse & Church Records (August 16, 2021)
Family Search (July 9, 2021)
Ancestry.com: Research, Trees, DNA (May 28, 2021)
Sharing and Collaborating on Social Media (April 16, 2021)
Digital Family Trees and Files (March 30, 2021)
Organizing our Genealogy Research (January 29, 2021) Check out this article from Family Tree Magazine for suggested filing systems.
Cemetery maps of local cemeteries. More information about gravestones and burials available at Hayner Genealogy & Local History Library. If you click on a link, the file (PDF) will automatically open or download, depending on your computer settings. Please let us know if you have any questions!
Alton City Cemetery overview (also called Grandview Cemetery. Includes National Cemetery) (Alton, Illinois) Map Legend, Section A, Section B, Section C, Section D
Bethany Cemetery (Godfrey, Illinois)
Godfrey Cemetery (Godfrey, Illinois)
Rose Lawn Memory Gardens (Bethalto, Illinois)
Melville Cemetery (Godfrey, Illinois)
Saint Joseph Cemetery (Alton, Illinois)
Saint Patrick Cemetery (also called Greenwood Cemetery) (Godfrey, Illinois)
Upper Alton Cemetery overview (also called Oakwood Cemetery) (Alton, Illinois) Section 1 & Block 700, Section 2, Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, Section 6, Sections 7 & 8, Section 9, Sections 10 & 900, Section 11, Section 12, Section 14, Sections 16 & 17, Section 16, Section 17, Section 100, Section 101, Section 102, Sections 200 & 300, Sections 200, 201, & 202, Section 203, Sections 204 & 205, Section 301, Section 302, Section 304
Valhalla Memorial Park and Mausoleum (Godfrey, Illinois)
Wanda Cemetery (South Roxana, Illinois)
Woodland Hill Cemetery (Wood River, Illinois)
The People Shall Continue
Simon J. Ortiz and Sharol Graves
IR j970.00497 ORT in the Genealogy & Local History Library
Poet Simon J. Ortiz tells of the history of the Native/Indigenous peoples of North America from Creation to the invasion and usurpation of Native lands and beyond. Themes of collective resistance, resilience, and respect for the environment are very relevant to our current times.
Dr. Debbie Reese, on the website American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) says, “His book, in short, offers a history of American Indians.” You can read her full review here: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2006/12/simon-ortizs-people-shall-continue.html
Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, AICL provides a critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books and is a great place to go if you’re looking for quality books and resources. AICL also offers a critique on which books to be wary of or avoid.
Lee and Low Books, the largest multicultural children's book publisher in the country, also offers a Teacher's Guide here: https://www.leeandlow.com/books/the-people-shall-continue/teachers_guide
Simon J. Ortiz is a Puebloan writer of the Acoma Pueblo tribe, and one of the key figures in the second wave of what has been called the Native American Renaissance. Ortiz has published many books of poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction, but The People Shall Continue is his only book for young readers. His writing focuses on modern people’s alienation from others, oneself, and one’s environment—urging humanity to reconnect with the wisdom of ancestral spirits and with Mother Earth. You can find more of his poetry here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/simon-j-ortiz
The People Shall Continue first came out in 1977, but we have the 2017 40th Anniversary Edition, which features new artwork by original illustrator Sharol Graves and a section about the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
Sharol Graves is a multimedia artist who studied art at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico during high school and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland, California. Her artwork has been shown throughout the U.S. since 1977. Her Native American Indian lineage includes Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee Tribe and Chief Peter Graves of the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe. She is a member of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe.
Blue Sky White Stars
Sarvinder Naberhaus and Kardir Nelson
IR jF NAB in the Genealogy & Local History Library
With powerful, sparse text and stunning artwork, this book will make you feel proud to be an American but inspired to work to make it a better place for EVERYONE. It’s a reminder of the natural and cultural beauty of our country, and that the flag is a symbol that belongs to all of us. With paintings of the Statue of Liberty, civil rights marchers, a spacecraft at Cape Canaveral blasting off, the flag on the moon, and other portraits of American life, it is a reminder of all we can accomplish and what we can be when we are at our best. The publisher, Penguin Random House, calls it "an ode to America then and now, from sea to shining sea."
