When I first heard that the FGS conference would be held this year in Springfield, IL my first thought was that I could get in some research time before and after working the conference. Ideally, I wanted to do some Brennen family research. I thought about the logistics of researching them and came to the conclusion that Massac County was along way to go from Decatur where I would be staying after the conference. My Womble research was pretty much finished for Illinois; however, I realize that I could always delve into the life of my grandmother’s brother, Ben who lived in Peoria, Rock Island, and Moline, Illinois. I decided against researching him because again there was the distance factor.
After much contemplation, I came up with doing as much research as possible at the Illinois State Archives and then visit a cemetery in Illinois where many members of the Yockey family are buried.
Before leaving for my trip, I researched what records pertinent to the families I’m researching were available at the state archives. I found that not much is available at the Illinois State Archives in Springfield. I was very interested in viewing their death certificates that are on microfilm.
On a blustery Wednesday morning I started out from my hotel in Springfield with my sleuthing kit slung over my shoulder for the State Archives. I had visited there when I was researching a family story and was basically engaged in what I like to refer to as guerilla genealogical research. I found that the State Archives had changed and not exactly for the better, IMHO. There was a security guard with an x-ray machine and metal detector all of which I thought was a plus. I tried to follow all the rules and left my purse, jacket, and sleuthing kit in a locker. The only items I took into the research room with me were a pencil and some pieces of paper that had information that would help me in my search.
When I had visited the archives before there had been a wonderfully helpful man that worked there, unfortunately it seemed that he had moved on to a higher plane. Plenty of people wanted to help me, but I really wanted to explore the place first, since when I was there originally I hadn’t done this.
What I learned in my exploring was that most of the records at the State Archives in Springfield pertain to the early years of the state of Illinois. My husband’s family seemed to have settled there in the latter part of the 19th century and so many of the records available at the archive weren’t pertinent to his paternal line.
After exploring the place, I asked one guy about the death certificates and he seemed to want me to go off to the regional repositories. I didn’t much care for this attitude, but after telling him that I had been there before and had looked at these records he was more helpful.
I used the computer there to look up the exact dates for some of the deaths that I wanted to get. Then he told me how to look up what microfilm roll the record would be on in some binders that kept that information. He did mention that after 1935 or so that the records aren’t very well organized on the microfilm rolls.
He set me up at a machine and kindly told me how to load a microfilm roll and operate the machine. The death certificates are arranged alphabetically by county on the rolls and then typically in alphabetical order by surname for the deceased.
The death certificates I was looking for were: Jasper Lorenzo Yockey, death date: 14 July 1925; Zona Louisa Downey, death date: 8 June 1933; Richard Yockey, death date: 16 June 1925; Henry E. Brinnen, death date: 29 Oct. 1935; and Charlie Brinnen, death date: 3 Oct. 1935.
I had no trouble locating Jasper Yockey’s death certificate. The information in the binder said that it was on roll 193 and it was! I moved on to Richard Yockey. His death certificate was supposed to be on roll 192, but I couldn’t find it. I looked on both rolls 191 and 193 and still no Richard. I decided that possibly his death certificate may have been recorded elsewhere since he died when he was 3 days old. Maybe the government had categorized his death as a stillborn and it’s with those records. I had a bit of a deadline with the amount of time that I could spend researching so I decided to put a period at the end of that line of research and move on to another relative. I searched for Zona Yockey’s death certificate and this was supposed to be on roll 377, but I found it on 376 instead.
The guy who helped me had said that the records for around 1935 and onwards weren’t in proper order and he really wasn’t joking when he said that. Since I had found what Yockeys I had hoped to find I moved on to the Brinnen or Brennen family, as I know it to be spelled as. In a previous post I had mentioned a bit about this family and how they’re connected to my Womble line.
I searched for Henry Brinnen as he was listed in the State Archives Death Index database. His death certificate was listed as being on roll 431, but of course I didn’t find it there! I felt that it had to be there and searched on the next roll 432 and he still wasn’t there. I decided to try the roll prior to 431, which was 430 and couldn’t locate his death certificate. I was determined not to give up looking for Henry in the death certificates, so I searched for him on roll 433 and finally had success!
I considered searching for Charlie Brinnen’s death certificate, but since I couldn’t locate it with Henry’s and taking into account that they died around the same time, and that my research time was running out I decided to call it a day.
Copies are typically paid for at the end of your visit. When I left I asked another person about the cost of them and he asked how many copies I had. I showed him the three copies of the death certificates that I had made and he told me that there wasn’t any charge.
All of the death certificates stated where the deceased were buried. I knew that it would be too far to travel to Massac County, IL to locate Henry’s grave, but I did want to visit Mound Cemetery where many Yockeys are buried. In another post I will write about my visit to this cemetery.
