The McDonough County Genealogical Society has reprinted "Multum in Parvo: A History of Colchester, Illinois". The book consists of 92 pages of text and pictures depicting the early life in Colchester. A surname index has been added by MCGS.
The book was written by June Moon for the Colchester Centennial in 1957. The name "Multum in Parvo" appears on the town seal of Colchester and means "much in little".
Corda Fry Taylor (1907-1997) collected several thousand obituaries during her lifetime. A new index of names of deceased developed by MCGS Volunteers is now available in the surname index. Most obituaries are of people from northeastern McDonough County (the Bushnell area) and eastward toward Cuba, Fulton County, Illinois. A cursory analysis of the death dates suggests the obituaries cover at least the 1920's through the end of the 1960's. Copies of obituaries are available now through MCGS's RSVP service (see the index) and researchers may use the albums at MCGS's Research Center.
In October 2001, MCGS members voted to accept an offer by the Western Illinois Museum to relocate to their future home at the southeast corner of Lafayette and Washington Streets in Macomb. The building is conveniently located one block south of the Courthouse Square in the same block as the Macomb Public Library. MCGS's room is on the ground floor, with ample parking adjacent to the building.MCGS closed the office on South Randolph Street in November 2001 and opened a new research center on March 12, 2002.
Several members attended the FGS Conference in Davenport Sept 12-15, 2001. Many attended on Friday in support of "Illinois Day". For more information about the Conference, see the FGS web site.
Eight volumes of Grandma Flack's scrapbooks were completed by the Work group who copied obituaries, marriage notices, and other news items from the scrapbooks of Alta Flack. The estimated volunteer hours on the project were 220 hours. Mrs. Flack collected information from residents of the Industry area, including Vermont (Fulton County) and Littleton (Schuyler County) areas. Mrs. Flack's descendants have generously loaned these books to MCGS for the project. These books are available for purchase from MCGS.
A primary mission of our society is to preserve and disseminate McDonough County Family History. Members meet to work on projects, enjoy each other's company, share research ideas, and learn more about McDonough County families. These work days, begun in 2000, have resulted in several new resources, including Grandma Flack's Scrapbooks and the Corda Taylor obituary albums.
The final volume, Vol. III (Q-Z) of Forest Lawn was published in 2000. Forest Lawn is a relatively new cemetery on the west edge of Macomb. This third volume has 197 pages plus index and maps. Volumes I (A-G) and II (H-P) are also available.
MCGS hosted "Visiting the Military Tract" on June 9-10, 2000 on the WIU Campus in Macomb.
MCGS office and meeting space obtained space at 133 S. Randolph in the Masonic Building, just off the southeast corner of Courthouse Square in Macomb, Illinois. Meetings and workshops were held in the Masonic Building. This office was closed in November 2001 in preparation for opening the Research Center.
A work trip to Pennington Point Cemetery was held June 21, 1999. The group completed reading of stones. The materials will be used for a future publication of the society.