A&P (first supermarkets)
Abortion death trials, 1949 & 1951
Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library survey (Fever River)
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum controversies
‘Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight’ (Vachel Lindsay)
Abrams Hotel (1828 pioneers)
Don ‘Doc’ Adams (political leader)
James Adams (1828 pioneers)
Advice to Housekeepers (1871)
Aetna Foundry and Machine Shops
Springfield African-American History Foundation Interviews
‘The ague’ in early Sangamon County
Jasper, Frank and Robert Aiello (gangland murders)
Jacob Akard (Lincoln Home)
Alby’s Tavern (Lithuanians in Springfield)
Grover Cleveland Alexander (baseball pitcher)
Bettie Allen (African-American history interviews)
Allen Cigar Store explosion, 1929
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co.
H.D. Anderson (accused embezzler)
Andrew train bombing, 1933 (mine union war)
Argus Hotel, 214 S. Fourth St.
Aristocracy Hill Neighborhood (Fever River)
Army Air Force Depot, Illinois State Fairgrounds (World War II)
Assembly Ball, 1889 (photo)
Association of Commerce and Industry
Auburn square devastated by fire, 1910
Automobile dealers in Springfield (Abbott-Detroit through Crow)
Automobile dealers in Springfield (Datsun through Hyundai)
Automobile dealers in Springfield (Ingram through Nissan)
Automobile dealers in Springfield (Oakland through Stoddard-Dayton)
Automobile dealers in Springfield (Studebaker through Yugo)
B
Edward L. Baker (editor, diplomat)
Ball Township High School (closed high schools)
Clergy Ballard (Springfield race riot)
Bank run of 1932 (George Bunn Jr. memoir)
Buster Bartholomew, coach & educator
Early ‘base ball’: Libertys lose to Rockford, 101-13 (1869)
Basketball in Illinois State Fairgrounds Coliseum (1933)
Newton Bateman (National Lincoln Monument Association)
‘Battle of Virden’ (1898)
David Beam (farmer, miller, politician)
Bear Flag Rebellion (William Ide and William Todd)
Charles Becker (First Citizen)
Bee hunting (1820s)
Benedictine University at Springfield
Rev. John Bergen (1828 pioneers)
James H. Beveridge (National Lincoln Monument Association)
The ‘Big O’ fire, 1908
John J. Bird (African-American leader, Republican politician)
Black Civil War veterans buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery
Black Civil War veteran’s POW experience
Black farmers at Chinkapin Hill
Black honor student controversy, 1907
Black residents’ resolution opposing emigration to Liberia (1858)
Caroline Lamb Black (‘People Lincoln knew’)
Blended immigrant family (Springfield Lithuanians)
The Blue Danube (restaurant)
‘Boarding house horror’ fire, 1899
Bolivia Road Bridge (National Register)
Booker’s Tavern corner (11th & South Grand)
Albert Booth family, wagon makers
Alfred Booth, grocer, developer
A.L. Bowen, newspaperman & social service leader
Boyhood during the Deep Snow (Zimri Enos)
Charles Boyd (1828 pioneers)
Brainerd Hill (West Lawrence Avenue)
Bridgeview Beach, 1942 (photo)
George Brinkerhoff mystery, 1893
Rev. John Brockmeier (‘labor priest’)
John A. Bross Post, Grand Army of the Republic
Bettie Stuart Brown (‘People Lincoln knew’)
Rev. Henry Brown (Lincoln funeral photo)
James N. Brown (founded Illinois State Fair)
Robert Brown (Washington Street Mission)
Virginia Stuart Brown (Lincoln Home)
Brown’s Business College (1864-1994)
Melanie Bryant, first woman firefighter
Francis Budinger (First Citizen)
Buffalo’s bicycle-riding bank bandit
Buffalo Hart Presbyterian Church
Buffalo Hart tornado deaths, 1927
Buffalo High School (closed high schools)
‘The Bunion Derby’ (1928)
Bunn family house (Alice Bunn memoir)
Bunn School cooking class, 1910 (photo)
Scott Burton (Springfield race riot)
‘Hunkie John’ Buskiewich murder trial (1926)
Butchers vs. the blue law (1916)
Preston Butler (early photographer)
C
Cadillac garage, 1912 (photo)
Ben F. Caldwell: politician, farmer, banker
Camp Butler (Civil War training camp)
Camp Dunne, 1916 (photo)
Camp Glen Olive (Wheeland Park), Riverton
Camp Tanner (Illinois State Fairgrounds, 1898)
Cantrall riot, 1926
Ebenezer Capps (1828 pioneers)
Jabez Capps (1828 pioneers)
The Cara-Sel Lounge (Springfield Lithuanians)
William Carey (Lincoln College of Law)
William and Margaret Carpenter (1828 pioneers)
Rev. Peter Cartwright (preacher)
Cartwright United Methodist Church, Pleasant Plains
Carver Convalescent Center fire, 1972
Everett Cary Chevrolet, Chatham
George Cashman (Lincoln Tomb custodian)
Geneva Casstevens (World War I fatality)
Cathedral (Griffin) High School (closed high schools)
Cathedral High School basketball champions, 1939
John H. Catherwood (Medal of Honor, 1911)
Centennial Co-Operative Educational Congress (1918)
Central Illinois Public Service Co.
