things to do when you're in springfield

I found out that this year's Federation of Genealogical Society conference is in Springfield! While I'm sure I won't be ther for it, they do have this list of research opportunities in springfield. I had no idea there were so many great things there.

Like this in the IL regional archives depository at UIS!

County and municipal records dating from 1817 onward, collected from 14 central Illinois counties: Bond, Cass, Christian, Fayette, Greene, Jersey, Macon, Macoupin, Mason, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Sangamon and Scott. Some of these historic records include:

Circuit and Chancery Court record books, dockets, and case files
Wills, estate inventory and probate case files
Poll books and election returns
Deed records
Tax records
Birth, death, marriage, and divorce records
County commissioners' minutes
Naturalization papers
Cemetery records
School records

Or the Sangamon Valley Collection at Lincoln Library (the Spfld public library).

The Sangamon Valley Collection (SVC) provides in-depth resources for the study of Springfield, Illinois, Sangamon County and the eleven adjacent counties. The collection, established in 1970, contains materials from the past and present. Examples of items to be found here are: photographs, city and county directories, high school yearbooks, city and county documents, long-range planning reports and surveys, histories and maps.

The staff maintains a computer index of the State Journal-Register and the Illinois Times back to 1981. Articles of local interest are indexed. Search the index here: http://hip.rpls.ws:81/#focus.

SVC is a favorite haunt of genealogists who use the extensive Sangamon County Obituary File. Genealogical materials are not limited to the local area. For example, family histories from Virginia and German immigrant passenger lists can be found.

marcel duboce

This is the calling card of Marcel DuBoce, the French husband of Augusta Henrietta Swinke. They married in 1873 in Illinois. She came from Prussia in 1871, he in 1860. Shortly after he arrived in Springfield he enlisted in the Union army and served from 1862-1965. He spent most of his time in western Tennessee during the civil war. He was a photographer. He took the first picture of an African American in Springfield, Il. There are some picture that he took in the LIncoln Pres. Library.

At first I just found him because I want to find out who Augusta's mother is. I believe her to be a sister of Ottelia, so if I can find her mother I know Ottelia's. I don't know why she came over to the States in 1871, while Ottelia, who was married in 1875 came over in 1882. So anyway, I'm no just generally curious about the rest of the family and am interested to learn more about Marcel, because he sounds super cool.

here is a link to an indexed version of marcel's death certificate.



ETA: I have continued searching. There is an August DuBoce, who I suspect may be a brother or related somehow. The brother, is supposed to have been born in Illinois, so maybe not a brother, but a cousin? August is slightly older. August died in San Francisco and also served in the Union Army. Marcel had a photography studio on the capital square in Springfield. I would imagine that he photographed Lincoln.

here is a link that talks about the man who occupied his former studio space on the capital square.