Doing genealogy online.

Have you tried using the internet to do genealogy research? There are many sites available to help with the research. The Eldorado Library has books such as Genealogy online for dummies and Genealogy basics online to help guide you on

your search.

The Library's web page also has several websites bookmarked for your convience.

We would like to feature just a few:

The Decendents of Samuel Elder

Find a grave has a partial listing of Wolf Creek Cemetery
The Illinois State Archives has several useful databases

HeritageQuest is a subscription database the you need to access through the library's web page. You will need your library card barcode to access this useful tool.

Do you have a favorite genealogy website? Care to share it with others? Just leave a comment!

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A Guest article by Leonard Baldwin

Recollection of the Old City Hall and Lincoln School, 1936-1940

My Dad, Carroll Baldwin, was the janitor and fire truck driver who lived in three rooms provided on the second floor. The three rooms were kitchen, living room and bedroom. The fire pole was next to the bed in the corner leading to the fire truck. My Mother was Freda. She had two children, my sister Betty age 7 and me, Leonard age 6.
The mayor at the time was Aubry Giles. He ran a grocery store about three blocks away from the hall. We got our food there on credit, paying once a month. One day I found a dollar on the floor next to the check out. I gave it to Mr. Giles to find the owner.
From the first floor of the hall you could see where the tracks had been for the interurban to Harrisburg and Carrier Mills. It had been replaced by bus service.
Several personalities were in and out at the hall. Sebe Kelly was the main clerk assisted by Susan Schrader. As I recall, the Police Chief was Oscar Richy and the court Judge was Harry Flanders (children were Mary Ann and Jay).
Paul Massey was a patrolman. One time I was across the street in front of Nameth and Myrna Grocery looking at some baskets of assorted fruit. Paul walked up behind me and said something like “you plan to sneak off with an apple?” he scared me a little until I saw who it was.
The floor plan of the City Hall on the second floor, in addition to the living quarters, also included the Police Office and an area enclosed by banisters with a table in it for council meetings. The first floor had the City Clerk’s Office, the jail and the fire trucks. O.S. Young was the Fire Chief, he ran a hardware store next to the Nox Theater. Two other movie theaters were a block away, the grand and the Orpheum, with the Nuway Mercantile across from the Nox. We had everything we needed in walking distance, including Lincoln School where Betty and I attended.
I once read that someone said, “All I needed to know I learned in Kindergarten.” Well it took me a little while longer than that. However I will say this, Lincoln School had a very well qualified facility from Kindergarten through 6th grade. Not only were they good teachers, but also they specialized in certain areas that might be expected on the high school level. The teachers I remember were: Ms Grant, Kindergarten; Nell Reed, first grade was exceptional in reading and math; Gladys Barnes, second grade taught lots of music; Celeste Hemphill, third grade was good in art; Grace Lyon, fourth grade, taught the paintings of the masters. Our first male teacher was Robert Leavell, who specialized in Health Education and Physical Education. I recall Mr. Leavell went so far as to show us how to walk correctly, one foot directly in front of the other for good balance. Louis Aaron was the drama person who directed a lot of plays. I think we were in at least one play from 3rd through 6th grades (Tom Thumb’s Wedding & A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream with a character named “Puck”) so, with all this, I might say I learned most of what I needed to know at Lincoln School!
The 1937 flood occurred while we were living in the city hall. The big area on the 2nd floor became a staging area for clothing donations and distributions to flood victims.
Some other occurrences of historical note include:
My mother cooked meals for the prisoners that were in the jail downstairs for which she was paid 10 or 12 cents.
One time when the jail was empty, my sister Betty went in there and I may have locked her in, at least she thought I did, I’m not sure it was really possible.
About that same time some gypsies used to come through the area and for some reason some of the children were brought to the city hall. I remember my mother gave some of the younger ones a bath and put clean clothes on them, with a great deal of protest them the kids.
During this time, we were fortunate to have a band director in the Eldorado School District. Mr. Fred Cook (in my mind he was Eldorado’s own John Phillip Sousa) I began my trumpet lessons in 3rd grade. He taught me through 8th grade. We marched as a grade school band and when I was in 4th grade the band to a trip to St Louis (people tell me it was to a ball game.) Three 8th grade girls were assigned to watch over me as I was only in the 4th grade. They included Regina Burnett (Bruce?) and Margaret Ann Jackson (Ado?).
The 3rd floor of the Hall had the Judge’s Office with a secretary. The largest area up there was the courtroom with another banister-enclosed area like on the 2nd floor. The banisters were all similar and most still
Exist in the museum. The steps in front leading to the 2nd floor provided play space (since remodeling to the two way entrance). In those early days a child could slide slowly from the side area down to the old fashioned light fixtures. One time a girl from the neighborhood came to play with Betty, her last name was Cuttrell, she might have been Claude’s sister. Before we knew it, she jumped from the entrance on the second floor to the lawn below without being hurt (as far as we know).
The First Baptist Church was visible from the second floor of the hall. Rev. I. E. Miller was the pastor and I remember when the wooden structure burned to the ground. Of course my Dad drove the truck to fight the fire but the volunteer fireman ere not successful. A new building replaced it.
The Eldorado museum has many pictures of these events including the school band at the railroad station ready to board the train to St. Louis. Also many of the people mentioned above are in the 1939 video taken by the Lion’s club members. (Available to borrow from the Eldorado Library)
Librarians Note.
Don’t forget to share your memories of Eldorado either by leaving a comment or by contacting the library.