Chatham High School (closed high schools)
Chatterton Opera House roof collapse, 1887
William Dodd Chenery, impresario
Child and Family Service of Sangamon County
Child charged with ‘depraved’ crime, 1894
Children’s physical exams, 1914 (Springfield Survey photo)
Chili (‘chilli’) in Springfield
Christmas at the Wonder Store, 1881
Church bingo controversy, 1949
Church of St. Francis of Assisi
Circuit clerks, 1821-2015 (list)
Citizens Improvement Association
City jail ‘bullpen,’ 1914 (Springfield Survey photo)
City Water, Light and Power lakeside facilities (Fever River)
Closed high schools in Sangamon County
Coal mine fatalities in Sangamon County (through 1930)
Coal mine safety (1906)
Coal mines in Sangamon County (maps)
William Colby (probate judge)
Coldest day in Springfield history (1905)
Coliseum, Illinois State Fairgrounds
Collective bargaining in state government (1973)
J.H. Collins (school superintendent)
Colored Children’s Service Bureau
Commemorative plaques, South Old Capitol Plaza
Commercial Airport opening, 1927 (photo)
Dr. Charles Compton (surgeon, politician)
John S. Condell memoir, 1840s
Confederate monument, Camp Butler National Cemetery
James C. Conkling (National Lincoln Monument Association)
George S. Connelly (grocer)
Connor’s Meat Market (photo)
Johnny Connors (boxer, saloon-keeper)
Converse High School (closed high schools)
Daniel Pope Cook (Congressman, land owner)
Jesse Cormack (1828 pioneers)
Cotton fields of Sangamon County
Courthouse and Marine Bank, 1860 (drawing)
Courting and marriage in early Illinois
George P. Coutrakon (prosecutor)
Covered bridges (Genealogy Trails information)
COVID-19: History in the making
COVID-19 in Sangamon County: The first year
Comer Cox (Urban League)
Thomas Cox (1828 pioneers)
John Crisp (African-American history interviews)
Alja Crook (Illinois State Museum)
Philip Crowder’s Revolutionary War pension application
Theresa Faith Cummings (African-American history interviews)
Ted Curtis (African-American history interviews)
D
Susan Lawrence’s secret marriage
Danube Swabians in Sangamon County
Charles Darwin letters, Illinois State Register (1914)
Rudy Davenport (African-American history interviews)
Dawson High School (closed high schools)
Charles Dawson (gambler)
‘Deadman’s Crossing,’ 16th Street and Sangamon Avenue
Thomas Dennis (National Lincoln Monument Association)
Desegregation lawsuit at Bunn Park Beach, 1916
Desegregation of the Illinois State Armory
Desnoyer Brothers Shoe Company
Thorne Deuel (museum director)
Harold Dewing (radio pioneer)
DeWitt Smith Building fire, 1918
‘Diamond Special’ train hijacking, 1913
Joseph Dickson (mountain man)
Roland and Isaac Diller (Old Settlers Society)
Dineen family (hoteliers)
Dismantled statues, Statehouse lawn
Divernon High School (closed high schools)
The ‘divine healer’ sensation, 1896
Dome Building, Illinois State Fairgrounds
William Donnegan’s memoir of the Underground Railroad
Jimmy Doolittle’s near miss (1930s)
Stephen A. Douglas’ missing finger
Stephen A. Douglas statue, Statehouse (removed)
Founding of Douglas Park, 1921
Downtown Springfield hotels, 1907-16
Rev. Charles Dresser (Lincoln marriage, Lincoln Home)
Jesse K. Dubois (National Lincoln Monument Association)
Nellie Browne Duff (reporter, provocateur)
Amos Duncan (Black businessman, politician)
Col. Otis Duncan (World War I)
E
Early education in Springfield
Early movie theaters in Springfield
Early Springfield (Barringer map)
Albert Edwards family (Lincoln Home)
Benjamin S. Edwards (‘People Lincoln knew’)
Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards home (Lincoln marriage site)
Helen Dodge Edwards (obituary)
William W. Edwards (Lincoln College of Law)
Virginia Eifert (naturalist, author)
Elevator Milling Co. fire (1927)
Dr. Garret Elkin (1828 pioneers)
Andrew Elliott (1828 pioneers)
Homer Ellis, photographer (Springfield Survey)
Levi Ellis: First resident of Springfield?
