Generally, I “work best under pressure” – but what that really means is that I procrastinate and then am amazed at what I get accomplished in the final hours before a deadline. So in an effort NOT to feel overwhelmed on the way to the family vacation to Russell County, I’m going to try to think through my options over the next couple of weeks to be as organized as I can once I get there. I want to make the best use of my research time and not feel guilty for being away from my family during our trip. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a hint or two from someone who lives in or researches in Russell County.
It seems like a pretty safe bet that I’ll be able to find many tombstones in the cemeteries of my ancestors. After visiting Concordia Cemetery in Chicago with over 80,000 graves, I feel hopeful that finding gravestones will not be as tricky. Although I do worry that a cemetery might not be well maintained since this will not be as urban an area as Chicago. Actually, I’ve always pictured Russell County as being pretty “countrified”, so I may be very surprised when I get there! Luckily for me, the Russell County Historical Society has completed a couple of books in the last few years of tombstone transcriptions, so I’ll begin with a visit to the Allen County Library to go through those books to make an Excel spreadsheet of the cemeteries and the stones I’d like to photograph.
I’ll also do my best to make a map of the cemeteries using Google Maps. I have visited the Kankakee County, Illinois Genealogical Society web site and it contains maps showing the locations of all of the county cemeteries. It would be great to find something like that for Russell County as well! Perhaps I’ll find something along those lines by doing a PERSI search.
But I think the very first thing I’ll do is to print out my 5 gen charts and use my highlighter to organize my thoughts on exactly what I’d like to find and where I’d be most likely to find it. I see a new Excel file coming!
Hi ~
I had to laugh when I read the beginning of your post ~ you could be describing ME! I’m not familiar with Russell County, but have you checked Find-A-Grave ? I love that site!
Good luck with your trip – sounds like you will be very organized!!
Thank you! Yes, I’ve tried Findagrave, but no luck there. In fact, I have had a terrible time even confirming that one of these cemeteries exists! I finally found an address (well, a road anyway) for the one with most of my family. Hopefull I’LL be the one to get the cemetery onto Findagrave. I LOVE that site!
FYI, there are three volumes of “Russell County Cemeteries” published by the Russell County Historical Society (which often meets one night a month in the Library in Jamestown, KY). The first was compiled C 1998-1999. The second was commpiiled C 1999. The final was copyrighted in 2000, with a corrected copy issued later, copyrighted in 2003. There are listings form Square Oak Cemetery in volume three.
The courthouse, located in ther square in Jamestown has a number of records going back before 1900. As I recall, the county was created by partitioning portions of Adair and another county. They have books containing entries covering marriages and land transfers, however to the best of my knowledge, you must research the data on site.
The folks at the library are most accomodating and, subject to time available, will sometimes try to assist on requests from afar. There are some costs involved with this assistance when available.
(270) 343-3545 is the Library’s phone number.
Our indirect connection to your lines is thru Helen Chirsman, Enos Bennet’s second wife. Good luck in your research!
Thanks for the message. I do have access to those books through my library, but they don’t contain photos, which I love to collect. Hopefully, some day, I’ll be able to make it to one of the society meetings!