March Madness

In March our thoughts just naturally turn to basketball. The term “March Madness” first appeared, in print in 1939, in an essay by Henry V. Porter. He used the term to describe the excitement that surrounds the Illinois state high school basketball tournaments held each year in March.

Basketball is an important part of Eldorado History. Share your memories with us. Do you remember when the Duff-Kingston Gym was built (1957)? Who were some of you favorite players?

For more information on “March Madness” visit: http://www.marchmadness.org/exp/

Books about High School Basketball in Illinois:


Glory days Illinois : legends of Illinois high school basketball by Taylor Bell
Illinky : high school basketball in Illinois, Indiana, and KentuckyMarch madness : the story of high school basketball in Illinois by Jim Enright

When Truman Visited Eldorado

It was announced on September 20, 1948 that President Truman would visit the city as a part of his Southern Illinois motor tour.

His visit, on September 30th, caused a great deal of excitement. Businesses were closed and school children were let out to witness this historic occasion. The crowd, estimated at several thousand, gathered on the streets, in the windows and on the rooftops. Judge Harry C. Flanders was the Master of Ceremonies. The high school buglers played “The Star Spangled banner” and Dr John C. Burnett sang “America.”

The Presidential caravan arrived over an hour late and was greeted with a 21-gun salute. Mrs. Truman and their daughter Margaret accompanied the President. After a 5-minute speech the President and his party continued on to Carmi.

Although Mr. Truman was the first president to visit Eldorado, the record shows that two presidential candidates had visited in the past. In 1892, Grover Cleveland was driven down Grand Ave. on his way to the old railroad station and in 1908, Williams Jennings Bryan addressed a crowd from the porch of the Murray Hotel.

The original articles of President Truman’s visit can be found in the Eldorado Daily Journal on September 21, 1948 and September 30, 1948. We’ve given you the basic facts, now you tell us your story… what do you remember about “When Truman visited Eldorado.”

Another President Visits Southern Illinois

On October 3, 1960, then Senator John F. Kennedy visited Harrisburg on a campaign swing through Southern Illinois. Following President Truman’s route, Senator Kennedy made what he claimed was a record breaking 15 speeches in one day. A large crowd was assembled on the courthouse square to meet the Senator’s party, which arrived 2 hours later than expected.

The original articles of President Kennedy’s visit can be found in the Eldorado Daily Journal on October 3rd and 4th, 1960. Were you in that crowd? What do you remember about the visit?

Come on Add a comment.

What Window? Where?

Opening a New Window into the Past @ the Eldorado Library


The Eldorado Memorial Public Library is proud to announce a new service and new equipment. With the help of an LSTA grant from the Illinois State Library and the support of many community groups, the Eldorado library has purchased a microfilm reader scanner and 3 new public access computers. In addition, several new programs will take place. For instance this blog has been created to focus on the genealogy and local history resources of the library and to involve you the reader in creating REMEMBER WHEN …ELDORADO a record of Eldorado history.

The new microfilm reader/scanner is a state of the art piece of equipment that can print directly from the microfilm or can scan the microfilm so that it can be saved and or emailed. We will now be able to answer email requests for obituaries and other newspaper articles by email the actual article back to the person requesting the information, saving paper, postage and time. Also purchased with grant funds were 3 new computers and a new microfilm cabinet.

You are invited to a demonstration of the new equipment at the Eldorado Memorial public Library on Thursday, January 29th, any time between 5:30 and 7:30 pm. If you are unable to visit the library during that time, please contact the library to arrange a convenient time when staff will be available to show you the scanner.

We will soon be having a program on blogging, and hope to start collecting local historical photographs to publish on our website.
Come back and visit this blog often, and be sure to share your memories.