Engine House 5 (“the colored firehouse”)
Conrad Engelking (brewer)
Enos Flats (photo)
Enos Park neighborhood (Fever River)
Pascal P. Enos (1828 pioneers)
Salome Paddock Enos (1828 pioneers)
Zimri Enos’ memoir of early Springfield
Last execution in Sangamon County (1927)
Executive Mansion demolition plan, 1963
Explosion on North Seventh Street, 1937
Frank C. Ewing Sr. & Jr. (murder, train derailment)
F
Fairview, home of William H. Herndon
Fallout shelters in Sangamon County
Early farming changes (William Herndon description)
$50,000 faro fraud, 1931
Fashions in men’s hats, 1904 (John Lutz store)
Fatal accident, 1910 Illinois State Fair
Earl Owen Fay (Lincoln Tomb custodian)
Herbert Wells Fay (Lincoln Tomb custodian)
Federal court opinion on commission government, 1987
Feitshans High School (closed high schools)
The death of Fido, the Lincoln family dog
Jerome Finkle (Lincoln College of Law)
Jessie Mae Finley (African-American history interviews)
Fire escape hazards, 1914 (Springfield Survey photo)
Most costly fires in Springfield, 1904-48
First African-American alderman
First African-American to hold public office
First African-American firefighter, police detective
First African-American high school graduate
First African-American resident (‘Jack,’ age 5)
First African-American trustee of the University of Illinois
First automobile in Springfield, 1900
First auto-related fatality, 1906
First Baptist Church, New Berlin
First Baptist Church, Springfield
First burial of a Japanese/First Japanese residents
First burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery (1858)
First Christmas parade (1914)
First Citizens (though 2023)
First European buried in Sangamon County
First dial telephones (1939)
First moving picture/first full-time movie theater
First parking meters (1941)
First parking ramp (1963)
First passenger elevator (1876)
First Prohibition bootlegger, 1919
First radio weather report (Illiopolis, 1915)
First school for African-American children
First self-service grocery (1918); first supermarket (1940)
First wedding, 1820
First woman elected to public office
First woman electoral candidate
First woman school principals, 1874
Fisher ‘murder’ hysteria, 1841
Cornelius Flagg Farmstead, Sherman
Job Fletcher (‘Long Nine’, first window glass)
William Fleurville (Florville) (African American businessman, Lincoln friend)
‘The Flower City’ (Springfield nickname)
Maj. George W. Ford (Camp Butler superintendent)
‘Fort Taylor’ and Civil War prostitution
Fossil Boulder, Auburn Township Park
Death of former Fire Marshal John Freeman
Dr. C. Robert Fults (elm cleanup organizer)
Funeral of Abraham Lincoln (drawing)
‘Dougie’ Funk (Maternal Health Center)
G
Ganbling and the Sangamon County underworld, 1948
Isaac Gaskin (black Civil War veteran)
The Georg family (photographers)
Albert Giles, ‘Hero or Villain’
Alice Gilliland (Royal Neighbors of America)
The Globe Tavern, 1886 (photo)
Frank Godley’s Shoddy Manufactory
‘The Golden Book of Springfield’ (Vachel Lindsay)
Levi and Garner Goodan (1828 pioneers)
Marian Goza (African-American history interviews)
Robert Goza (African-American history interviews)
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Elizabeth Graham (First Citizen)
Arturo Granata (vice consul)
Grand Army of the Republic (Benjamin Stephenson)
Grand Army of the Republic parade, 1932 (video)
U.S. Grant marches to Island Grove, 1861
Great National Horse Show and Equestrian Fair, 1865
Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce
Green Beret accident, 1966 Illinois State Fair
Mayor David Griffiths drowns, 1907
H
Kent Dunlap Hagler (World War I)
Georgia Hale (African-American history interviews)
Carrol Hall (First Citizen)
Sgt. Joseph M. Hall (World War I)
Hall-Hagler Chapter, Disabled American Veterans
Mabel Hallam (Springfield race riot)
William Hamilton (early resident)
Hammerslough/Rosenwald family, clothiers
‘Hammock parties,’ 1890s
David Hammons (MacArthur Fellow)
Ida Hanes (school board member)
