Today’s article was written to help families who have a son or daughter who is struggling in school. I’ve decided to use my own “school struggles” so that I can make this point: Children who are having difficulty in school can now be helped.

An article in the “Warren Review” reported the population of Williamsport was about 1,500. The school had an enrollment of 275 pupils. There were four churches: Christian, Presbyterian, Methodist and Catholic. Lodges included the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Masonic Order, Knights of Py…

Experienced genealogists have been using U.S. federal censuses to provide family data about the ancestors living at the time the censuses were taken. Unfortunately many researchers fail to look at Census Mortality Schedules or even bother to determine if they are available for a specific tim…

Dad’s love, time are best gifts

A recent article in the “National Genealogical Society Monthly” by Aaron Goodwin, “What DNA Can (and Can’t) Do For Your Research,” at https://tinyurl.com/y7yvfx73, identifies “which DNA tests are the proper tools for which types of genealogical research.” It is also noted that it might be ap…

A well-known saying goes like this: “A good way to measure the greatness of a nation is to see how it treats its most vulnerable citizen.”

Good Saturday, everyone! I want to give you a couple of updates from our office.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

The Urbana Free Library’s website at https://tinyurl.com/y6ud4orl offers access to a wealth of information for researchers, as well as teachers. For example, the links to databases and tools include online library databases (to be used in the library or online for patrons having an Urbana Li…

Summertime is the perfect time to move your body. Each activity below has a number next to it. If you multiply your body weight by this number, you can calculate how many calories you’ve expended for one hour. Take tennis for an example. Let’s say you weigh 100 pounds. 100 x 3 = 300 calories…

Last week there was a popular meme on Facebook that asked, “Any of you wishing your grandkids could have grown up in the Fab fifties instead of these insane times?” Several of the Baby Boomers I know “liked” that, and I understood their outlook.

Good Saturday, everyone! As things around us start opening up and life looks to be going back to somewhat “normal,” let’s think about what we learned in the last few months.

Recent issues of the Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society’s quarterly magazine, “Illiana Genealogist” (Vol. 56, Nos. 1 and 2), mailed to members and available for viewing and/or purchase at the Illiana Genealogy Library, include a variety of articles pertaining to the Illiana area.

Father’s Day is almost here, and this article is about the importance and powerful impact fathers have on their daughter’s development. What about the father-son relationship? It seems to me that the father-son story is more often told, is better understood, and is more developed than the sa…

A recent morning was hot and steamy. My shirt grew damp as I did my two-mile walk. The guy who was trimming our neighbors’ hedges was mopping his sweaty face with a handkerchief.

Good Saturday, everyone! A lot has happened this last week and a lot of it got pretty ugly. But not here, not in Danville. Now, just to be clear, I write my articles a week in advance; things can change in a week’s times, but I have faith in the residents of Vermilion County.

Megan Smolenyak’s “Honoring Our Ancestors” newsletters always include good news about her research, as well as other interesting reports. Her recent issue includes a link to a video that is sure to brighten your day.

Good Saturday, everyone! These are the last days of May and National Mental Health Awareness Month. Just because this month is ending does not mean we stop acknowledging and changing the way we look at those who struggle with mental illness.

Like a knife, COVID-19 has severed us from activities we once took for granted:

In July 1929, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmie Graves purchased the Bailey confectionery store in the old opera house block near the railroad in Williamsport, Ind.

Good Saturday, everyone! May is Mental Health Awareness Month and there are more people than normal, right now, dealing with mental health issues due to the quarantine.

In today’s article, two new terms — double depression and dysthymia — will be introduced. The key to understanding both is to see how healthy positive thinking patterns can be changed into unhealthy ones.

The Urbana Free Library, which is closed to the public because of the coronavirus, has announced that patrons may request items from its collection and schedule a curbside pickup. Requests can be made by browsing the library’s collection on its website or mobile app or by calling the library…

Good Saturday morning, everyone! I would like to give you an update on our COVID-19 Relief Fund, as well as give you some insight on issues happening in our area.

“The Genetic Detective” will be ABC’s new TV series due to premier Tuesday and will feature “genetic super sleuth” CeCe Moore. She has helped solve more than 100 cold cases using DNA; in this series she will show how she solves such cases. Read the announcement, view a video, and learn more …

“I am a Negro who has never lived in the South, thank God, nor was I ever trapped in an urban ghetto. I grew up in Danville, Illinois, where my family always lived on a pleasant street, in a pleasant neighborhood where the houses had front yards and back yards, with flower beds and vegetable…

Good Saturday, everyone! As we move into another month of the government issued stay-at-home order, financial situations are getting tougher for a lot of our residents. If there was ever a time to help your neighbor, it’s now!

When I was a child, my great-uncle would tell me stories. One of those tales was about the Hoop snake, a terrifying local reptile that grabbed its tail in its mouth and rolled after people like a hoop. He also shared stories of the Blue Racer snake that could slither faster than a person could run.

“The Chinese do not draw any distinction between food and medicine.”

How wonderful that a special day has been set aside to honor mothers. This seems to be an appropriate time to remind ourselves to honor our mothers (and that includes grandmothers) by calling attention to any special treasures those women cherished — including memories.

Happy Saturday, everyone! All of us are changing the ways we use to socialize, shop or work. A lot of people are working from home for the first time. This way of working from home is different because it is forced on them and many are dealing with their spouses and/or kids home with them.

Today’s article is about the pursuit of happiness. “Pursuit” implies that to be happy, one must first act. What kind of action? As a boy, I’d hunt rabbits by pursuing them in their woodland habitat. So, in this example, hunt is the action and rabbits are the prize, the “happiness.”

Every American should have received the 2020 US Census questionnaire by now —either in the mail or left at your door. There may be individuals who have not received their questionnaire, but it is possible to be counted by going on the Internet and visiting https://my2020census.gov/login.

Charles William High was born in Reading, Pa., on Jan. 20, 1849, and came to Warren County, Indiana, as a young man. High was the third child out of the 10 children born to John V.R. and Sarah Ann High

Good Sunday morning, everyone! How are you feeling? I have seen the effects that this stay-at-home order and the coronavirus are having on some. Although after speaking of the hateful behavior I witnessed recently, a woman standing nearby said, as a waitress, that kind of behavior is what th…

When I was 5, my mother enrolled me in a swimming class. By 6, I was a fish. As a teenager, a competition arose among my swimming buddies which went like this: who could swim the greatest distance underwater?

The slender piece of iron sprouted up at an angle from the freshly turned spring earth. It was located where a pioneer homestead once stood along 700 East Road in Oakwood Township.

While sifting Kevin’s Wonderful World of Oddities, I stumbled onto a faded prospectus for a building that has been a big part of the Danville skyline since 1926: the Hotel Wolford.

Natalie, a 2-month-old newborn, alerts herself as a familiar voice — soft, musical, loving — approaches. Her eyebrows lift, her body relaxes, and an oval shape forms on her tiny pink mouth as she speaks: “Goo Goo Gaa Gaa.” When Natalie sees the face connected to this voice, her eyes light up…

The Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. continues to publish additional “Genealogy at a glance” guides.