There is also a bilingual edition of Blue Sky White Stars available with text in Spanish and English. The bilingual edition was chosen for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Sarvinder Naberhaus is an award-winning author who immigrated to the United States from Punjab, India, and currently lives in Iowa. She was selected by the Iowa Center for the Book to represent Iowa on the Great Reads About Great Places map at the 2019 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
You may recognize Kadir Nelson's artwork from covers of The New Yorker magazine, most recently "Say Their Names" in June and this week's "Distant Summer." The covers are stunning in print, and interactive online (where Nelson describes the decions he made for the artwork). His paintings are also in the private and public permanent collections of the Muskegon Museum of Art, The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Photo by the Texas Historical Commission
Juneteenth commemorates the day the last enslaved people were emancipated in the United States on June 19, 1865. This happened more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation when a Union Army general finally told the people of Galveston, Texas, that slavery had ended. For a more comprehensive history, please read Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s work here: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/what-is-juneteenth/
The New York Public Library also has a nice blog post about Juneteenth here: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/06/19/celebrating-juneteenth
Now, 155 years later, people all over the U.S. continue to mark the occasion with celebrations. Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, the first Black woman to hold that office, spoke at last year’s celebration at Killion Park in Alton. Some of the biggest festivities are in Texas, and you can celebrate virtually this year at https://juneteenthatx.com/ The Austin Public Library is even a sponsor!
Here are some books (fiction and nonfiction) in the Hayner collection that you can request to learn more about Juneteenth:
Juneteenth
By Ralph Ellison
Downtown and Alton Square Libraries F ELL
Stony the Road
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Downtown and Alton Square Libraries 973.0496073 GAT
We Were Eight Years in Power
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Downtown and Alton Square Libraries 973.932 WEW
And for younger readers:
Freedom's Gifts: A Juneteenth Story
By Valerie Wesley, illustrated by Sharon Wilson
Alton Square Library E WES
Juneteenth Jamboree
By Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Yvonne Buchanan.
Alton Square Library E WEA
Juneteenth
By Robin Nelson
Downtown and Alton Square Libraries E394.263 NEL
Dreamers
Yuyi Morales
IR jF MOR in the Genealogy & Local History Library
Genealogy research is immigration research. Almost all of us in the United States are descended from relatively recent immigrants, with the notable exceptions of American Indians, whose ancestors had been here for thousands of years, and descendants of enslaved peoples, who were forcibly brought here rather than emigrated. In the quest to figure out who we are, and who our ancestors were, we search for their stories of coming to America. We are extremely excited to share with you a selection of picture books about immigration available in the Genealogy & Local History Library.
Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales, is the inspiration behind our collection of picture books about immigration. Caldecott Honor artist and six-time Pura Belpré winner Yuyi Morales's gorgeous book tells the story of her immigration to the United States from Mexico with her son. Yuyi spoke no English at the time, but she and her son discovered an amazing place together: the public library. It helped them understand their new home and inspired Yuyi to become an author. This book is the most beautiful love letter to libraries I’ve ever seen. I hope you enjoy it and all the other new books and that you’ll bring the children in your lives here to share the stories of our country.
Also available at the Downtown and Alton Square Libraries, call number E MOR.
Downtown Library
326 Belle Street, Alton, IL 62002
Phone: 618-462-0677
Monday–Thursday 8:30 a.m - 7:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday
Genealogy & Local History Library
401 State Street, Alton, IL 62002
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday
Hayner Library at Alton Square Mall
132 Alton Square, Alton, IL 62002
Phone: 618-462-0677
Monday–Saturday 8:30 a.m - 9:00 p.m.
Sunday 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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