Hangings in Sangamon County, 1826-1927
Annie Rheem Hannon (first woman elected to public office)
Alfred S. Harkness (illustrator)
George Harlow (Lincoln Home)
Haskell Viaduct, Illinois State Fairgrounds
Ozias Hatch (National Lincoln Monument Association)
Hatcher automotive service fire, 1921
‘The Old Hay Market’ (photo)
Hay-Edwards School (1914-2000)
James Hayes (last person executed in Sangamon County)
Hebrew Ground, Oak Ridge Cemetery
‘Hell at Midnight in Springfield’
Doc Helm (photographer)
The Helmle family (architects and builders)
Eliza Helmle (infant), first burial at Oak Ridge Cemetery
Gen. James Henry (1828 pioneers)
Archer Herndon (1828 pioneers)
Calista Herndon (Maternal Health Center)
R.F. Herndon & Co. (2021 expanded version)
R.F. Herndon & Co. (2013 original version)
John E. Hickey (pioneer aviator)
Hicklin family (African-American activists, politicians)
Virgil Hickox (early merchant)
H.B. Hill insurance scandal & suicide, 1934
Heaton Hill (first Civil War combat death)
Savillah Hinrichsen, librarian and suffragist
Historic Preservation Association of Springfield
Historical markers in Sangamon County
Herman Hofferkamp (Lincoln Home)
George Hoffmann (First Citizen)
Hogs and Springfield’s civic spirit
Home and Hospital for Fallen Women
Honor Book of Sangamon County, Illinois, 1917-19
‘Horner Highway’ and highway beautification, 1934
Hottest day in Springfield history
Dr. Thomas Houghan (Edwards Place)
House of prostitution standoff, 1885
Housing for African Americans, 1914 (Springfield Survey photo)
Kate Howard (Springfield race riot)
Mary Howard (first woman to run for public office)
Nelson Howarth (Springfield mayor)
Lyman Hubbard Sr. (Tuskegee Airman)
Miss Nellie Hughes (librarian)
Nancy and Alexander Humphreys (1828 pioneers)
‘Huyler’s Ghost,’ a poem by ‘H.’, 1832
I
Albert Ide and the Ideal Engine
Elizabeth Brown Ide (children’s activist)
William Ide (Bear Flag Rebellio)
Elijah Iles (1828 pioneers)
Illinois Executive Mansion, 1860 (lithograph)
Illinois governors (list)
Illinois High School Association State Champions (teams)
Illinois Soil and Soy Bean Special (1927)
Illinois State Arsenal (1855)
Illinois State Fair butter cow
1942 Illinois State Fair cancelled
Illinois State Fair crisis, 1922-23
Illinois State Fair settles in Springfield (1894)
Illinois State Fair unnatural deaths
Illinois State Informer (newspaper)
Illinois State Library, circa 1900 (photo)
Illinois State University (Springfield)
114th Illinois Volunteer Infantry
Illiopolis High School (closed high schools)
Church of the Immaculate Conception
Vito Impastato (restaurateur, organized crime suspect)
Capt. John Inman (national commander, Grand Army of the Republic)
The Irish in early Springfield
Robert Irwin (Lincoln banker & friend)
J
‘Jack,’ age 5: Springfield’s first black resident
Joe James (Springfield race riot)
Dr. Gershom Jayne (1828 pioneers)
Jameson Jenkins (Underground Railroad)
Jelly-cake controversy of 1891
Carter Jenkins (engineer, traffic innovator)
Edward S. Johnson (Lincoln Tomb custodian)
Jack Johnson (boxing champion)
Johnston-Hatcher fires, 1907 & 1913
Austin Jones (detective)
Catherine Bergen Jones (oldest woman voter, 1914)
Frank Hatch Jones (politician, postmaster)
Roy Jones (radical activist, 1930s)
Leroy Jordan (African-American history interviews)
I am searching for any information on the following:
Dr. Reuben D. Black who in 1830 married Nancy Alkire in Sangamon County (now Menard), IL. He is reported as practicing medicine in the Illinois History Book Sangamon County and being from Ohio but all his children’s later census note his birthplace as Kentucky. They had 3 children, as follows: Joseph Penn Black born 1832, David Alkire Black born late 1833 and Elzina Black born 1835.
I need birth and death documents on the above Black surnames for genealogy (Mayflower) research. I live in California and have searched just about every on-line Illinois search engine. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated