Read all about it! Find your McHenry County ancestors in the newspaper

McHenry County early newspapers were filled with interesting tidbits that can help you fill in the details in your family history. From as early as 1846, with the Illinois Republican, McHenry County residents could read news from around the country and keep up with the affairs of the world around them. You may find your ancestor mentioned in society news, death notices or obituaries, articles about local businesses, politics, or court cases. Start by using general search terms, using just a surname within a range of dates, for example. Widen searches to other locations in the county or different surname spellings if you come up empty. Don’t forget to search for related surnames, and search in nearby towns or townships; you may find a relative that will help you connect your family lines to others in the area.

AAPLD offers patrons three databases that provide access to some of McHenry County’s earliest newspapers. The first newspaper in the county was the Illinois Republican. In 1854 it became the Republican Free-Press, and in 1856 became the Woodstock Sentinel, which still publishes today.
Go to Newspapers.com for these papers:

• The Algonquin Herald – 1902 to 1910
• The Sentinel (Woodstock) – 1860 to 1926.
• Daily Sentinel (Woodstock) – 1922 to 1985.
• Crystal Lake Herald – 1875 to 1963.
• McHenry Plaindealer – 1875 to 1985. (Later merged with The Northwest Herald.)
• Marengo Beacon/Republican – 1872 to 1986.

• The Northwest Herald is available at Chicago Area Newspapers from 2005 to present day.

You will need your AAPLD library card and PIN to access these databases. From another library? Check with your library to find out how you can access early local newspapers.

• Newspapers.com
• Chicago Tribune 1849 – Present
• Chicago Area Newspapers

Naming the Village of Algonquin

The village was first known as Cornish’s Ferry, from Dr. A. B. Cornish, an early settler near the ford above mentioned [Crystal Lake inlet to the Fox River]. Later, when a considerable settlement had grown up, by vote of the inhabitants the name Osceola was adopted. But it was learned that there was already a town of the same name in the State. Therefore the choice of a permanent name was left to Mr. Edwards, the chief property owner in the village, and he chose the name which it now bears.

~From the 1885 History of McHenry County, p. 390.

Algonquin was the name of a ship Mr. Edwards once owned, according to the Village of Algonquin website. The name Algonquin became official on December 23, 1847.

These Local History Notes were transcribed from the History of McHenry County, Illinois: together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens. The book was originally published in 1885, and reprint copies are available for use at the Algonquin Library.

Ask at the Adult Services desk for assistance in finding these and other local history materials.