Customer Reviews

Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginners Guide To Family History In The City Of Chicago

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If your family tree includes Chicago roots, you better make sure a copy of Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide To Family History In The City And Cook County is on your shelf: family historian Grace DuMdelle shows how and what to research in a Chicago-specific guide to genealogy which covers everything from local resources to Chicago research facilities and how to access them. Any beginner can use Finding Your Chicago Ancestors because it also covers important changes in search routines, how to make the most of 'hidden documents', how to overcome common records-seeking problems and much more.

This book was instrumental in getting my genealogy project going. I was able to find all sorts of information that I never would have thought of without this book. I got it from the library first and it was so great, I had to own it.

"Finding Your Chicago Ancestors" is a comprehensive guide for genealogists new to Windy City records. This area of the country has different nuances than New York City and other East Coast records. For example, parents' names don't appear on marriage licenses until 1968. DuMelle uses many ethnic examples and has a helpful chapter, "Ethnic Resources", pointing out societies, web sites and repositories. Using this book led me to the data I needed for further work in Eastern European archives. For someone who doesn't live in the Chicago area, this book is a "must" to navigate the many repositories, libraries and resources. It is well illustrated, easy to follow and written by an experienced professional. I strongly recommend it.
--Miriam Weiner, author of "Jewish Roots in Poland" and "Jewish Roots in Ukraine and Moldova," www.routestoroots.com

Great help in doing research. I didn''t realize all the resources available at my fingertips until I read this book. Buy it!

I have lots of genealogy "how-to" books, and I'm long past a beginner, but this guide is specific to a city where my ancestors lived, and it is thorough and very helpful on where to look for traces of family in Chicago. Not only which places have which records, but also how to get there and where to park. It's my favorite guide, written by someone who knows the territory. If you do visit Chicago to check your roots, be sure to consult it for planning, and then take it with you. Invaluable.

Reviewed by Kathleen Dowdell for Reader Views (7/06)



Did you know that in 1909 all residential streets in Chicago were renumbered? And that it was not an Illinois state requirement until 1916 to file birth certificates? These are just a couple of nuggets of information you will find helpful in your ancestral research when you read Grace DuMelle's "Finding Your Chicago Ancestors". This book is an invaluable tool for beginners as well as seasoned researchers looking for historical family back ground.

This book is comprised of 16 chapters that aid the researcher in tracing their Chicago ancestors. Each chapter ends with a Points to Remember section that condenses the information in the chapter into an easy to use checklist. What's also unique is the unintended time line that explains where data can be found for the last two centuries.
Included in this 321 page book are numerous websites and buildings in Chicago and Cook County that house many materials that are not available on line.

This is one of the best genealogical resources for finding your ancestors that I have read. What makes it more unique is that its information is solely targeted for Chicago. But even if you're not searching for a past family member of Chicago, this book is useful because it explains how to research using historical documents. There is so much hands-on interactive information that, with the help of this book, searching for the roots of your family tree will be fun and easy to do.

Grace DuMelle's background in historical research and her connections with many Chicago historical organizations is quite striking. It's a real bonus that she put all that knowledge and expertise into this great book for all to read. Definitely a book to own!

Received book free of charge.

This book was a true pleasure to read! Grace Dumelle has taken what could be a very complicated topic, and she has presented it in an organized and easy to follow format.

I have not done any geneology work, but reading this book inspired me to try to get several questions about my ancestors answered.

I now have a much better sense of where to start my search.

I recommend this book highly.

Alane Repa