Genealogy & Local History
Premier Resources | Genealogical Societies | Get Started | Web Sites | Local Obituaries
The Genealogy Room
Microfilm: There is a dedicated Genealogy Room with two microfilm readers, one of which is a ScanPro 2000. The Northwest Herald, formerly The McHenry Plaindealer, is available on microfilm back to 1875.
The print collection: There are approximately 2,200 items, including half of the McHenry County Genealogical Society collection (approximately 900 items); and approximately 140 items from BigWil (British Interest Group of Wisconsin & Illinois).
Magazines and Newsletters include the American Ancestors New England and Beyond, Family Chronicle, Family Tree, Internet Genealogy, Illinois Magazine, MCIGS Connection Newsletter, MCIGS Quarterly, Journal of Illinois History, McHenry Area Historical Society Newsletter, and the McHenry County Historical Society Newsletter.
Premium Resources — you need an MPLD card to access these databases.
Premium electronic resources include American Ancestors, Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest. American Ancestors and Ancestry Library Edition are only accessible inside the Library.
American Ancestors Founded in 1845, NEHGS (New England Historic Genealogical Society) is the country's leading resource for family history research.
Ancestry Library Edition™ Instant access to a wide range of unique resources for genealogical and historical research. With more than 1.5 billion names in over 4,000 databases, Ancestry Library Edition includes records from the United States Census; military records; court, land and probate records; vital and church records; directories; passenger lists and more. These collections are continuously expanding, with new content added every business day.
Heritage Quest A collection of over 25,000 family and local histories, Federal Censuses, and other genealogical content.
Genealogical Societies
McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society – click on Collection to see detailed title lists of the collection housed in both the McHenry Public Library and the Crystal Lake Public Library. Meetings are held at the McHenry Public Library on the second Thursday of select months at 7:00 pm.
McHenry County Historical Society & Museum Local History & Research Library - The McHenry County Historical Society Local History Research Library has as its purpose the acquisition, cataloguing and preservation of documentary materials that relate to the history of McHenry County and its people.
DuPage County IL Genealogical Society - detailed information on locating genealogical collections in DuPage County.
Cook County Genealogy Online - search Cook County genealogy records.
Get Started
Genealogy Resources on the Web, Morton Grove Public Library - provides a clear description of the process and includes many recommendations for undertaking research online and using print resources.
An excellent series of lessons on how to begin family history research, gateway to other websites (including Ellis Island, Castle Gardens, and many more), and basic forms to begin research.
Websites
Cyndi’s List - The most comprehensive list of genealogy links on the Web that cover all family history subjects in substantial depth.
Family Search - The official Latter Day Saints family history site. Especially useful for the Family History Library Catalog and invaluable online Research Guides for each State and many countries.
Illinois State Archives Online Databases - Records in the Illinois State Archive, Statewide Vital Records Database, and the Illinois Regional Archives Depositories. Marriages, deaths, 19th century veterans, place names, and much more from state government records.
National Archive - Databases include labor unions, passenger lists, military records, prisoner of war and much more.
Online Searchable Death Indexes & Records - This website is a directory of links to websites with online death indexes, listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices & registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery & burial records.
The primary purpose and function of RootsWeb.com is to connect people so that they can help each other and share genealogical research. Most resources on RootsWeb.com are designed to facilitate such connections. Databases, internet mailing lists, and ways to contribute family history information to others.
Find dates and places of death for Social Security benefits recipients from about 1964 to 2010... 87,186,822 Records.
Is a group of volunteers working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. This Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone.
Local Obituaries
Northwest Herald Obituaries
Although the MPLD Genealogy Room contains Northwest Herald microfilm available for viewing and printing for 10 cents a page, narrowing down a date using the online searching method makes finding articles much easier. Through the index that the NW Herald uses, one can also search for obits in all Illinois newspapers and view these obits in full.
The Northwest Herald's electronic archives are available online starting January 1, 2005 through today's most recent news. These archives are searchable and the articles from the last 7 days are free to read in full. After 7 days the articles are available for purchase through the terms indicated on the archives search page, available here.
Northwest Herald Obituaries are also available online starting January 1, 2005. Obits can be viewed in full online and printed. You can find this index here.
External links represent selected web sites that may be used as starting points in your research and are not intended to be exhaustive lists of all available external sites related to these topics. Use the external links provided at your own discretion. For suggestions, comments, or to report broken links, you may contact the Web Team.