Champaign County Genealogical Society

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Urbana, IL
Champaign County Genealogical Society

Welcome! The Champaign County Genealogical Society promotes and aids in genealogical research. MEETINGS: General membership meetings are held at 7:00 p.m.

on the second Tuesday of every month via Zoom. On the third Wednesday of every month, CCGS holds a virtual research night via Zoom to assist people in researching their genealogy from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. People can submit their genealogy questions or research challenges to [email protected]. These meetings are free and open to the public. Board meetings are held via Zoom at 6:30 p.m. on the third

Tuesday of January, March, May, July, September, and November. The Champaign County Genealogical Society (CCGS) welcomes new members whether they are researching extensively in Champaign County, Illinois, or have no ancestors at all to research in our county. The Society promotes genealogical and historical research and aids in the publication, dissemination, and preservation of genealogical and historical material. We welcome you to join us. PROGRAMS are oriented to genealogical research, family, and local history, and may consist of a lecture, a workshop, tours, or discussion on research problems.

10/03/2025

Unity Day is approaching in Germany, and to mark the occasion, MyHeritage is offering free access to all German historical records from October 2 to 6, 2025. Take advantage of this opportunity to research your German family history and discover something new.

In honor of German Unity Day, MyHeritage is offering free access to all German historical record collections from October 2–6, 2025. This is an excellent

09/28/2025

Reminder - the Illinois State Genealogical Society is hosting their annual conference this year on October 24th and 25th in Rockford, Illinois. This is an in-person event. Check out this link - https://www.ilgensoc.org to find more information on the speakers and presentations.

09/21/2025

Here is more information from FamilySearch about Hispanic Heritage Month.

Hispanic Heritage Month is here. Don't miss your chance to join in on the fun and familia! Follow our Hispanic page, link in the first comment!

09/20/2025

James Tanner, in his blog Genealogy's Star, let us know there are 1,093 free videos on the BYU Library Family History Center's YouTube Channel covering many different genealogy topics.

Check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/

https://www.youtube.com/ Yes, the actual number of videos on the BYU Library Family History Center's YouTube Chann...

09/19/2025

Elephind is back!

Remember Elephind? The search engine that searched free newspaper sites? They took it down in 2023 for upgrades and now it has returned. This time there is a free level and some paying levels.

According to their website "Elephind.com is a specialized search engine that helps users discover digitised historic newspapers from collections around the world—all in one place."

Check it out here: https://www.elephind.com/

09/15/2025

September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month. Hispanic and Latino heritage and culture are celebrated during this time. Originally a week long in 1968, Ronald Reagan expanded the week to a full month in 1988.

Family Tree Magazine has a list of genealogical resources for Latino and Hispanic families:

https://familytreemagazine.com/heritage/central-south-american/hispanic-latino-genealogy-websites/

09/14/2025

The Ancestor Hunt always has great free resource links. This post shares links to free Illinois coroner records. You can subscribe to their newsletter and you can also sign up for a paid membership which removes ads and also provides additional benefits but is not necessary for viewing the links. Check it out!

Free Online Coroner Records - Updated - Illinois

The total is 375 collection links from 41 states. I have found a few of my ancestors in these records. They are definitely worth your research time.

There are 23 collections from Illinois.

Check it out at https://theancestorhunt.com/coroner-records.html

05/15/2025

TITLE: 3rd Annual Unique Document Discoveries (Monthly Meeting) via Zoom.
REGISTRATION FOR WEBINAR is required at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/k2_oaQihS5-Y5c8WbOk34g

DATE and TIME OF EVENT: Tuesday, June 10, 2025 / 7 p.m. (Room will open at 6:30 p.m. for a social time with other genealogists, join us!)

Most genealogists are familiar with vital or census documents. While these documents are critical to our research, there are many unique documents that can help uncover information about our relatives. At this meeting we invite attendees to share images of unique or rare documents they have uncovered in their research. This could also be a document that added to their family story in an unexpected way. We look forward to hearing more about your document discovery!
Please email a scanned copy of the document prior to the start of the meeting, and send it to [email protected] . We will share the item for you to discuss during the meeting.

We will begin sharing documents at 7pm (CDT). There will be a society business meeting immediately following the presentation.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: [email protected] or our website at https://ilccgs.org/eventListings.php?nm=119 This event is free and open to the public. A recording of the presentation will be made available to CCGS members following the event.

The Champaign County Genealogical Society specializes in the records of Champaign County, Illinois. Membership includes a subscription to the Quarterly publication and access to members-only services

05/06/2025

TITLE: Translating, Transcribing and Summarizing Documents Using AI (Monthly Meeting)

DATE and TIME OF EVENT: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 via Zoom at 7 pm (Room will open at 6:30p.m. for a social time with other genealogists, join us!)

SPEAKER: Thomas MacEntee, author, educator, student, advocate, marketer, storyteller, entrepreneur, and that “genealogy guy” who helps you accomplish your family history goals!

DESCRIPTION:
Learn how to harness the power of artificial intelligence to assist in translating, transcribing, and summarizing a variety of genealogy records. A handwritten baptismal record from the 1800s? No problem. A faded newspaper obituary? No problem. We’ll cover the best AI platforms as well as how to craft a solid prompt to get you the results you need.

REGISTRATION FOR WEBINAR:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclfu-vrDIiE93SX22s0BAmKVFlysxKoYE3

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: [email protected] or our website at
https://ilccgs.org/eventListings.php?nm=119
This event is co-sponsored by the Champaign County Historical Archives at the Urbana Free Library. This event is free and open to the public. A recording of the presentation will be made available to CCGS members following the event.

04/16/2025

Tuesday, May 6
Family Tree Maker Special IN-PERSON Event (Local Events)
5:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Champaign Church of Christ, 1509 W. John Street, Champaign, IL 61821

Presented by Family Tree Maker Executive Director Duff Wilson and Genealogy Community Ambassador Mark Olsen. This event will include interactive demonstrations with lots of tips, techniques, helpful insights, and Q&A with those in attendance, much like a Family Tree Maker User Group meeting.

Please register in advance for this SPECIAL IN-PERSON EVENT: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1317541495079?aff=oddtdtcreator

Address

210 W. Green Street
Urbana, IL
61801

Opening Hours

7pm - 8:30pm

Telephone

+12173674025

Website

http://ilccgs.org/

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MEETINGS: General membership meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month in the Archives on the second floor of the Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois. The meetings are free and open to the public. Every Wednesday night the Archives is open for research. On the second Wednesday of every month, CCGS members are available to assist the public researching their genealogy from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Board meetings are held in the Archives of the Urbana Free Library at 7pm on the third Tuesday of January, March, May, July, September and November. The Champaign County Genealogical Society (CCGS) welcomes new members whether they are researching extensively in Champaign County, Illinois, or have no ancestors at all to research in our county. The Society promotes genealogical and historical research and aids in the publication, dissemination, and preservation of genealogical and historical material. We welcome you to join us. PROGRAMS are oriented to genealogical research, family and local history, and may consist of a lecture, a workshop, tours, or discussion on research problems.